New World Wine Awards: Church Road scoops rare double win for its entry-level bottles

Church Road head winemaker Chris Scott says the winery's New World Wine Award-winning budget bottles contain just as much love as its top-shelf ones. Photo / Mitchell Hageman

It was a tale of two tipples for Hawke’s Bay winery Church Road on Thursday when it cleaned up the New World Wine Awards competition and took the top spots for its red and white entry-level wines.

Known for producing the world’s best chardonnay with its 2021 vintage, the vineyard took out the varietal champion titles for its Church Road Chardonnay 2023 and Church Road Syrah 2021, both of which are under $25 retail.

The two wines then went on to win a hotly contested taste-off for the respective titles of White and Red Wine of the Show.

But just because they’re cheap doesn’t mean they don’t get the same love as their premium products, said chief winemaker Chris Scott.

“Our entry-level label is still something that we put a lot of effort into and take a lot of pride in because, for a lot of people, that is their first experience with the Church Road brand,” Scott said.

“I think it comes down to that attention to detail and focus on quality right through the range. Just because it’s our cheapest wine doesn’t mean it doesn’t get the same amount of love as wines that are higher up in the range.”

According to the tasting notes, the syrah is built around a core of brambly, dark berry fruit, which is said to carry lifted aromatic notes of violet, lavender and warm spice.

The chardonnay had a core of ripe stonefruit and fragrant citrus, overlaid with aromas of roasted nuts, toasted brioche, subtle creaminess and a hint of smoke.

“My go-to companion for the chardonnay is a roast chicken. We do a brined chicken and slow-roast it on a charcoal barbecue,” Scott noted.

The chardonnay takes its fruits from several different Hawke’s Bay vineyards, such as Tukituki, Bridge Pā and Crownthorpe, whereas the syrah is predominantly from the Bridge Pā Triangle.

“We’re a winery of a reasonable size, and it’s very much a team effort,” Scott said.

“If you talk to the people at our winery, most of them have been here for a very long time, so it’s a great place to work, and people tend not to leave.”

The wine awards’ judging was done blind, so the brands were not known when they were tasted.

“Seeing two champion wines from one winery at this level is very exciting – for us and for the wine-loving shoppers who can now enjoy the fruits of this win,” chairwoman of the award judges Jen Parr said.

“These Champion and Wine of the Show titles mean these wines not only scored highly and ranked best against around 100 entries of their same variety, but they also rose above strong competition from all other white or red varieties.”

Scott said the whole Church Road team was “delighted” with the win and he thanked them for their dedication and hard work.

“The guys here in the winery will be the first people to pull the winemakers up if they think something is detrimental to quality. It’s just a great culture.”

Church Road isn’t the only Hawke’s Bay winery in the limelight, with locally grown wines from Clearview Estate, Mission Estate, Selaks and Trinity Hill rounding out the region’s Top 50 successes.

Sourcing its grapes from Hawke’s Bay and Gisborne, Lindauer also showed why it’s the country’s go-to bubbles brand with another Champion win for its Special Reserve Rosé NV and Top 50 status for its Special Reserve Blanc de Blancs NV.

Mitchell Hageman joined Hawke’s Bay Today in January 2023. From his Napier base, he writes regularly on social issues, arts and culture, and the community. He has a particular love for stories about ordinary people doing extraordinary things.