Church Road Winery. Hawkes Bay. New Zealand.
S 39° 31.520 E 176° 50.765
60H E 486771 N 5624912
The Church Road Winery lies at the foot of Sugarloaf Hill in Taradale, a 15-minute drive from both Hastings and Napier.
Church Road is a boutique winery that applies hands-on winemaking techniques to the very best of the Hawke's Bay harvest.
Waymark Code: WM6E7R
Location: North Island, New Zealand
Date Posted: 05/20/2009
Views: 3
The winery, one of the oldest in Hawke's Bay, was founded in 1897, and then totally renovated in 1989. Dating from 1897, when Bartholomew Steinmetz planted his vineyard next to Church Road, this is one of the oldest wineries in the country. Steinmetz returned to his native Luxembourg in the 1920s, leaving his winery in the hands of the 19-year-old Tom McDonald, who had been working for him since his early teens.
McDonald later bought the winery and set to making the first quality red wines in New Zealand, releasing the country's first commercial Cabernet Sauvignon in 1949. Tom McDonald retired in 1976 and the winery carried on winemaking up until 1981 when a change of ownership saw the winery slowly shut down.
The Church Road Winery was renovated and reopened in 1989 with the express purpose to re-establishing it as the heart of quality red winemaking in New Zealand.
You can take a guided tour through the working winery (where you may see the winemakers in action) and New Zealand's first wine museum, and then enjoy a tasting of their wines. Winery and museum tours include a tasting and costs $12 per person. Tours take place at 10am, 11am, 2pm and 3pm daily. Please wear covered footwear.
Winery manager: Barrie Browne Winemakers: Tony Prichard & Chris Scott Wine sales: Cellar door, mail order Price range: $15-$135 Winery tastings: 7 days 9am-5pm Winery tours: Winery tours and museum tours daily at 10am, 11am, 2pm and 3pm Winery restaurant: Lunch 7 days 11.30am indoors or alfresco; ph: 06-845 9140 Private functions, conferences and concerts; ph: 06-845 9146
Winery Size: Boutique < 500 Cases
Attached vineyard?: yes
Tasting Room Available?: yes
Days and hours of operation: 9am to 5pm in summer, 10am to 5pm in winter
Charge for tasting?: 12.00 (listed in local currency)
Tours Available: yes
Cost of Tour: 12.00 (listed in local currency)
Phone #: Tel 06-844-2053
Address: 150 Church Road,
Taradale,
Hawke's Bay.
Winery, Wine Cooperative, or Tasting Center's Website: [Web Link]
Types of wines: Latest vintages of Church Road Cuve series, Pinot Gris, Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot.
Limited Releases available at the winery: Marzemino, Syrah, Viognier, Malbec, Sauvignon Blanc.
Best Wine Tasted: Tom 2002 Merlot Cabernet Sauvignon
Rate the Best Wine Tasted:
Price per Bottle: 110.00 (listed in local currency)
2nd Best Wine Tasted: Church Road Cuve Series Cabernet Sauvignon 2005
Rate the 2nd Best Wine Tasted:
Price per Bottle #2: 25.00 (listed in local currency)
Overall Comments:: "Tom" a very special wine from Church Road.
"Our pinnacle wine, a blended red made only in exceptional vintages, is so special that we simply named it Tom."
Wine: Tom
Vintage: 2002
Release Date: October 2006
Winemaker: Tony Prichard
Variety: Merlot 47%, Cabernet Sauvignon 44%, Malbec 9%
Region: Hawke’s Bay
Alcohol: 14% by volume
pH: 3.68
Total acidity: 6 g/L as tartaric
Residual sugar: Dry
Brix at harvest: Average 23.8°
Harvest notes: The hallmark of the 2002 vintage was the warm, dry autumn which
ensured excellent fruit ripeness and concentration. This wine was
harvested off low-vigour soils in the Gimblet Gravels district and in
the Tuki Tuki Valley. The lowest vigour, lowest cropping vines in
each block were identified for selective hand picking.
Fermentation
notes:
Each parcel of grapes was crushed into small fermenters and
fermented at around 30° C. To extract colour, tannin and flavour
from the skins, the juice was pumped over the cap three times a
day. Aeration was used during pumpovers to stabilise colour,
develop the structure of the wine and to increase the complexity
of the aroma and flavour. The wines were tasted daily to determine
the optimum drain-off time, and most parcels were drained off skins
after three to four weeks.
Maturation
notes:
Individual parcels were aged in French oak (of which 50% was
new), for 12 months before the blend was put together. The wine
was then returned to barrel for a further 6 months maturation.
Winery Club: Not listed
Wine Club Description:: Not listed
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Visit Instructions: All logs must be the result of an actual visit to the winery, wine cooperative, or wine tasting center. Any logs posted otherwise will be deleted. After your tasting list the top 2 wines you liked and rate them on a scale of 1-5 (5 is great) and the price per bottle (see winery listing for an example). Original winery lister is exempt as they listed this information on the original winery listing.
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