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
This powerful, elegant and full-bodied wine was crafted from hand-harvested Chardonnay grapes from an excellent Hawke's Bay vintage. Traditional winemaking techniques were used to add an extra dimension of complexity, to enrich the mouth-feel and to soften the palate.
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Variety: 100% Chardonnay
Colour: Light straw.
Aromas: Ripe stonefruit characters are enhanced by toasty oak.
Palate: Delicate handling has produced a palate which is refined and elegant yet at the same time powerful and lingering. The sweetness of the fruit and oak is balanced by a moderate level of acidity.
This wine will reward careful cellaring for five years or more. Over this time, the fruit, oak and various fermentation characters will become even more integrated and increase in complexity.
Due to the exceptional nature of the vintage, this wine will age slowly and gracefully.
1998 can be described as the vintage of the decade in Hawke's Bay. The growing degree days (the heat available for ripening the grapes) was 23% higher than the 30-year average, and rainfall was 37% lower. Of particular note was the extremely low rainfall over the March/April harvest period, allowing winemakers to leave the grapes on the vine to achieve maximum maturity. These conditions produced pristine crops of very ripe Chardonnay with high sugars and excellent acid balance.
Winemakers: Tony Prichard, Peter Hurlstone
The grapes were harvested in early April at 23.5 to 24.3° Brix. Subtle winemaking changes were introduced in order to optimise the exceptional characteristics of this vintage. After minimal skin contact and overnight settling, the juice was racked to barrels and fermented under controlled conditions in mainly new French oak barriques.
A portion of the fruit was hand-harvested and whole-bunch pressed in order to provide a softer and more delicate component, to add balance and to benefit ageing.
No malolactic fermentation was used for this vintage. The wine was held on its yeast lees for the ten months it spent maturing in oak. Batonage (lees stirring) was used to add an extra dimension of complexity, and to further soften the palate.
Alcohol: 13.5% by volume
pH: 3.4
Total Acidity: 6.8 g/L as tartaric
1991-1996, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2005*
* currently available vintage(s)
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