Chruch Road Winery winemaker Chris Scott. Photo / Supplied
Church Road has taken the Champion Chardonnay and Champion White Wine awards at this year’s New World Wine Awards Top 50 wines under $25 with its Church Road McDonald Series Hawke’s Bay Chardonnay 2021. The winery is also celebrating 125 years.
Linda Hall asked winemaker Chris Scott some questions.
What do you think it was about the chardonnay that won it Champion White Wine of the Show?
Well, firstly it’s chardonnay. Without a doubt, the greatest white wine grape variety in the world in my humble opinion and Hawke’s Bay is one of the best places in the world to grow it. Then it’s about balance and restraint. We get exceptional fruit quality from our Tuki Tuki valley vineyards, so our job as winemakers is to subtly enhance rather than overtly manipulate. We’re very hands-off with chardonnay. Hand-picking, gentle pressing, no juice clarification, no juice additions, not even any yeast. The wine is completely wild ferment in predominantly older oak barrels, keeping the new oak impact subtle. This approach builds subtle depth, texture and complexity while still letting the fruit shine.
At what process of the winemaking do you know that it is going to be something special?
You can tell in the vineyard, tasting the fruit just before harvest, you know when you’ve got something special.
What skills do you need to be a winemaker?
I’ve met great winemakers with all sorts of backgrounds, from those with the highest-level qualifications to those with no formal winemaking education at all. The technical understanding will certainly help you understand what your options are when solving issues, investigating trials or aiming for a particular style, but you can be the most technically qualified winemaker in the world and still make very ordinary wine. I always tell students to aim to make wine like a chef, not like a scientist. Trust your palate and your instinct over the numbers and the theory. Fine wine is an art. Science is just one tool at the artist’s disposal. The most important skill I think is to educate and refine your palate, and I mean that in the widest sense, not just for wine. The best winemakers I’ve met are usually very passionate about good food and good drink. They understand the balance and refinement and quality.
What do you think is the most important thing to remember when storing and ageing wine?
Where you’ve put it? Sorry … Aside from that, aim for as cool and even temperature as you can and avoid contact with light. This will ensure the wines age more gracefully. Ensure cork closure bottles are laid on their side to keep the cork wet. This helps keep the cork in good condition and reduces air ingress. Consider what you’re ageing. Some wine styles are best drunk young, some look great with two or three years of bottle age and some will age positively for 15–20 years or more. So ask for advice and do your research. Finally, err on the side of caution. I’d always rather drink a wine that could’ve gone a bit further but still shows good freshness than one that’s fallen over and is past its best.
What is one of your favourite varietals to work with and why?
Hawke’s Bay syrah. Wow! Fragrance, power, elegance, it’s got it all. And it’s getting huge international plaudits. A couple of years ago at the Global Syrah Masters, Hawke’s Bay was named as one of the four best regions in the world for syrah/shiraz (two different names for the same grape variety), along with Barossa Valley in Australia and the Northern Rhone in France, and last year our Church Road Grand Reserve Syrah was awarded the Champion Syrah/Shiraz at the Global Fine Wine Challenge. There are scores of other examples of Hawke’s Bay syrah successfully competing with the best on the world stage. Syrah is a relative newcomer and we’re still learning a lot about getting the best out of the grape and the wine style is still evolving. That journey is a lot of fun!
Any winemaking tips for those just getting into winemaking or those interested in studying wine?
As per above. Educate and refine your palate and, just get out there and get as much experience and education as you can. Trial, travel, talk to people, be part of the winemaking community wherever you are. (Though don’t be scared to disagree with them and forge your own path either!)
What is one of the hardest things about winemaking year in and year out?
No two vintages are the same, they each throw up different challenges or variations and you need to be able to respond appropriately and make the best of whatever the year throws at you. Good winemakers have the experience and the intuition to make fantastic wines even in challenging seasons.
Church Road is celebrating 125 years — are there any plans for a very special wine vintage?
We launched the latest release of our flagship Tom range, named in honour of our pioneering winemaker, Tom McDonald. We only make these wines in exceptional vintages, and rarely do we release the full suite of cabernet merlot, syrah and chardonnay. This year we released all three.
Any other celebrations planned?
We had a great celebration here at the winery and we did a fantastic round of winemaker dinners in Auckland, Wellington and Queenstown, with Dr Jo Burzynska. Jo is a wine writer and multisensory artist and researcher, who led us on an incredible journey demonstrating how all five senses can impact the way we perceive wine, or anything else we taste for that matter. For example, looking through a red lens makes us perceive riper fruits and softer texture, while a green lens invokes less ripe fruits and more acidity. It was quite incredible and generated really good discussion and engagement.
What are you looking forward to for the 2023 harvest?
Harvest is my favourite time of the working year! It’s fast-paced, dynamic and exciting. We also have people here from all over the world to help us get the harvest in and safely tucked away. There’s a real camaraderie that develops and we always learn a lot from their collective experiences. It’s the time of year where we can be quite singularly focused on winemaking, and that is what I love to do.
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