Being one of the oldest wineries in Hawke’s Bay and New Zealand operating on its original site, Church Road utilises areas within the winery to tell their 125 year story to visitors. Tom McDonald, one of the founding fathers of New Zealand winemaking, owned Church Road for over 65 years and now his concrete wine tanks have been repurposed into a wine museum and an area to deliver a curated customer experience that tells the Tom wine story, providing an exclusive and unique opportunity in a space steeped in local and international wine history showcasing stories, amphorae and mosaic artifacts dating back over 3000 years.
Introducing a little of the old with much of the new, Church Road use iPad presentations to communicate Tastings and Experiences in an innovative and interactive way, and have a range of presentations (in different languages) to tell the different stories around wines that capture their people, unique terroir, sustainable practices, and accolades. They do this ensuring that responsible hosting practices are also communicated; these have been independently internationally audited as part of their global network initiative around ensuring the responsible consumption of alcohol.
Beyond the current release wines, Church Road provide access to Cellar Door exclusive and back vintage wines in support of wine education and cellaring processes. They also offer a self-guided walk allowing visitors an insight to their history, sustainability and the regenerative plantings of native trees around their park area, which is host to a raft of activities, such as the Summer of Gwen events and large-scale concerts.
They have worked closely alongside the tourism industry for many years and have held the Qualmark Gold Level of certification for an Awarded Visitor Activity for over 16 years. They were awarded the Hawke’s Bay Tourism Industry award for Visitor Experience – Large in 2018, the New Zealand Winegrowers Cellar Door for the year in 2019, The Hawke’s Bay Tourism Industry award for Culture and Heritage Award in 2019 and have won the Hawke’s Bay Cellar Door of the Year on 4 occasions, most recently in 2024. They have also beautifully woven in the Great Wine Capitals accolade to support the storytelling of excellence in the region.
