How one defines value for money is very individual, yet amidst belt-tightening I see others looking for quality, something experiential, the desire to spend their hard-earned cash on a truly classy experience. Church Road are known and loved for wines across all price points, but these Icon Releases are the opportunity for their winemaking team to strut their stuff. The highest quality fruit, lavished with care and attention, the finest oak barrels, built to last. The price of admission is high, but these are stylish, beautifully crafted wines if you are seeking that top-end experience. 2021 Church Road No 1 Single Vineyard Gimblett Gravels Cabernet Sauvignon Price RRP $120 Rating Excellent to Outstanding Beautiful ripe fruit yet not sweet, fragrant and floral, earthy tones, savoury aspects, a herbal twist with air. Floods the mouth with flavour, dark fruits, blackcurrant, dustiness, licorice, fine tannins, bright yet tangy acidity. For all its latent power there’s drinkability already. Struts its stuff with air, big, bold, deliciously chewy with a long, long crunchy close. www.church-road.com 2021 Church Road No 1 Single Vineyard Gimblett Gravels Malbec Price RRP $120 Rating Outstanding Sweeter perfume, fine oak seasoning, chocolate, dustiness, more red-fruited, a leafy nuance. Sumptuous, lovely fruit depth, chocolate, coffee, hinting at dried herbs and cigar box with aeration. Super fine tannins, like peeling back sheaves of paper, become more grippy, power and intensity, ripe yet dry, open and expressive yet clearly gas in the tank for the future. www.church-road.com 2021 Church Road No 1 Redstone Vineyard Gimblett Gravels Merlot Price RRP $120 Rating Excellent Graphite/lead pencil, perfume growing, earthy tones, plum and red fruits, scented oak. Dark chocolate, that 70% cocoa dustiness and bittersweet quality, almost a chalky quality to the tannins and texture and a cool vein running through the wine. Sweeter fruit notes more evident with time, the fruit swells to envelop the tannins. A long, fruit-filled close. www.church-road.com 2021 Church Road No 1 Redstone Vineyard Gimblett Gravels Syrah Price RRP $120 Rating Excellent to Outstanding Beguilingly fragrant nose, oak spices, black pepper, savoury, darker fruits. A lifted ethereality, fine, elegance and poise, while still youthfully taut, promises to open up. Spice and savoury elements swell, mixed berryfruits, stony minerality framed by fine- grained tannins. Cooling freshness on the long close. More about potential than immediacy. www.church-road.com 2020 Church Road Tom Hawke’s Bay Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot Price RRP $220 Rating Outstanding Btl No 1863 A waft of milk chocolate, forest floor, leather, gravelly/schisty, coffee, florality, fragrance, fruit depth, a sense of volume and super complexity. Powerful, sumptuous, wonderful depth, darker and brooding fruit, chocolate and earthy tones, just endless length. Beautifully composed, effortless, quite the cellar candidate and speaks to its potential. Magic stuff. www.church-road.com 2021 Church Road Tom Hawke’s Bay Syrah Price RRP $220 Rating Outstanding Btl No 0898 Fragrance leaps from the glass, red- fruited, leafy, mineral qualities, iron filings, violets. Savoury salami/ charcuterie influences on the palate, olive tapenade, red fruits, dances in the mouth, depth of flavour yet fine- boned. Vibrancy and energy with delightful, cooling freshness. A long distance runner that grew superbly with aeration over a couple of days. www.church-road.com
