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Happy Mother’s Day

From the Team at Ki WiNZ

In the current Gourmet Traveller Wine magazine (Feb/March 2012) the New Zealand Special is called “Sommeliers’ Guide to New Zealand” written by Patrick White , Sommelier Otto Ristorante, Sydney . He was ably supported by Andrew Philpot, Sommelier from The Press Club in Melbourne and Mat Swieboda, Owner and Sommelier of Love Tilly Devine, Sydney. What a trip New Zealand Winegrowers subjected this powerhouse trio to over 10 days from South Island to North Island last September.

Patrick White said of a white wine: “More exotic still was the 2008 Bilancia La Collina White was made from an 85/15 blend of viognier and gewürztraminer. Musky, floral and richly textured with long tapering acidity, it brought to mind the opulent Friulian white blends of Jermann.

Bilancia La Collina Syrah

Well after a remarkable road wine trip the final paragraph comments on page 95, Patrick White writes: ”Perhaps somewhat unsurprisingly, it was a rare and idiosyncratic single-vineyard syrah that entranced we there wine tragics the most. As its name suggests, the 2008 Bilancia Syrah comes from a steep hillside vineyard. The Italian moniker is a nod to winemaker Warren Gibson’s  time spent working in southern Italy. The northern exposure of the terraced site combined with the competition from the uncultivated ground-cover limits vigour to a kilogram per vine. Even in a big vintage, production peaks at around 220 cases. What you end up with is a chewy, deeply earthen, final spiced and monumentally structured syrah with a fine acid backbone. It is quite superb. Like so many of the lovely wines we had uncovered on this tour, it clearly articulated its unique sense of place and the desire of its maker to craft great wine. Yes, small is indeed beautiful. Thank you New Zealand.

Wow, thank you Patrick, Andrew and Mat for the accolades for Bilancia La Collina that is a serious cult New Zealand winery with stunning recent wines and a huge future.

These remarkable wines are only available in limited quantities from Ki WiNZ exclusively in Australia. With such limited supply we are allocating to key restaurants and smart collectors who have already discovered Bilancia. If you would like to get hold of these special wines, please contact us now, don’t miss out!

Mark Ovens, Ki WiNZ

Footnote: It was an outstanding first article from Patrick White titled – ‘Man made? Naturally! which won the 2011 Gourmet Traveller WINE / Wine Communicators of Australia New Wine Writer Award awarded 24 February 2011.

An independent guide to New Zealand wines and New Zealand wine.

Some of the main New Zealand wine regions:

• Hawkes Bay
• Martinborough
• Gisborne
• Waipara
• Marlborough
• Nelson
• Canterbury
• Central Otago

Hawke’s Bay

Hawke’s Bay, along with Marlborough, is the centre of gravity for the New Zealand wine industry; it is New Zealand’s oldest wine producing area and is the country’s second largest wine production region. The premiere area for Bordeaux blend reds in New Zealand and the region is rapidly developing a reputation for quality Syrah. Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc are produced and lately Viognier. Specialist high quality small producers include Bilancia and Bridge Pa.

Bordeaux Blends

New Zealand red wines are typically made from a blend of varietals Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot and Malbec. Bordeaux blends come from regions and sub-regions of New Zealand that are relatively hot and dry. 86% of production is centered in Hawke’s Bay.

Central Otago Wine Region

Pinot Noir is the leading grape variety in Central Otago, and is estimated to account for some 70% of plantings. The Pinot Noir is notoriously fickle and difficult to grow. Central Otago, however, with its combination of climate, terroir and determined winemaking appears to have the capacity to produce a world-class Pinot Noir that is increasingly sought-after. The grape there is producing elegant wines with great ageing potential that some experts believe will ultimately equal the best in the world.

The other 30% of production comes from Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Riesling, Pinot gris, and Gewurztraminer. The latter three in particular, amenable to Central Otago’s climatic conditions and soil type, are showing great promise, and may develop a reputation to match the Pinot Noir.

Pinot Noir

Pinot Noir is a grape variety whose importance in New Zealand is greater than the weight of planting. As is the case for other New Zealand wine, New Zealand Pinot Noir is fruit-driven, forward and early maturing in the bottle. It tends to be quite full bodied (for the variety), very approachable and oak maturation tends to be restrained. High quality examples of New ZealandPinot Noir are distinguished by savoury, earthy flavours with a greater complexity.

Search By Producer:                       Search By Type:                   Search By Region:

Akarua                                          Sauvignon Blanc                  Matakana

Bald Hills                                      Pinot Gris                            Clevedon

Bilancia                                        Riesling                               Waiheke Island

Black Estate                                  Chardonnay                         Hawke’s Bay

Blackenbrook                                 Viognier                             Ohau

Bridge Pa                                       Gewurztraminer                  Martinborough

Coal Pit                                         Pinot Noir                           Nelson

Ma Maison                                      Merlot                                Waipara

Obsidian                                        Syrah                                  Central Otago

Ohau Gravels                                 Bordeaux Blend

Puriri Hills                                     Rare Wine

Rockburn

Takatu

Te Awa

Bilancia La Collina Syrah

The la collina vineyard is a steep, terraced and incline planted hillside vineyard on the North/Northwest facing slopes of Roys Hill, west of Hastings, Hawke’s Bay, New Zealand. The hillside is protected from the cooling effects of the southerly and southwesterly winds and during the growing season is bathed in sunshine.

The subsoil type is sandstone/limestone which can be managed unirrigated in all but the driest of seasons. The site is frost free and due to the windy aspect has extremely low disease pressure. Bunch and berry sizes are very small and the crop levels are self regulating due to harshness of the flowering conditions. Normal crop loading is less than 1 kg per vine. This is a truly unique site that expresses itself in the aromatics and textural qualities of the resulting wine. Provencal herbs (Thyme, Rosemary and Lavender) are continually being planted on the terraces for stability and aesthetics and nuances of these appear in the aromatics and flavour of the wine.

“Although it is way too premature to suggest that Hawke’s Bay Syrah is giving the Northern Rhône the same kind of headache as Sauvignon Blanc did to Baron de Ladoucette, I imagine that if the two Bilancia wines were served blind to Marcel Guigal, the Rhône stalwart would be suitable impressed. Perhaps he may even raise his trademark beret in salute. I am also willing to wager that “Rhône Ranger” John Livingstone-Learmonth, the world’s foremost authority on the Rhône and Syrah/Shiraz, would give the pair a drum roll to register his approval.”

Ch’ng Poh Tiong

Decanter, January 2008

“La collina is the greatest Syrah to ever come out of New Zealand, and it single-handedly positions this country, for the first time among the great Shiraz producers of the world.”

TASTE FOOD & WINE 2008

Matthew Jukes and Tyson Stelzer

Bilancia La Collina 2008 Article

Buy Bilancia La Collina 2008

The Syrah fruit was harvested in two phases during April; as always, all the fruit was hand picked. On one of these occasions a percentage of Viognier was harvested in order to include the white fruit in the red ferment. The Viognier free run juice was pressed off separately for the varietal white wine and the remaining Viognier skins only were included in the ferment. The consistency of the vineyard means that the winemaking from year to year is very similar.

The fruit was destemmed and fermentation was carried out in small open top vessels: The skins were hand plunged during fermentation. The wine was pressed off at dryness and malolactic fermentation occurred in barrel.

The 2008 Syrah then rested in barrel for 21 months. We have reduced the amount of racking done while the wine is in barrel as, over the years, we have determined that the wine seems to prefer little intervention whilst it is resting in barrel. The wine is monitored but generally left to its own devices. The winemaking philosophy is, and always has been, to preserve the very distinct vineyard character and fruit purity along with support from new but low impact French oak. 

2008 is the sixth vintage of la collina Syrah and as time moves forward we can see the evolution of the earlier vintages in bottle. We feel that this wine will continue to evolve in the bottle for the next 10 years.

Bilancia La Collina 2008 Article

Buy Bilancia la collina Syrah 2006

One of the many remarkable things about this wine is that if you loved the ‘04 and ‘05, you know exactly what you are in for here—the consistency is rock solid. Lifted pepper and exotic spice of epic proportions. Incredible red fruit persistence. Gorgeous texture and very fine tannins. The king of New Zealand Syrah is alive and well.

 95 points - April 2008 Tyson Stelzer

With a beautifully floral, spicy bouquet, highly concentrated flavours of blackcurrants, plums and black pepper, and firm, ripe tannins, Bilancia la collina Syrah 2006 is benchmark stuff. Already drinking well, it should flourish for a decade.

 

Michael Cooper

LISTENER, September 20 2008

Ki WiNZ

Bilancia

The oldest wine region in NZ and the 2nd largest, Hawke’s Bay is New Zealand‘s leading producer of red wines.

Located at 39.4°S, (the same as Madrid in the North), Hawke’s Bay is in the North Island of NZ and has a warm maritime climate.

Red wines dominate with over 80% of New Zealand’s plantings of Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah grapes.

 Red Wines

The 2008 competition saw a record 1,751 entries from New Zealand’s 10 winegrowing regions. The wines were judged by a panel of 26 wine experts, chaired by Steve Smith MW. Ninety-one gold medals were awarded across all varietal categories.

The competition is owned and organised by New Zealand Winegrowers, the national organisation for the country’s 1,300 grapegrowers and winemakers.

This is the fourth gold medal for the Rockburn Pinot Noir 2007 this year, having earned gold medals at the San Francisco International Wine Competition, New Zealand International Wine Show and Liquorland Top 100 Wine Competition.

The wine recently earned a Top 10 placing and Five Star rating from New Zealand’s premier food and wine magazine, Cuisine, who commented that “Rockburn winemaker Malcolm Francis is well versed in harnessing concentrated ripe fruit with skill and care.”

Furthermore, Neal Martin awarded the wine with a 90-91/100 rating in the May 2008 edition of The Wine Advocate in the USA.

Rockburn Wines has a history of winning gold medals, particularly for its Pinot Noir, at such shows as the Air New Zealand Awards, the New Zealand International Wine Show and the New Zealand Royal Easter Show. The Rockburn Pinot Noir 2006 also won the “Champion Open Red” Trophy at the Air New Zealand Wine Awards in 2007.

Central Otago

Central Otago’s wine industry symbolizes success and its continental climate rivals Europe’s best. The region has a long viticultural tradition, and French immigrant Jean Desire Feraud, who pioneered grape-growing and wine production over 100 years ago, left a strong legacy.

Today more than 1,000 hectares of grapes flourish in unique growing conditions. The skills of talented winemakers produce quality boutique wines to compete with the country’s finest.

Central Otago Wine Blog

Rockburn

Rockburn takes its name from the rugged, rock-strewn, burn-scarred landscape of Central Otago. The region is renowned for its stunning scenery of rugged mountains and picturesque lakes.

Nestled on the 45th parallel we share a climate that is similar to Burgundy, the great Pinot Noir producing region of the world.

Our vineyards are bounded on the west by mountains on whose seaward slopes are rain forests, which receive 5000mm of rain a year. To the east is a barren, moon-Iike landscape that receives less than 25mm of rain a year. Situated between these extremes are our vineyards that produce not only Pinot Noir of stunning quality (gold medals at New Zealand Wine Society Royal Easter Wine Show, Bragato Awards, Air New Zealand, and Winestate Wine of the Year) , but also medal winning Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Pinot Gris, Riesling and Gewurztraminer.

All our wines exhibit strong varietal characteristics, highlighted in the white varieties by crisp acids, which are typical of the region. It has also become apparent that like Burgundy there are distinct ‘appellations’ within Central Otago. One has only to taste a Gibbston Valley Pinot Noir to experience its perfumed nose, typically violets, and earthy, forest floor sensations on the palate. Compare this with a Lowburn/Bannockburn Pinot Noir with its darker colour and fuller, sweeter fruit. For this reason, to fully exploit the potential of the region, it is a distinct advantage to have vineyards in different ‘appellations’.

 

Rockburn Wins Champion Pinot Noir and Champion Open Red Wine at Air New Zealand Awards

Rockburn Pinot Noir 2007

Rockburn

Central Otago is a rapidly developing wine growing region, with an international reputation for the best Pinot Noir in the world. More than 70% of grapes grown in Central Otago are Pinot Noir, with Chardonnay, Pinot Gris, Riesling and to a lesser extent Sauvignon Blanc and Gewruztraminer also performing well on suitable sites.

The vineyards lie in the valleys surrounded by high mountains, many of which are snowcapped all year round. The summers here are hot and dry; and the winters crisp and snowy. With the benefit of low rainfall and high sunshine hours outweighing the risk of frosts, this is the perfect region for the creation of high quality Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Riesling.

Soil structures are very different to those of New Zealand’s other regions with heavy mineral deposits of mica and schists in silt loams with excellent drainage.

The relatively low annual rainfall reduces the need for spraying as there is a low incidence of fungal disease.

“This is God’s Country when it comes to Pinot Noir.” (James Halliday)

“Many believe this is where the Pinot grail is to be found” (Jancis Robinson)

With an international reputation for the best Pinot Noir in the world, most of the grapes grown in Central Otago are Pinot Noir. The next most dominant grape varieties are Chardonnay, Pinot Gris and Riesling.

Bilancia Syrah 2007

The 2007 vintage of Bilancia Syrah is a blend of approximately 15% la collina fruit and 85% from Gimblett Gravels. 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 and Hawkes 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.

More Details

Bilancia Syrah 2006 –  SOLD OUT

The 2006 vintage of Bilancia Syrah is a blend of approximately 25% la collina fruit and 75% from Gimblett Gravels. (la collina(the hill) is our own terraced hillside vineyard on Roys Hill). There is also around 2% 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. The aroma is of ripe brambly fruits with characteristic black pepper whilst the palate shows floral, juicy characters with well integrated oak. The wine has great mouthfeel and balance. It is extremely approachable now but it is still a baby and will certainly benefit from further aging.

Bilancia La Collina Syrah

Bilancia la collina vineyard is a steep, terraced and incline planted hillside vineyard on the North/Northwest facing slopes of Roys Hill, west of Hastings, Hawke’s Bay, New Zealand. The hillside is protected from the cooling effects of the southerly and southwesterly winds and during the growing season is bathed in sunshine. The subsoil type is sandstone/limestone which can be managed unirrigated in all but the driest of seasons. The site is frost free and due to the windy aspect has extremely low disease pressure. Bunch and berry sizes are very small and the crop levels are self regulating due to harshness of the flowering conditions. Normal crop loading is less than 1 kg per vine. This is a truly unique site that expresses itself in the aromatics and textural qualities of the resulting wine. Provencal herbs (Thyme, Rosemary and Lavender) are continually being planted on the terraces for stability and aesthetics and nuances of these appear in the aromatics and flavour of the wine.

More Details

Ki WiNZ Website

Bilancia Wine

Bilancia La Collina Syrah

Bilancia Syrah

NZ Website

Bilancia Syrah, Bilancia, Bilancia La Collina, Bilancia Syrah 2006, Bilancia Syrah 2007, La Collina

Central Otago is the Southern-most grape-growing region in the world located at latitude 45º south. The first wine-grapes were planted in Central Otago back in 1864 and despite the district’s potential as a wine growing area being recognised by French and Australian viticulturists from the 1860’s onwards, wine-grapes were not commercially grown again in Central Otago for more than a century.

Central Otago is well known for premium Pinot Noir and its dramatic landscapes that won’t be easily matched anywhere in the world! The first commercial release of a Pinot Noir from Central Otago was the 1987 vintage from pioneer Alan Brady at Gibbston Valley winery. The rests, as they say, is history.

‘Of all the places that pinot noir is grown and made in the New World, none has lit the sky as brightly as Central Otago in the last decade.’ Nick Stock

Autumn for Central Otago Pinot Noir

Hang time seems to really improve Pinot Noir. A microclimate that gets the fruit nearly ripe, then cools off and lets it hang for a while seems to add depth to the wine.