syrah pinot gris pinot noir viognier hawkes bay

Lorraine Leheny and Warren Gibson

Bilancia is a small Hawke's Bay producer of exceptional Pinot Gris, Viognier, Pinot Noir and Syrah. It was established in 1997 with the first wines released in mid 1998

The word  Bilancia (be-larn-cha) means, in Italian, balance, equilibrium and harmony. These terms have obvious connections with wine and winemaking, but also, for any Librans out there, Bilancia is the Italian word for the Zodiac sign Libra which both Lorraine and Warren were born under. The philosophy of balance, equilibrium and harmony is something that is carried through all aspects of the winemaking and, hopefully, people will see this when they drink the wines.

The viticultural central point for  Bilancia  is the 6 hectares (15 acres) of land covering the front and back of Roys Hill (west of Hastings on State Highway 50) where, planted only on the North - Northwest facing slope, is the vineyard known as  la collina (col-ee-na), which is Italian for "the hill". The upper most slopes and terraces are planted to Syrah whilst the lower gently rising land and gravels flat is planted to Viognier

Fruit has been always been sourced predominantly from Hawke's Bay although, from the 2000 to 2003 harvests some Pinot Gris was taken from Marlborough. Since 2004 all fruit has been sourced from Hawke's Bay vineyards. Syrah and Viognier are from la collina and  some Syrah is also taken from Gimblett Road Vineyards. The other varieties are purchased from quality outside sources; Glencoe Station, south of Maraekakaho and Black Bridge Estate at Haumoana. This helps to maintain a balanced range of wines.