Church Road - TOM Wine Range
Church Road TOM is a tribute to Tom McDonald (1907 – 1987), a passionate and visionary winemaker who devoted his life to producing outstanding New Zealand wine at the Church Road Winery in Hawkes Bay.
Tom is widely regarded as the father of red wine-making in New Zealand and was one of the New Zealand winemakers to produce quality Chardonnay.
In honour of Tom and his legacy the Church Road team launched the TOM wine range. The inaugural 1995 vintage of Church Road TOM Cabernet Sauvignon was introduced and celebrated in 1999 at the opening of the Tom McDonald Cellar at Church Road Winery.
21 years later, Church Road continues to honour his legacy with the announcement of the new Church Road TOM annual release – on September 12th.
On July 29th I attended a pre-launch showcase of the new release wines and a stunning dinner - both presented at Botswana Butchery Restaurant in downtown Auckland.
Images from the evening are above along with an overview of each wine (below).
Tasting notes can be found on my Reviews page: https://www.camdouglasms.com/reviews/2020/8/3/church-road-tom-releases-july-2020-hawkes-bay
Church Road TOM Chardonnay 2019 Winemakers: Chris Scott and Craig Thomas
Viticulturalist: Graham Bartleet
“Dedicated to Tom McDonald, Patriarch of Church Road and pioneer of Hawke’s Bay Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon. Tom is only made in exceptional vintages. Simply put, these are our best wines. No effort is spared. They represent the culmination of the collective experience and understanding of our team past and present, applied to some of the best parcels of wine growing landing Hawke’s Bay.” Chris Scott, Chief Winemaker.
Vineyards: 100% Tuki Tuki Valley / Tuki Tuki Vineyard (72%);
Winemaking: Hand-harvested and hand-sorted, the fruit was gently whole-bunch pressed directly to French oak barriques without any clarification or additions. Wild primary and malolactic fermentation ensued, and has delivered an extra degree of complexity, textural interest and provided an excellent natural acid balance. 31% new oak was used to further enhance the depth of the wine without dominating the fruit. The wine was matured on full yeast lees in barrel approximately 11 months with only occasional yeast lees stirring. To avoid any unnecessary stripping effect, the wine was un fined and only lightly filtered for clarity prior to bottling.
Church Road TOM Merlot Cabernet Sauvignon 2016 Winemakers: Chris Scott and Craig Thomas. Viticulturalist: Graham Bartleet
“Dedicated to Tom McDonald, Patriarch of Church Road and pioneer of Hawke’s Bay Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon. Tom is only made in exceptional vintages. Simply put, these are our best wines. No effort is spared. They represent the culmination of the collective experience and understanding of our team past and present, applied to some of the best parcels of winegrowing landing Hawke’s Bay.” Chris Scott, Chief Winemaker.
Winemaking: Selective harvesting was employed to target only the lowest vigour soils, down to part rows where required. The fruit was then destemmed, lightly crushed, and fermented warm in open top French oak cuves. The caps were regularly broken and wetted to ensure a steady, gentle extraction. Total time on skins averaged around four weeks. During this time the wines are tasted daily to determine cap work, aeration requirements and drain and press timing, with the aim of achieving wines with a complete and harmonious palate structure. The resultant wine was filled to a selection of the finest French oak barrels (62% new) for 18 months subsequent maturation. The final blend has been bottled unfiltered to maximise quality.