Awards & Reviews

Classic. ***** ... The 2000 vintage is an opulent wine, smooth and high-flavoured. Rich and slightly minerally on the nose, with a strong toasty oak influence, it's a mouth-filling wine with concentrated grapefruit and peach flavours, good complexity and a creamy-soft finish. Drink: 2004+

Michael Cooper's Buyer's Guide to New Zealand Wines, 2003

Made leaner to age longer says winemaker. There is lots of spine, a steely style without malolactic, yet able to say more, develop richness, as a result of ripe fruit and a fine base. The oak impact is very strong however, and time will be needed to mature through this, and perhaps this is part of the long-life aim. A pretty good Chardonnay to watch and enjoy over five years.

Saunders on Wine (20 August 2002)

***** An opulent Hawke's Bay style, smooth and high-flavoured. Barrique-fermented and lees-aged for 10 months in mainly new French oak, it is rich and slightly minerally on the nose, with a strong toasty oak influence. Mouthfilling, with concentrated grapefruit and peach flavours, good complexity and a creamy-soft finish, it should be at its best during 2003.

5 Star Wines, WineState (July/Aug 2002)

Rich and generous style. Made from very ripe grapes this wine shows delicious ripe peach fruit enhanced through integrated toasty vanilla characters from fermentation and maturation in a higher percentage of new oak barrels, than the standard Church Road label.

The Foodtown Magazine (June 2002)

... a sumptuous wine with rich, powerful fruit and personality to burn.

Charles Gill - Food & Drink (30 April 2002)

*** (82)

Cuisine (April/May 2002)

Hawke's Bay wine, rich, ripe and complex - big but balanced with melon, pineapple and toasty oak aromas and flavours and good concentration and length of flavour. Now and for the next few years.

Graeme Barrow - Bay of Plenty Times (16 April 2002)

... It's a bright lemon gold colour with soft aromas of poached peach, summer hay and spicy mellow oak. There's good mouthfeel in this warm toasty leesy wine with well balanced stonefruit and lifted balanced acidity. It's a rich, complex, mealy style with a long, dry, finish in which a touch of toasted pineapple lifts the lingering integrated fruit & oak flavours. Drinking very well now, I like this a lot.

Wines of the Week, wineoftheweek.com (7 April 2002)

"Made leaner to age longer" says winemaker. There is lots of spine, a steely style without malo-lactic, yet able to say more as a result of ripe fruit and a fine base. The oak impact is quite strong and there's no hurry as the components come together. A pretty good serious Chardonnay. A very good food wine.

Peter Saunders - F & B (March 2002)

... well-developed colour with rich fruit and oak on the nose. On the palate there are refined rich ripe stonefruit flavours, some popcorn and yeasty oak. It's a lovely complex wine that will cellar but can be enjoyed now.

Peter Shaw - Waikato Times (19 March 2002)

... powerful but understated, hinting of smoke and lime and in the background, complex, creamy oaky flavours and a crisp finish. Already two years old, it will develop with another year or so of cellaring.

Charmian Smith - Otago Daily Times (13 Mar 2002)

From Hawke's Bay is a compromise between austerity and the New world style. About 30 per cent of it is traditional French while the balance has been processed in New World style. French tradition gives it a tight palate and a distinct finish with a mineral edge. The New world component gives it a rich pear flavour and a dollop of new French oak.

Tim Harris - New Zealand Herald (9 March 2002)

For a wine that's known for being fruity and big-bodied and erring on the buttery side, this is an extremely classy little number. Winemaker Tony Prichard has achieved a leaner than usual citrusy style by handpicking 30 per cent of the grapes and whole-bunch pressing them - I won't ramble on about winemaking. In essence he has made a wine with plenty of instantly recognisable oak and an easy to enjoy cream texture that is elegant rather than OTT. Here's a wine that once again vindicates those who believe Hawke's Bay is home to the country's best Chardonnays.

Joëlle Thomson - NZ Herald (27 Feb 2002)