Church Road TOM Chardonnay

One of the most iconic Chardonnays this country produces meets the vintage of a lifetime – a piece of New Zealand wine history is here!

TOM is the pinnacle of winemaking at Church Road and only ever released in top vintages, 2021 was exactly that.

TOM is Church Road’s tribute to one of New Zealand’s winemaking legends, Tom McDonald. The very best parcels of fruit from their Tuki Tuki vineyard, hand harvested and hand sorted, a meticulous attention to detail in every aspect of the winemaking process, aged for 11 months in oak, a complex and finely textured Chardonnay. A legendary wine that’s a fitting tribute for a legendary bloke.

Tom released NZ’s first commercial Cabernet Sauvignon in 1949, in later years pioneering New Zealand Chardonnay. By the 1960’s his Cabernets were being compared to some of the First Growth wines of Bordeaux. So yep, there’s certainly a bit of pressure when it comes to a release under the TOM label but this critic scores back up what a class act this is yet again…

95/100 & Top Rank Award (Bob Campbell MW, The Real Review)
“Taut, peppery chardonnay with grapefruit, saline/oyster shell, hazelnut, toast and nutty oak flavours. This is a formidable wine, rather closed at the moment but with the potential to develop with further bottle age.”

5 Stars (Michael Cooper)
“This is the pinnacle of Church Road’s Hawke’s Bay Chardonnays – as its price conveys. The classy, very harmonious 2021 vintage (5*) was grown entirely in the Tuki Tuki Valley, including fruit from the company’s Tuki Tuki Vineyard (72 per cent of the blend) and the slightly warmer Terraces Vineyard, at the foot of the Havelock Hills (28 per cent). Hand-picked, it was fermented and matured for 11 months on its full yeast lees in French oak barriques (22 per cent new). Bright, light yellow/green, it has a highly fragrant bouquet, rich, complex and slightly smoky. Full-bodied, it is deep and finely poised, with concentrated, ripe stonefruit flavours, toasty, mealy and smoky notes adding notable complexity, lively acidity and a rounded, lasting finish. An energetic, vibrant wine with obvious potential, it’s already delicious, but well worth cellaring to mid-2024+”

96/100 (Cam Douglas MS)
“Really fantastic bouquet, taut and youthful with crystal clear scents of just picked and baked peach, ripe grapefruit and French oak suggesting new wood, raw cashew nut and baked apple, a whisper of caramel then toasty brown spices. Lovely weight and intensity with power and precision, textures and flavours reflective of the bouquet. Taut and dry, fine tannins, saline salivating acidity, layers of gun-flint and grapefruit, very youthful with a long finish. Cellar or not, drink now or in 3 years, this wine is delicious. Best drinking from early 2024 through 2029.”

Each bottle is individually numbered and presented in a stunning Church Road TOM gift box. We’ve secured a small shipment but once it’s gone, it’s gone. Recommended drinking up to 2030.