The Country
  • The Country home
  • Latest news
  • Audio & podcasts
  • Opinion
  • Dairy farming
  • Sheep & beef farming
  • Rural business
  • Rural technology
  • Rural life
  • Listen on iHeart radio

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • Coast & Country News
  • Opinion
  • Dairy farming
  • Sheep & beef farming
  • Horticulture
  • Animal health
  • Rural business
  • Rural technology
  • Rural life

Media

  • Podcasts
  • Video

Weather

  • Kaitaia
  • Whāngarei
  • Dargaville
  • Auckland
  • Thames
  • Tauranga
  • Hamilton
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Tokoroa
  • Te Kuiti
  • Taumurunui
  • Taupō
  • Gisborne
  • New Plymouth
  • Napier
  • Hastings
  • Dannevirke
  • Whanganui
  • Palmerston North
  • Levin
  • Paraparaumu
  • Masterton
  • Wellington
  • Motueka
  • Nelson
  • Blenheim
  • Westport
  • Reefton
  • Kaikōura
  • Greymouth
  • Hokitika
  • Christchurch
  • Ashburton
  • Timaru
  • Wānaka
  • Oamaru
  • Queenstown
  • Dunedin
  • Gore
  • Invercargill

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • What the Actual
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / The Country

Passion key as Church Road named Cellar Door of Year

By Anneke Smith
Reporter·Hawkes Bay Today·
20 Oct, 2017 10:00 PM3 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Church Road Winery visitor centre team leader Mitch Hyndman was proud of his staff after they won Cellar Door of the Year at the Hawke's Bay Wine Awards. Photo/Paul Taylor

Church Road Winery visitor centre team leader Mitch Hyndman was proud of his staff after they won Cellar Door of the Year at the Hawke's Bay Wine Awards. Photo/Paul Taylor

Passion and warmth are the key components needed for an award-winning cellar door, according to Church Road Winery visitor centre team leader Mitch Hyndman.

The Taradale winery was named Cellar Door of the Year at the Hawke's Bay A&P Bayleys Wine Awards held at the Hawke's Bay Showgrounds on Tuesday night.

Mr Hyndman said tailoring visitor experiences to meet individual needs was an integral part of cellar door at Church Road Winery.

Read more: Bay winery nets three golds in New York

"It comes back to passion. We try to find what people are looking for, what type of wines they want, but it's also the warmth of the team and making people feel comfortable."

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

His entire team, comprised of 11 female staff, accompanied him on the stage to accept the award and he said he was incredibly proud of the work they had done.

"It was nerve-wracking but it was amazing though. The team deserved it, they did so well. The passion for the Hawke's Bay and the wine we sell is just tremendous."

Church Road also won Reserve Champion Wine of the Show for the McDonald Series Syrah 2015 and other awards for its Church Road Pinot Gris 2017 and McDonald Series Tempranillo 2015.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Mr Hyndman said the company had recently celebrated 120 years of wine-making and was producing top quality products.

"The winery was established in 1897 so Chris Scott has been the senior winemaker there for a while and the quality wine that he produces is just impressive."

Talking through the variety of experiences on offer at cellar door, Mr Hyndman said they provided both complimentary and paid tastings, and had a total 21 wines available.

Church Road blanc de noirs (bubbles), chardonnay and merlot cabernet were the trio on offer to those "getting used to the brand" in the complimentary tasting, Mr Hyndman said.

Meanwhile paid tastings explored a variety of upper tiers and included syrah, pinot gris and tempranillo, and were priced between $5 and $15.

"The innovation is pushing boundaries, in some senses, with wines that people aren't familiar with or in a different style."

Mr Hyndman said his favourite part of his role at Church Road was "making moments in the memories" for those visiting.

"For myself it's creating experiences. It may sound a bit corny but everything we do is about creating positive experiences."

Cruise ships, tour buses and walk in customers were set to keep the tasting room humming as summer approached, he said.

"It's already picking up already we can tell summer is coming. It's interesting the shoulder seasons are much busier than they used to be. Basically for us we always had two winter months and that was July and August and we're still quite steady."

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Save

    Share this article

Latest from The Country

Premium
The Country

Gisborne farm life inspires uniquely humorous book about dead sheep

20 May 04:00 AM
The Country

Sweet success story for NZ hives on World Bee Day

20 May 03:25 AM
The Country

NZ's red meat renaissance - Rabobank

20 May 02:14 AM

The Hire A Hubby hero turning handyman stereotypes on their head

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from The Country

Premium
Gisborne farm life inspires uniquely humorous book about dead sheep

Gisborne farm life inspires uniquely humorous book about dead sheep

20 May 04:00 AM

'Super fun': A statistician turns her shock into a quirky book about dead sheep.

Sweet success story for NZ hives on World Bee Day

Sweet success story for NZ hives on World Bee Day

20 May 03:25 AM
NZ's red meat renaissance - Rabobank

NZ's red meat renaissance - Rabobank

20 May 02:14 AM
The Country: Ducks - friend or foe?

The Country: Ducks - friend or foe?

20 May 01:53 AM
Gold demand soars amid global turmoil
sponsored

Gold demand soars amid global turmoil

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • What the Actual
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven CarGuide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP