Current Release
We are pleased to be able to show you our new wines. Our Bell Hill wines benefit from bottle ageing and therefore we release them around three and a half years after the harvest vintage. Time since then has proven their longevity.
2019 VINTAGE
The 2019 vintage began with an early and warm start to the growing season with flowering taking place in early December. This coincided with a prolonged period of cold and rainy weather resulting in an extended flowering period over two weeks. The remainder of the season was very stable however the rain during December saw fruit set at around half of what we would normally expect with the Pinot Noir significantly impacted compared to the Chardonnay which had begun flowering before the worst of the weather began. Crop thinning was not required beyond a green harvest. No sparkling base was made this year due to the low cropping levels. We made 9.5 barrels of Pinot Noir and 5 barrels of Chardonnay. Picking commenced on April 4th with the Shelf Chardonnay and the Shelf Top Pinot Noir, moving on to the Limeworks 2009 Chardonnay, Shelf Bottom and Quarry Rootlings Pinot Noir on the 8th, the Roadblock Chardonnay, Shelf West and Slope Pinot Noir on the 9th, finishing with the Roadblock and Quary 10/5 Pinot Noir and Limeworks 1999 Chardonnay on the 10th and 11th of April – a very short harvesting window due to the low yields.
Our winemaking philosophy is simple, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir blocks are multi-cloned and harvested, fermented, pressed, put to barrel separately as individual blocks. This allows us to follow the evolution of the parcels for a year before making blending decisions and gives opportunities to evaluate single parcel potential. When we have good volume, we can split blocks in half for winemaking trials. The yeasts are natural, coming from the vineyard, with small natural starters from each parcel after the fruit has been processed into its fermenting vat (PN) or pressed into tank (CH). Malolactic fermentation is 100%, also natural. No fining or clarification agents are used, and filtration is minimal – coarse filtering for Chardonnay, the same for Pinot Noir from the racking valve down, or not at all. For Chardonnay, the first addition of sulphur is at 12 months when the wine comes out of barrel into tank. Pinot Noir sees an addition of sulphur at processing to protect the fruit during its cold maceration time and acid adjustments in the fermenter to stabilise pH for long term stability, colour, and ageing. The wine is then left alone and sulphured in tank after barrel ageing for 12 months. Small sulphur adjustments are made, if necessary, just before bottling.
BELL HILL
CHARDONNAY 2019
The Bell Hill Chardonnay is a blend of the Shelf, Roadblock and Limeworks parcels. All the fruit was crushed before pressing, followed by 12 months in French oak (predominantly 1- to 3-year-old wood), 7 months in tank and then bottled on the 28th of October 2020 with a pH of 3.48, TA of 6.2 g/L, and alcohol of 13%. 2,000 bottles were produced.
First impression of bright yellow fruits and lifted white floral fruit expression with underlying wet stone nuances, with time the wine aromatics become more restrained and give way to mineral and flinty notes. On the palate there is a tactile profile which salinates and savourises the wine, it has good flow, gaining acid focus and tension. It is salivating and mineral with elegance and length and a tension build-up on the finish. With time the palate becomes more textured and layered, showing whiter stone fruit characters and a touch of lemon meringue richness, lovely linear flow, and more restraint than on first opening.
BELL HILL
PINOT NOIR 2019
The Bell Hill Pinot Noir is an 8-barrel blend of the Shelf parcels, the Shelf West, Quarry Rootlings and 10/5, Roadblock and Slope. All of the fruit was destemmed, and each block had 23 to 28 days on skins with cold pre-ferment and warm post-ferment macerations. After basket pressing, the wine went into 100% new French oak, it was racked and blended after 12 months and had 7 months in tank before bottling on the 28th of October 2020 with a pH of 3.54, TA of 5.8 g/L and an alcohol of 13%. 2,485 bottles were produced.
A deep fruited nose with cool blue fruit notes and edges of red florals, lovely richness, though not big, with baked spice and herbal notes that draw you in. Nice tension, acid focus with salinity flow and a lavender finish. Nice depth of concentration and power with mouth coating tannins, retaining freshness and vibrancy throughout the palate.
OLD WEKA PASS ROAD
PINOT NOIR 2019
The Old Weka Pass Road Pinot Noir is a 1.5-barrel blend from select barrels of the Slope and light press fractions. The handling on skins is the same as for the Bell Hill and the French oak was also 66% new. The wine was racked and blended after 12 months in barrel, it had 9 months in tank and was bottled on the 18th of December 2020 with a pH of 3.51, TA of 5.9g/L, and alcohol of 12%. 437 bottles were produced.
Perfumed nose of sandalwood, ferrous red florals, and earthy notes. At a lovely stage of development, lifted fruits and some secondary elements. Plush, juicy fruit with fine grained tannins, expressing elegance and charm. Mineral and taut, linear, and directional with pleasure, energy, and focus.