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

2008 was a warm and dry harvest with great ripening conditions. As in previous vintages, the Reserve Pinot Gris 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 Gris 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 and will always be recognised as being a varietal Pinot Gris.

The aroma is lifted with aromatic fruits and hints at the richness whilst the palate is full and textural. The 2008 Reserve Pinot Gris is about flavour and spiciness.

The quality of the vintage and the structure of the wine suggests that this wine should age well for four to six years.

This is Bilancia's best known wine - made famous after a string of show successes and wide critical acclaim. Fer­mented and aged in stainless steel to retain maximum fruit flavour but with extended age on the yeast lees to build complexity and texture. Aromatic and powerful wine with concentrated pear, peach, spice/anise and nutty yeast/oak flavours. This is a big and complex wine - it's about as serious as Pinot Gris gets in this country. Warming wine driven by a generous alcohol level.

92/100  Nick Stock, SMH /Age Wine Guide 20011 Rating

93/100  Bob Campbell MW September 2010 (top rated out of 12)