Earlier thismonth,Gourmet Traveller hosted its first-ever virtual winetasting
event alongsidetop chef Ben Shewry and winemaker Chris Scott.A TASTE OF CHURCH ROAD
BEN SHEWRY ON REALISING WINEMAKING
IS JUST FARMING...
What I realised when I started to go to vineyards and
actually spent time on the land with winemakers and grape
growers was that it is actually much closer to my agricultural
upbringing. I grew up on a farm. I had never thought of
winemaking and vineyards as a farming pursuit, which is
strange because I’m a chef and think about ingredients
all the time. But I hadn’t made that connection. It’s a very
simple but quite powerful connection.CHRIS SCOTT ON THE RISE OF SYRAH...
The New Zealand industry’s only been growing syrah
(also known as shiraz) for quite a short time. Commercially,
we probably started back in the mid-80s. It was generally
considered to be a warm climate grape variety. The general
consensus, in the early days, was that syrah was an
unsuitable variety for a cool climate. Until somebody
bothered to have a look at France, where syrah is from
originally and realised it would work here.
It’s still very small – only about two per cent of our
grape plantings in the Hawke’s Bay. But it punches well
above its weight in terms of international accolades and
results. The thing that really makes them stand out is their
fragrance – a beautiful fl oral and spiced fragrance. That’s
the hallmark of good, cool climate syrah. church-road.comMorethan 200 readersjoinedusforanevening of conversation and
learning,aswesampledthreeofChurchRoad’s award-wining wines
andwentona virtualjourneythroughtheHawke’s Bay in New Zealand.
Herearejusta fewofthefascinatingthingswe learned.CHRISSCOTTONWHATMAKESTHEHAWKE’S BAY SPECIAL...
WeareNewZealand’swarmestwineregion.Generally, we think of New Zealand
asa coolclimatecountry,butin termsofwine,we’re a moderate climate. So we
tendtomakesomewinestylesthataredifferent to the rest of New Zealand.
Ratherthanpinotnoirandsauvignonblanc,our main wine styles are chardonnay,
syrahandtheBordeauxreds.Thechardonnay style that we make in the Hawke’s
Baytendstobequitefullbodied,withbeautiful fruit vibrancy and aromatics, but
stillretainsa niceacidityandfreshness.Theynever tend towards being big and
overblown.That’sprobablya commonthingwith good Hawke’s Bay wines across
theboard– there’sthislovelybalanceofweight and power, richness tempered
witha littlebitofeleganceandcoolclimatefreshness of fruit.BENSHEWRYONHISRELATIONSHIPWITHWINE...
Myhistorywithwineis quitecomplicatedif I’m being honest. As a young chef,
youdon’tearna lotofmoney.Traditionally,we’ve always worked long hours
forlowpay.Andsotheironyoftherestaurantindustry is that I always worked
in theseamazingrestaurantswherewinewasa special thing and it made a lot
ofpeoplehappy,butwecouldneveraffordtodrink that wine or to partake in
it. Soformanyyears,I hadthispsychologicalimpasse about it.
It wasonlyfairlyrecently,aboutfouryearsago, my mind was changed
bytwowomen.MypartnerKylietookmeona wine journey and we went to
allthesegreatvineyards,whereI reallyfellin love with wine. And also our
formerheadsommelierJane,whowasreallyamazing at demystifying wine.
SoI onlyreallydiscoveredwinein mylate30sbut I fell in love with it and
developedanalmostrabidpassionandstarted collecting it. I went from
oneendofthescaletotheother.Above from left: Church Road winery;
chef Ben Shewry; Church Road’s
chief winemaker Chris Scott. Wine
from left: Grand Reserve Merlot
Cabernet Sauvignon; Grand Reserve
Chardonnay; McDonald Series Syrah.A Gourmet Traveller promotion
PHOTOGRAPHY COLIN PAGE (SHEWRY), KIRSTEN SIMCOX (CHURCH ROAD).