How one defines value for money is very individual, yet amidst belt-tightening I see others looking for quality, something experiential, the desire to spend their hard-earned cash on a truly classy experience.
Church Road are known and loved for wines across all price points, but these Icon Releases are the opportunity for their winemaking team to strut their stuff.
The highest quality fruit, lavished with care and attention, the finest oak barrels, built to last.
The price of admission is high, but these are stylish, beautifully crafted wines if you are seeking that top-end experience.
2021 Church Road No 1 Single Vineyard Gimblett Gravels Cabernet Sauvignon
Rating Excellent to Outstanding
Beautiful ripe fruit yet not
sweet, fragrant and floral,
earthy tones, savoury
aspects, a herbal twist
with air. Floods the mouth
with flavour, dark fruits,
blackcurrant, dustiness,
licorice, fine tannins,
bright yet tangy acidity.
For all its latent power
there’s drinkability
already. Struts its stuff
with air, big, bold,
deliciously chewy with a
long, long crunchy close.
2021 Church Road No 1 Single Vineyard Gimblett Gravels Malbec
Rating Outstanding
Sweeter perfume, fine oak seasoning,
chocolate, dustiness,
more red-fruited, a leafy
nuance. Sumptuous,
lovely fruit depth,
chocolate, coffee,
hinting at dried herbs
and cigar box with
aeration. Super fine
tannins, like peeling
back sheaves of paper,
become more grippy,
power and intensity, ripe
yet dry, open and
expressive yet clearly
gas in the tank for the
future.
2021 Church Road No 1 Redstone Vineyard Gimblett Gravels Merlot
Rating Excellent
Graphite/lead pencil, perfume growing,
earthy tones, plum and
red fruits, scented oak.
Dark chocolate, that 70%
cocoa dustiness and
bittersweet quality,
almost a chalky quality to
the tannins and texture
and a cool vein running
through the wine.
Sweeter fruit notes more
evident with time, the fruit
swells to envelop the
tannins.
A long, fruit-filled close.
2021 Church Road No 1 Redstone Vineyard Gimblett Gravels Syrah
Rating Excellent to Outstanding
Beguilingly fragrant nose, oak spices,
black pepper, savoury,
darker fruits.
A lifted ethereality, fine,
elegance and poise, while
still youthfully taut,
promises to open up.
Spice and savoury
elements swell, mixed
berryfruits, stony
minerality framed by fine-
grained tannins.
Cooling freshness on the
long close.
More about potential than
immediacy.
2020 Church Road Tom Hawke’s Bay Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot
Rating Outstanding Btl No 1863
A waft of milk chocolate, forest floor,
leather, gravelly/schisty,
coffee, florality, fragrance,
fruit depth, a sense of
volume and super
complexity.
Powerful, sumptuous,
wonderful depth, darker
and brooding fruit,
chocolate and earthy
tones, just endless length.
Beautifully composed,
effortless, quite the cellar
candidate and speaks to its
potential.
Magic stuff.
2021 Church Road Tom Hawke’s Bay Syrah
Rating Outstanding Btl No 0898
Fragrance leaps from the glass, red-
fruited, leafy, mineral qualities, iron
filings, violets. Savoury salami/
charcuterie influences on
the palate, olive
tapenade, red fruits,
dances in the mouth,
depth of flavour yet fine-
boned. Vibrancy and
energy with delightful,
cooling freshness. A long
distance runner that grew
superbly with aeration
over a couple of days.
