A flavourful, multidimensional Chardonnay with a core of ripe stonefruit and fragrant citrus, overlaid with aromas of roasted nuts, toasted brioche, subtle creaminess and a hint of smoke. The palate is powerful yet restrained, with fine texture, great length and balanced fresh acidity.

Church Road Grand Reserve Chardonnay has long been respected as one of New Zealand’s finest examples of this variety and continues to be recognised as such with many major accolades for each release.

While the 2017 season presented some challenges, the quality of Chardonnay was very high over all. After a warm and settled summer and a record dry period over January, some persistent rainfall set in late in February. Most of the Chardonnay blocks coped well with the weather and with careful hand harvesting and sorting we were able to achieve a beautifully clean pick. Ripeness levels were typically lower than normal in regard to sugar levels, translating through to elegant wines with moderate alcohol content. However acids were very under control and flavour well advanced, a testament to the very warm summer.

Tuki Tuki Valley: Shallow loam topsoils with varying proportions of clay, silt, sand and volcanic ash, over greywacke river gravels Calcareous clay pan in parts, from limestone outwash. Close proximity to the sea, moderately warm nights and cooling daytime sea breezes. Fragrant, citrus/citrus flower and good acidity and minerality.

Church Road Grand Reserve wines are produced only in great vintages. The very best low-cropping vineyard blocks are targeted for selective hand harvesting to give wines with the greatest possible flavour, depth and concentration. In the winery these wines are made using small batch, traditional winemaking techniques that emphasise texture, structure and subtle complexity, while still letting the fruit shine through.

Food Pairing: A fuller bodied style of Chardonnay with a moderate oak influence, the Church Road Reserve Chardonnay is a great food wine. It is ideally matched to Seafood, poultry and lighter game dishes particularly where an element of creaminess, such as beurre blanc sauce is included in the dish.