Bye bye, Bordeaux. A red wine from Hawke’s Bay has been judged the best merlot in the world.
Church Road won the International Merlot Trophy at the 2025 International Wine Challenge (IWC) for its 2021 Church Road 1 Merlot.
Judges said the merlot was “youthful, deep dark red colour with dark fruit aromas of plums, damsons, and berries. Dark chocolate and leafy layers follow, with herb-laced black fruit and an impressive, spicy, fine tannin finish”.
The accolade was one of six awarded to the Napier winery at the annual British-based wine competition with its merlot also receiving the trophies for New Zealand merlot and Hawke’s Bay merlot.
Church Road’s Grand Reserve Chardonnay 2022 scooped a trio of trophies for New Zealand white, New Zealand chardonnay and Hawke’s Bay chardonnay. Last year the winery’s 2021 Grand Reserve Chardonnay won the International Chardonnay Trophy.
The business said the results “confirm the winery’s strength across both red and white varietals and its unwavering commitment to quality”.
Church Road’s Grand Reserve Syrah 2021 was also recognised and awarded a gold medal. Chief winemaker Chris Scott said the wins were “huge for our team and for Hawke’s Bay”.
“To see our merlot, chardonnay and syrah recognised at the highest level confirms our belief in what this region is capable of. Building on the legacy left by our pioneering winemaker Tom McDonald, we are always striving to push the quality boundaries of Hawke’s Bay wine and results such as these are incredibly rewarding for everyone involved.”
In November 2024, Church Road won six awards at the Hawke’s Bay Wine Awards.
First held in 1984, the IWC is judged by teams of wine producing experts, commercial sector leaders, buyers and Masters of Wine. Medals were awarded to 36 winemaking countries after being blind tasted by 250 panel members last month. France led the medal count with 94 golds. Aotearoa placed fourth equal with Spain, winning 32 gold medals.
New Zealand wineries won three out of the nine international trophies on offer. As well as Church Road winning the Merlot Trophy, Glenora Estate’s 2024 vintage won the International Syrah Trophy and the International Sauvignon Blanc Trophy was awarded to Villa Maria Reserve Coastal Awatere Sauvignon Blanc 2024.
“New Zealand wines performed very well this year, with some excellent red wines, alluring pinot noirs and peppery syrahs and – perhaps surprising for some – fine Bordeaux blends, as well as the more familiar whites. But even with whites, it wasn’t just reliably aromatic and fruity sauvignon blanc; there were elegant, gold-medal-winning chardonnays too,” said co-chairman Peter McCombie.
Merlot is native to the Bordeaux region of southwest France and is its most widely grown grape, but it’s a popular varietal in Aotearoa as well. New Zealand Winegrowers, the national organisation for the country’s grape and wine sector, said merlot vines benefit from Hawke’s Bay’s “diversity of soils, river terraces comprising of volcanic loess, alluvial silts and deep river gravels”.
Also beneficial are the region’s periods of “extended heat accumulation” with New Zealand Winegrowers estimating 975ha of merlot vines are planted in Hawke’s Bay.
Retailing for $120 a bottle, Church Road said its best in show merlot is grown at Redstone Vineyard, situated in the Bridge Pa Triangle wine growing district. One of the warmest vineyards in Hawke’s Bay, the brand said the site is perfect for the cultivation of later ripening varieties and “typically produces ripe, supple and very aromatic merlot with an amalgam of red and black fruit, lifted floral fragrance and an underlying iron-like minerality”.
Merlot-based reds are generally “rich and plummy in their youth” and acquire more complex characters with age. Most New Zealand merlot are thought to be at their best after two-five years of cellaring.