Blair and Estelle Hunt produce Award-Winning New Zealand Wines from their Vineyard in Central Otago. They are proud to be an accredited member of SWNZ – Sustainable Winegrowing of New Zealand, a proactive environmental management system that enables the production of high quality wine by employing environmentally responsible processes in the vineyard and winery.

Winemakers Grant Taylor and Christopher Keys along with Viticulturist Grant Rolston produce Pinot Noir, Pinot Gris, Riesling & Rosé – I had the opportunity to taste and reveiw a vertical of the Pinot Noir courtsey of the lovely Estelle and after enjoying them all over three nights here’s what I thought…

Bald Hills 2008 Single Vineyard Pinot Noir – Dark violet/indigo in the glass – Plums and black berry fruit, herbal notes, bit of savoury smoke? Full of flavour on the palate with lots of dark berry fruit, plums, still some great tannins there good weight on the palate with fabulous length, dry, gritty complex layered wine finishing nicely. 87/100

Bald Hills 2009 Single Vineyard Pinot Noir – Darker than the 2008 Black Cherry almost, plums and herbal again much more savoury but still some fruit and floral notes. Lots going on in the mouth, again layered and succulent but not as complex as the 2008 – still needs some time for the fruit, acid and tannins to integrate but has potential to be brilliant in a couple of years. 85/100

Bald Hills 2010 Single Vineyard Pinot Noir – Bright dark garnet/ruby in colour, a little shy initially in the nose, earthy notes, sweet berry fruit coming through once it warmed up a little, quite “front of mouth” on the palate, acids and tannins a bit taut, but good depth of fruit, was only recently bottled so will need time to settle and for its components to integrate – but again I can see a lot of potential for this to be a great wine in 2-3 years time. 82/100

Of the three wines both Glenys and I preferred the 2008 which is starting to drink nicely now – these big Central Otago wines need time to develop so will look forward to tasting them again in a couple of years (if I am so lucky!)

To find out more about Bald Hills Wines, visit their website like their https://www.facebook.com/BaldHillsWines/ or follow Estelle on Twitter