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Ripe stone fruit characters are enhanced with attractive oak sweetness and subtle layers of complexity. Delicate handling has produced a palate which is refined and elegant, yet at the same time powerful and lingering. Barrique fermented in predominantly French oak barriques before being aged for eight to ten months with the lees stirred once a week.
This elegant, yet powerful barrique-fermented Chardonnay is true to the Church Road style. Crafted using traditional winemaking techniques this premium, complex wine marries ripe, distinctive fruit characteristics with toasty oak sweetness.
Release date: 2 December 2002
Variety: 100% Chardonnay
Region: 100% Hawke's Bay
Description
This wine is a dry, barrique-fermented style of Chardonnay.
Colour: Light straw.
Aromas: Layers of stone fruit, melon and citrus, enhanced by a refined seam of toasty French oak and subtle layers of yeast complexity.
Palate: Delicate handling of the ripe and concentrated fruit has produced a palate which exhibits both elegance and power with a lingering finish. The sweetness of the fruit and oak is balanced by a moderate level of acidity.
Food matching suggestions
The buttery, citrusy flavours of this wine are highlighted in dishes with creamy sauces and subtle lemon flavours.
Try this wine with Church Road's recipes for smoked salmon and asparagus salad with a lemon beurre sauce, baby poussin with thyme and marmalade glaze or pan-fried groper with red pepper cream.
At home, add a splash of Church Road Chardonnay and a knob of butter to sauces for fish, chicken or pork. Add a little wine and lemon zest to create delicious salad dressing.
Recommended Cellaring
Careful cellaring for four years or more will be rewarded with increased complexity and integration.
Vintage
After a cool summer, Hawkes Bay experienced an ideal warm, dry autumn which allowed the grapes to reach optimum maturity with a good level of ripeness, concentration and excellent flavour retention.
Vinification methods have remained true to the Church Road style, and the result is a classic vintage of Church Road Chardonnay.
Winemaking
Winemaker: Tony Prichard
Harvest notes: Harvested mid March to early April 2002.
2002 was an excellent year for Hawke's Bay Chardonnay. The fruit achieved good ripeness and concentration while still retaining excellent varietal expression and fine natural acidity.
Fermentation notes: Following overnight settling, the free-run juice was racked to barrels and fermented under controlled conditions in French barriques.
A number of different yeasts were used to ferment the base wines, resulting in a complex range of yeast characters. No malolactic fermentation was used in this vintage.
Maturation notes: The wine was held on full yeast lees for the six months it spent fermenting and maturing in French oak (one third of the barrels were new). Regular battonage (lees stirring) was used to protect the wine and round out the mouth-feel.
Analysis
Alcohol: 13.7% by volume
pH: 3.43
Total acidity: 7.4g/l as per tartaric
Brix at harvest: Average 23-24
