Hawke’s Bay winery, Church Road has been winning accolades again at the annual Winestate Wine of the Year Awards announced today with Chief Winemaker, Chris Scott, crowned NZ Winemaker of the Year for an unprecedented fourth time. Church Road Grand Reserve Chardonnay 2019 picked up both Wine of the Year and Chardonnay of the Year. They also saw their Church Road Grand Reserve Merlot Cabernet Sauvignon 2019 win Merlot of the Year. Pernod Ricard Winemakers NZ, who own Church Road, also won NZ Wine Company of the Year.
No-one has ever won the Winemaker of the Year award four times, and Chris said: “Winning Winemaker of the Year is a real privilege, and to win it four times is just incredible. It’s such a great testament to the efforts of the entire team here. They’re a great bunch of incredibly talented people and it is through everyone’s dedication and skill that we achieve the results that we do. It is also testament to the wonderful region we call home and we’re incredibly proud that we can do our bit to help demonstrate Hawke’s Bay’s ability to produce wines that are amongst the finest in the world.”
The Grand Reserve Chardonnay 2019 is primarily sourced from the gentle but elevated slopes of Tuki Tuki Vineyard in the Tuki Tuki Valley and Terraces Vineyard sheltered from the south by Te Mata Peak. The Grand Reserve Merlot Cabernet Sauvignon 2019 is primarily sourced from the Gimblett Vineyard, that typically produces darkly fruited structural wines that respond well to cellaring. Church Road is available in leading retail, grocery, on-premise and www.churchroad.com. The Church Road Grand Reserve wines also launched into China for the first time just last month.
