CHURCH ROAD McDONALD SERIES CABERNET SAUVIGNON 2021

Gold Medal – The National Wine Awards Aotearoa New Zealand 2024
Gold Medal – Hawkes Bay Wine Awards 2023

Winery notes (2021 Vintage)
"Our pioneering winemaker, Tom McDonald (1907 – 1987) dramatically elevated the quality of winemaking in Hawke's Bay. His lifelong dedication to crafting fine wines helped establish the superb reputation that the region and Church Road are known for. Church Road honours Tom's legacy with an unwavering commitment to pushing the quality boundaries of Hawke's Bay winemaking.

This is a fragrant wine with an amalgam of black and red berry fruit, with underlying complexity of warm earth, graphite and lifted top notes of florals and fragrant wood suggestive of rosewood, cedar, lavender and violet. Layered and complex with a supple mid-palate and a long, fine grained tannin structure. With careful cellaring, we expect this wine will age gracefully for 15 years or more.

Fully destemmed and crushed, the fruit was inoculated immediately, and fermentation was allowed to peak at 34 deg C ensuring good extraction of colour and ripe tannin. Post fermentation maceration with regular aeration was employed to stabilise colour, integrate the tannin, and open up the aromatics. We tasted daily to determine the amount of aeration and to determine the optimum time to drain and press. The wine was then filled to 228 L French oak barriques (41 % new) to complete malolactic fermentation and subsequent maturation for 18 months. The wine was racked for clarity to avoid any unnecessary stripping effect and was bottled without any fining or filtration."

4 ½ Stars & Top 10 Cuisine NZ Bordeaux Style Red, June 2024 (2021 Vintage)
"A rich colour with just a hint of fade on the rim. Layered aromas of spice, leather and cassis abound on the complex nose. The palate is rich and intense with dark fruit and cured meat flavours alongside fresh acid and grippy tannins."