Awards & Reviews

For sheer finesse and drinkability, Montana's high profile Hawke's Bay wine, produced at the Church Road Winery with technical input from the Bordeaux house of Cordier, is hard to beat. There's a slight herbal touch to the 1999 vintage (***½), but it has good body, flavour depth and complexity. A blend of equal parts of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, with minor parcels of Malbec and Cabernet Franc, it was matured for over a year in French, oak barriques (one-third new). Full-coloured and substantial (13.5 per cent alcohol), it has fine-grained tannins, strong cassis, plum and spice flavours and considerable savoury complexity.

Michael Cooper's Buyer's Guide to NZ Wines 2002 (Nov 2001)

*** From Montana, a savoury red with decent depth of cassis, plum and spice flavours and fine-grained tannins, although two panellists noticed a slight lack of fruit sweetness.

Winestate (Sept 2001)

Casseroles deserve something a little more gutsy and what better tipple to accompany such warming fare than the popular Church Road Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot 1999. This wine has whiffs of spicy plums and light oak smells which deliver a full-bodied wine, perfect for a cold night when the fire is crackling and the rain beats down on the windows. This is a reliable buy ... and an enjoyable meal complement.

Wine Buy (June 2001)

(93) Medium red-purple; blackberry and blackcurrant fruit aromas are integrated in a controlled fashion with dark spice and oak in the background. The palate, likewise, is in a restrained/controlled mode, with good structure and texture derived from the fine-grained, slightly savoury tannins. Best Drinking: 2004 to 2009.

James Halliday - winepros.com.au (Feb 04 2001)

... smooth, medium-bodied, quite forward, easy-drinking wine, a bit herbaceous but there is some savouriness and berryfruit flavours, with integrated oak and firm tannins. Approachable now, no hurry.

Graeme Barrow - syndicated

It's soft and quite warm as a style, no herbals here, and a delicious food wine...

Peter Saunders, Selection of the Week, Hawke's Bay Today

Vibrant blackberry mouthfeel. Tingling acid and oak mix on the mid-palate, supported by firm tannic grip. Excellent example of what many still consider the pinnacle of red wine.

Brendon Burns - Wine of the Week, Marlborough Express

...you'd expect [the wine] to show some of the leafy, herbal characters of slightly under-ripe Cabernet Sauvignon - and it does. Yet this is a red wine worth buying...It's a spicy, earthy, much less overtly fruity style than most New World reds...it's an ideal food wine already drinking well. ***½

Michael Cooper, Sunday Star-Times