As our wine industry develops, a number of wines have set themselves apart, true icons for the rest of the players to aspire to, and wines that have the greatest respect and high demand for the wine lover. They have become highly sought after and collectable. Some are prohibitively expensive, others not, and the availability can vary, but they are in a league of their own. Te Mata’s ‘Coleraine’ is without any doubt first choice, followed closely by fellow Bordeaux-style Stonyridge ‘Larose’. Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc is another, as is Neudorf Moutere Chardonnay, Ata Rangi Pinot Noir and Felton Road ‘Block 5’Pinot Noir. There are a number of contenders to join this elite group, most notably Craggy Range ‘Le Sol’ Syrah, with Kumeu River ‘Mates’ Chardonnay and Dry River ‘anything’. Hawke’s Bay as a region is particularly strong here with the likes of Sacred Hill ‘Riflemans’ Chardonnay and Esk Valley ‘The Terraces’. We highlight two others which could be argued should be in the very top level, the Trinity Hill ‘Homage’ Syrah and Church Road ‘Tom’. Regional Wines has limited stocks of these available now…

Trinity Hill ‘Homage’ Syrah 2007
The Trinity Hill ‘Homage’ Syrah wine created a storm when the 2002 vintage was first released with its heavy-duty, deeply punted, luxury bottle and $100.00+ price tag. It was what was inside the bottle - if you could afford it - that was truly startling, for this was Syrah taken by veteran winemaker John Hancock to another level. Already accomplished with the variety, John wanted to honour his mentor, Gerard Jaboulet, who made ‘La Chapelle’ Hermitage, the aspirational wine for him. The ‘Homage’ pushed the limits of ripeness, extraction, concentration and oaking without losing varietal expression. Some critics thought John did go past the limits. Trinity Hill’s ‘Homage’ has changed ever so subtly over successive vintages to be better without any doubt. The 2006 was Champion Wine of the Show at the 2007 ANZWA. It was a superlative vintage for Trinity Hill and John Hancock.

The Trinity Hill ‘Homage’ Syrah 2007 is a worthy successor to the great 2006, this wine having won numerous awards including Trophy for Champion Syrah at the 2010 Royal Easter Show Wine Awards. Sourced from the company’s Gimblett Estate and Gimblett Stones vineyards, this is 91% Syrah and 9% Viognier co-fermented, the latter as skins after light pressing for the white wine, reaching 14.4% alc, then aged 18 months in mainly new French barriques. It is the most elegant and refined ‘Homage’ Syrah to date, partly a function of the slightly cooler vintage, but also by design by John and his winemaker Warren Gibson in search of greater detail and finesse. Black-red with purple hues to the colour, the nose is packed with aromas of black fruits, spices, black pepper, tar, violets all lifted by beautifully balanced oak. This is a powerful and near-massive wine, especially in terms of delivering flavour, but the sweetness and richness of fruit is integrated with the tannin textures resulting in harmony and fineness. The wine is very fine-featured, with stunning nuances of spices and florals, along with meat and tar appearing. It is an incredible statement, and a great wine that will live another 15 years easily.

Church Road ‘Tom’ 2005
Aiming to create a monumental wine, Montana, our largest winemaker created ‘Tom’ with the 1995 vintage, and released it with much fanfare, in the revitalized Church Road cellars in Hawke’s Bay. The wine was made with the technical input of Domaines Cordier, who owned and managed several top-flight Bordeaux properties, such as Chateaux Meyney in St Estephe, and Talbot and Gruaud-Larose in St Julien. The wine was a tribute to Tom McDonald, pioneering Hawke’s Bay vigneron, who produced a series of wonderful Cabernet Sauvignon wines in the 1960s, and under whom, Montana head Peter Hubscher served his apprenticeship. Alas, it was too good. The ‘Tom’ 1995 was a classic cellaring wine that was highly extracted, firm and not easy to drink on release. The wine took a decade for its toughness to soften out. The lessons learnt from that exercise resulted in a succession of ‘Tom’ wines that progressively became slightly softer, finer and more accessible, with a significant influence of greater proportions of Merlot in the blend. As Montana morphed to Allied-Domecq and now to Pernod-Ricard, ‘Tom’ has come home to Church Road, and the hands of winemaker Chris Scott.

The Church Road ‘Tom’ 2005 is a stupendous wine in the Bordeaux-style, and is truly the ultimate crowning glory in the already astounding Church Road Bordeaux-varietal range. The 2005 vintage is now recognized as one of the greatest in Hawke’s Bay to date, and the best wines have the ability to age two to three decades; the ‘Tom’ 2005 sits among the very best. Made from 67% Merlot and 33% Cabernet Sauvignon from the Gimblett Gravels, the fruit was fermented in the Church Road French oak cuves to 13.5% alc, the must given pump-over and hand-plunging for extraction, the components aged 15 months in 85% new French barriques before blending, after which the wine was returned to barrel for a further 6 months maturation. Very dark, almost impenetrable purple black-red in colour, this magically juxtaposes great richness with stylish restraint. The bouquet is packed with fully ripe dark plum and berry fruits along with floral nuances, spices and cedar. On palate, there is a freshness and vitality to the brooding nature, where the significant extraction is so obvious. Such is the proportion that elegance and cedary complexity is the certain end result of bottle maturation for this wine. It may take a decade to get there, but it will keep another two decades after that.