Church Road Grand Reserve Chardonnay 2021

Wine
A fuller bodied Chardonnay balanced by gentle, fresh acidity and a spine of slate like minerality. Fresh zesty citrus and citrus blossom notes are to the fore this year with riper, richer stonefruit underlying and providing extra depth. The fruit is overlaid with complexities of roasted nuts, toasted brioche, and a wisp of struck flint and gun smoke. Already drinking exceptionally well, with careful cellaring we expect this wine to continue to mature gracefully for 5 years or more from vintage date.

Vineyards
Tuki Tuki Vineyard (67%): Planted by Tom McDonald in the 1960’s and is situated roughly 4km from the mouth of the Tuki Tuki river on the eastern bank, on a gentle slope running down towards the river. Elevated slightly above the surrounding plains, the vineyard is exposed to cooling afternoon sea breezes which help to retain fragrance and fresh acidity, ideal for Chardonnay. The topsoil is a dense clay over a calcareous clay pan that has resulted from limestone outwash from the Tuki Tuki valley. The capillary action in the clay soil holds on to water tightly in the drier summer months, making it hard for the vine to access, while the clay pan restricts root growth. Therefore, vine vigour is generally well controlled, and crops are naturally very modest. The limestone influence brings a mineral element to the wines that we do not see to the same degree from other sites.
Terraces Vineyard (27%): On the western bank of the river, sheltered to the south by Te Mata Peak and to the west by a higher river terrace, but still affected by the sea breeze, this is a slightly warmer site with a similar soil type. The wines are richer and rounder with a greater emphasis on stonefruit flavours.
Omarunui Vineyard (6%): The only vineyard from outside of the Tuki Tuki valley, on the southern bank, of the Tutaikuri river, roughly 10 minutes south of Church Road. A sheltered, more inland site, it produces subtle stone fruit flavoured wines with gentle texture. Bringing more of a white flesh peach note to the blend.

Winemaking
Hand-harvested and hand sorted, the fruit was gently whole bunch pressed directly to French oak barriques without any clarification or additions. Wild primary and malolactic fermentation ensued, and has delivered an extra degree of complexity, textural interest and provided an excellent natural acid balance. 33% new oak was used to aid to further enhance the depth of the wine without dominating the fruit. The wine was matured on full yeast lees in barrel approximately 11 months with only occasional yeast lees stirring. To avoid any unnecessary stripping effect, the wine was unfined and only lightly filtered for clarity prior to bottling.

Wine analysis
Alcohol 13.5% by volume
TA 6.0g/L
pH 3.34