150 Church Road,
Taradale,
Hawke's Bay
New Zealand
Ph: +64 6 844 2053
Fax: +64 6 844 3378
info@churchroad.co.nz
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©2006
Grape Variety: Chardonnay
The wine is light straw in colour.
Elegant and restrained chardonnay fruit is complemented by smokey toasted French oak and elements of yeast and 'mineral' complexity. Full, rich Chardonnay flavour with soft and gentle mouthfeel resulting from the whole-bunch pressing of the grapes.
Soft acidity reinforces the approachable nature of the wine. The finish is both refreshing and lingering.
This wine, although attractive in its youth, has been made to age.
With careful cellaring, its full potential will be realised as the in-built complexities continue to develop. We see this wine, made in the classical 'Burgundian' style, as an exciting addition to our two existing Church Road Chardonnays.
The high heat and warm, dry autumn conditions in Hawke's Bay bring Chardonnay to full ripeness with excellent flavour concentration. This is particularly apparent on the river terraces and flats where low vigour soils force higher sugars and lower crops. Careful canopy management ensures excellent berry exposure to sunlight, enriching varietal characteristics and producing ripe fruit flavours. In addition, low crop levels enabled the vines to optimise the Hawke's Bay sunshine resulting in intense flavour concentration.
1995 was a very good year for chardonnay in Hawke's Bay. Growing temperatures were about 10% higher and rainfall about 20% lower than the 30 year averages for the district.
Winemakers: Tony Prichard and Peter Hurlstone
The grapes were harvested by hand from our Phoenix Estate vineyard at 23° Brix. After pressing, three separate juice fractions were lightly settled and the resulting cloudy juice fermented in a blend of new (50%) and one-year-old (50%) French barriques.
Following sugar fermentation, the wine underwent complete malolactic fermentation to lower the acidity and impart a degree of butterscotch complexity to the nose and palate. The wine spent a total of nine months in oak, and during this entire time, the wine remained in contact with its yeast lees. Gradual breakdown (autolysis) of the yeast imparts a nutty/biscuity character to the wine which will continue to develop with cellaring.
A stylistic change in direction from our more conventional Church Road and Church Road Reserve Chardonnays. The latter are both skin-contacted styles which involve crushing the grapes and allowing an extended period of contact of the juice with the skins. This produces a rich, mouthfilling and fruit-driven style which is more approachable at an earlier stage.
In contrast, the McDonald Cuve Series Chardonnay is a complexity-driven style which involves hand-harvesting ripe chardonnay and quickly pressing the juice away from the skins to produce a juice which is leaner and more suitable for the development of yeast complexity and other background characters.
Alcohol: 13.6% by volume
Total acidity: 6.5 g/L
* currently available vintage(s)
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