Church Road Merlot Cabernet

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Church Road

Hawke's Bay Merlot Cabernet 2004

This full-bodied, complex blend of Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Malbec is true to the well-established Church Road style.

Crafted from ripe Hawke's Bay grapes using traditional Bordeaux winemaking techniques, this premium wine marries ripe, concentrated fruit with toasty oak and earthy complexities.

Winemaker's Notes

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Release date: November 2005
Variety: Merlot 76%, Cabernet Sauvignon 16%, Malbec 8%
Region: 100% Hawke's Bay

Description

A full-bodied and complex Bordeaux-style red.

Colour: Deep, rich red with bright hue.

Aromas: On the nose, dark berry fruit characters are complemented by savoury French oak and complexities of liquorice and spice.

Palate: A complex, dry red wine with good concentration and flesh, balanced by a backbone of supple, ripe tannin. The finish is long and ripe.

Cellaring

This wine will reward careful cellaring for up to six years. Over this time the primary berry fruit characters will diminish and be replaced by more complex flavours and aromas. Colour evolution will accompany these changes.

Vineyard

Church Road Merlot Cabernet Sauvignon is produced from a range of low-vigour vineyard sites in the Hawke's Bay region. The predominant sub-regions are Ngatarawa, the Tuki Tuki valley and Gimblett Road. The key to producing high quality red wine lies in the ability to manage crop levels and vine canopies to achieve small, well-exposed berries. This ensures good levels of colour and tannin as well as ripe flavours and low acidity.

Harvest

Perhaps the best red wine vintage in recent years. The most important feature of 2004 vintage was the extended warm, dry autumn. This allowed us to pick fruit at full flavour ripeness, while low soil moisture levels ensured good concentration and intensity.

Brix at harvest: 22.5-24°

Winemaking

Winemakers: Tony Prichard, Chris Scott

This Church Road Merlot Cabernet Sauvignon was made using traditional Bordeaux varieties and Bordeaux-based winemaking techniques. Grapes were crushed to fermenters and the wine gently circulated over the skins for an extended period to extract colour, tannin and flavour. After draining from skins, the wine was encouraged to undergo malolactic fermentation in French barriques.

The wine remained in French oak barrels (56% new) for approximately 14 months to extract oak flavour, stabilise colour and evolve the tannins.

Analysis

Alcohol: 14% by volume
Total acidity: 5.4g/L as tartaric

Vintages

1992-1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001(Cabernet Merlot), 2002, 2003, 2004*(Merlot Cabernet)

* currently available vintage(s)

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