2008 Pinot Grispinot gris

Grigio è Gris (Grey is Grey)

                Read about the name change here

100% Hawkes Bay fruit sourced from Black Bridge Estate, Haumoana.

2008 was a warm and dry harvest with great ripening conditions. The clean, fully ripe fruit was 100% hand harvested and whole bunch pressed to tanks for settling. A slow, cool fermentation in tank allowed for the retention of classic Pinot Gris fruit characters in the finished wine. 

The aromatics of the wine show pears, creaming soda and spiciness with slight florals, while the full and rich palate is a balance of flavour, structure and texture.  

Pinot Gris is about overall mouthfeel, balance and texture; texture is built through the combination of outstanding fruit quality and careful attention to winemaking balance. 

The 2008 Pinot Gris is great drinking on release and will continue to drink well for 4 - 6 years.

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2007 Reserve Pinot Grigio

Bottled October 2007

100% Hawkes Bay fruit sourced from Black Bridge Estate, Haumoana

The 2007 vintage was an exceptional one with continuous fine weather allowing for perfect ripening conditions. The Reserve Pinot Grigio 2007 was made from fruit selected from certain vineyard parcels where the vines were more heavily crop thinned resulting in richer, riper fruit that was harvested around the same time as the other Pinot Grigio fruit.

This wine was tank fermented, aged on lees in tank and underwent no malolactic fermentation. The ultimate aim is to produce a full, lush, textural wine that will age well but will always be recognised as being a varietal Pinot Gris.

The aroma is floral and aromatic fruits whilst the palate is rich and textural.  The quality of the vintage and the structure of the wine suggest that this wine should age well for four to six years.

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2007 Viognier viognier

Bottled October 2007

100% Viognier from la collina vineyard, the fruit was hand-picked, whole bunch pressed and lightly settled before being transferred to very old barrels for fermentation. Post fermentation the wine was stored in these barrels for five months before bottling. There was no malolactic fermentation.

2007 was a brilliant vintage which allowed the Viognier fruit to attain perfect ripeness while retaining a good line of acidity. Ripe fruit has resulted in a rich, stylish wine with hints of traditional Viognier citrus blossom and stonefruit on the nose and stonefruits and spice on the palate. The 2007 Viognier shows the classic textural oiliness on the palate. The very old barrels used in fermentation contribute to the structure of the palate without adding ‘oakiness’ to the aroma or flavour. As the wine ages in bottle the palate will continue to fill out resulting in a rich, lush wine

Enjoy the wine on release but continue to enjoy it over the next 3 – 4 years as the wine developes.

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2008 Pinot Noir pt noir

After two frosts in successive years in our Hawkes Bay Pinot Noir vineyard we took our search for fruit to Central Otago in 2008. The fruit for this wine was taken from two vineyards in the Bendigo subregion.

The grapes were handpicked and trucked as whole clusters to Hawkes Bay. It was then destemmed to a closed fermenter with a 5 day cold soak prior to fermentation with twice daily delestage (rack and return). At dryness the wine was pressed and transferred to tank for malolactic fermentation. The wine then spent 10 months oak aging prior to bottling

The aromatics of the wine show subtle florals and juicy red fruits whilst the palate has cherries, raspberry and a spicy finish.

Our aim with Pinot Noir is to make a balanced wine that is true to its varietal character. The 2008 Pinot Noir can be enjoyed now and will continue to be enjoyable four to five years from harvest date.

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2007 Syrah

The 2007 vintage of Bilancia Syrah is a blend of approximately 15% la collina fruit and 85% from Gimblett Gravels. (la collina (the hill) is our own terraced hillside vineyard on Roys Hill). There is also around 3% Viognier included in the blend

All the components were hand harvested and crushed to open top fermenters for hand plunging during fermentation. The Viognier component, from the la collina vineyard, was harvested and dejuiced and the remaining skins were included in the red ferment for co-fermentation with a portion of the la collina Syrah. The pressed wine was run to French oak, around 40% new, for malolactic fermentation and the wine was aged in these barrels for 10 months.

2007 was a brilliant vintage, dry and long allowing for perfect development of fruit characters and ripeness. The aroma is of ripe brambly fruits andHawkes Bay black pepper whilst the palate shows floral, juicy characters with well integrated oak. The wine is drinking well young but will age for a few more years.

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