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At the inaugural Spiegelau International Wine Competition 2011, Church Road Winery walked away with the Champion Merlot trophy, jointly awarded Champion Winery trophy and a dozen medals.

Church Road Cuve Hawke’s Bay Merlot 2009 from the Church Road Winery in Hawke’s Bay was awarded the Champion Merlot Trophy and the winery was also elated to be jointly awarded the Champion Winery Trophy.

Church Road’s senior winemaker, Chris Scott, collected the two trophies on behalf of the Church Road team at the awards dinner held in Auckland on Friday 8th July.

“This continues an amazing run for the Cuve Merlot with every vintage since the inaugural 2005 having won at least one Trophy. This wine is all about meticulous viticulture and rigorous fruit selection, in some cases marking out parts of rows prior to picking so that only the lowest vigour vines are hand harvested for this wine. Once in the winery it's all about maximising the quality of the fruit through gentle handling and as such the wine is bottled unfined and unfiltered. It's fantastic to be able to accept this award on behalf of the Church Road winery team” said Chris Scott, senior winemaker.

Exceptional viticulture and Hawke’s Bay’s perfect conditions for Merlot, coupled with the skill and craft of Chris Scott and his team confidently deliver this exciting New Zealand varietal with all the quality hallmarks you'd expect from Church Road. Merlot is a grape variety that has proven extremely well suited to selected viticultural areas in New Zealand especially the hotter areas of Hawke’s Bay. In recent international tastings, Hawke’s Bay Merlot both as a single variety and in blends with Cabernet Sauvignon has successfully challenged some of the most famous reds of Bordeaux.

Commenting on the joint win for Champion Winery Chris praised the entire team. “We have a highly skilled team of viticulturists who look after some of the best vineyards in the region and a small team of ten back at the winery whose passion and dedication for Church Road goes above and beyond anything we could reasonably expect. This is a fitting reward for the efforts and skill of the people who grow and make these wines.”

Not to be outdone, the Church Road Reserve Merlot Cabernet 2008 also received a gold medal with Church Road Pinot Gris 2010, Church Road Reserve Chardonnay 2009, Church Road Reserve Viognier 2010 and Church Road Syrah 2009 all being awarded silver.

This year's inaugural awards, which replaced the Liquorland wine show, attracted 1,108 entries from New Zealand, France, Italy, Australia, Spain and Portugal.

Church Road Hawke’s Bay Cuve Merlot 2009 is available from the Church Road Winery Cellar Door, RRP is $29.99.

Inaugural Spiegelau International Wine Competition 2011
Church Road Cuve Hawke’s Bay Merlot 2009 - Champion Merlot Trophy
Church Road Winery - jointly awarded the Champion Winery Trophy
Gold medal winners: Church Road Cuve Merlot 2009, Church Road Reserve Merlot Cabernet 2008
Silver medal winners: Church Road Pinot Gris 2010, Church Road Reserve Chardonnay 2009, Church Road Reserve Viognier 2010, Church Road Syrah 2009
Bronze medal winners: Church Road Sauvignon Blanc 2010, Church Road Chardonnay 2010, Church Road Cuve Chardonnay 2009, Church Road Merlot Cabernet 2009, Church Road Cuve Cabernet Sauvignon 2009, Church Road Reserve Syrah 2009

ENDS

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