Church Road Gwen Hawke's Bay Rosé 2018

Description

Beautifully refreshing, this is a subtle, elegant Rosé in a bone-dry style. Flavours and aromas range from subtle red fruits and stone fruit, through to more lifted floral, guava, gentle herbal notes and flinty, mineral complexity. The palate is finely textured, with a long, zesty, slate like finish. 

Inspired by the famous and highly popular Rosés of Provence, France, while retaining an unmistakeable vibrancy that is Hawke’s Bay, New Zealand. Church Road Gwen Rosé has been crafted and named in honour of Gwen, the wife of Church Roads pioneering winemaker Tom McDonald. Gwen Rosé explores a more elegant, feminine and refined style of Rosé winemaking. Dry and finely textured with subtle light berry, guava and floral notes and savoury undertones. A refreshing mineral edge makes this a sophisticated drink that will work well as an aperitif or a versatile food wine.

2018 was one of the warmest seasons on record in Hawke’s Bay with heat accumulation 15% above the long term average. Rainfall was below average, but falls during the critical harvest period presented some challenges and careful fruit selection was required due to some botrytis pressure. Fortunately due to the warm, very dry summer, a lot of the good work done and most fruit was harvested in clean condition with good flavour ripeness and gentle acidity, producing well balanced, moderate alcohol wines.

Fruit was harvested at low brix to produce an aromatic, elegant Rosé with moderate alcohol and good freshness. The fruit was dejuiced as quickly as possible and only a very low free run cut was taken to avoid excessive extraction of the skins. This results in a very pale blush Rosé with a very fine texture and good minerality. Fermentation was in tank with an aromatic yeast strain, to preserve and enhance freshness and vibrancy. The wine was then matured on yeast lees for approximately four and a half months to provide some subtle savoury notes and enhance the wines texture. Sterile filtration has been avoided to preserve the quality of the wine.

Church Road wines are crafted at the third-oldest working winery in the country, established in 1897. Made from an outstanding vineyard resource in Hawke’s Bay, they aim to produce textural wines that marry the ripe fruit flavours of Hawke’s Bay grapes with the subtle nuances obtained from the use of traditional winemaking techniques.

Food Pairing: A versatile and food friendly style of Rosé, ideal as a refreshing aperitif, yet well suited to a range of lighter, fresher dishes, particularly where an element of umami features. Try with sashimi dishes or freshly shucked oysters.