Church Road Hawke's Bay Chardonnay 2004

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Church Road

Hawke's Bay Chardonnay 2004

Awards & Reviews

Silver: Int. Chardonnay Challenge (Gisborne) 2005

Bronze: Hawke's Bay Wine Awards 2005

Bronze: Liquorland Top100 2005

Bronze: NZ IWS 2005

**** Rich-flavoured Hawke's Bay wine with substantial body and ripe peach and grapefruit characters, seasoned with toasty French oak. Stylish, with a smooth texture. Already delicious worth cellaring.

John Belsham and Oliver Masters - Cuisine (31 July 2005)

Toasty oak puts a spicy edge on the ripe peach and nectarine aromas. It's fresh-faced, richly fruited and instantly appealing on the palate, with clean-cut acids ensuring a refreshing finish.

Vic Williams - The Foodtown Magazine (31 July 2005)

Already almost an icon, certainly in restaurants, this wine rarely disappoints. Already well developed and "together" it is concentrated, nicely fruited and displays good nutty mealy characteristics. A good wine at about $20.

Hugh Wood - Hamilton Press (29 June 2005)

This is a long-standing favourite among the ladies of my family and it's easy to see why. In this vintage, the mid-gold colour heralds a full peachy nose. The palate is rich and elegant but with quite a sharp acidic finish. That's not a criticism - it leaves the mouth well refreshed and eager for the next dollop. A class act.

Andrew Holden - The Press (24 Mar 2005)

A serious Hawke's Bay Chardonnay. The nose is subtle with touches of savoury oak and ripe stone-fruit. The palate is dry with concentrated , complex fruit flavours, a creamy texture and a long, persistent finish. Although the wine will develop further it is drinking very well now.

Jane Skilton MW - Hospitality Magazine (31 Dec 2004)

This elegant, yet powerful barrique-fermented Chardonnay is true to the Church Road style.

Crafted using traditional winemaking techniques this premium wine marries ripe, distinctive fruit characteristics with subtle toasty oak and savoury complexity.

This wine is a dry, barrique-fermented style of Chardonnay.

Winemaker's Notes

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Release date: November 2004
Variety: 100% Chardonnay
Region: 100% Hawke's Bay

Description

Colour: Light straw.

Aromas: Layers of fragrant citrus and stonefruit are enhanced by a refined seam of toasty, nutty French oak and subtle mealy, savoury complexity derived from yeast lees stirring and a portion of malolactic fermentation.

Palate: Delicate handling of the ripe and concentrated fruit has produced a palate which exhibits both elegance and power with a lingering finish. The sweetness of the fruit and oak is balanced by a restrained seam of natural acidity.

Recommended Cellaring

Careful cellaring for up to four years will be rewarded with increased complexity and integration.

Harvest

The fruit for this wine was sourced from both a number of sub regions within Hawke's Bay, each giving a different fruit expression. Low crops combined with careful vineyard management maximised fruit ripeness and intensity. The wine was produced from two of the highest quality clones of Chardonnay available (Mendoza and Clone 15) in approximately equal proportions.

The 2004 vintage was a classic for Hawke's Bay Chardonnay, producing ripe and concentrated wines of outstanding quality.

Brix at harvest: Average 23-24.5º

Winemaking

Winemaker: Chris Scott

Following overnight settling, the free-run juice was racked to barrels and fermented under controlled conditions in French barriques. A number of different yeasts were used to ferment the base wines, resulting in a complex range of yeast characters. 10% malolactic fermentation was used this year to assist with acid balance and provide textural benefits and extra complexity

The wine was held on full yeast lees for the six months it spent in French oak (40% of the barrels were new). Regular battonage (lees stirring) was used to protect the wine, round out the mouth-feel and add further savoury complexity.

Analysis

Alcohol: 14% by volume
pH: 3.48
Total acidity: 6.8.5g/L as tartaric

Vintages

1990-99, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005*

* currently available vintage(s)

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