One of the outstanding Pinot Gris wines featured as part of TLN's Pinot Gris Week is Bald Hills Pigeon Rock Pinot Gris 2008. But Bald Hills has other top-quality wines to discover- just read on...

When Blair Hunt, owner of Bald Hills Wine with his wife Estelle, traveled to London in 2007 to attend the Decanter World Wine Awards dinner he was feeling pretty good about their 2005 Bald Hills Pinot Noir. 

 

Only days before he had learned that it won a regional award in New Zealand for being the Best Pinot Noir.  Not a bad result for a young Central Otago winery set up by himself, a PhD chemist from Fiji.  At a minimum it was a confidence booster for his trip to London.

 

At the Decanter dinner he sat in theVictoria and Albert Museum along with a prestigious crowd of winemakers and vineyard owners from around the world, feeling quite honoured to be at the gathering itself. Little did he suspect that second occasion to feel proud would emerge.  Without warning, the Bald Hills Pinot Noir 2005 claimed Decanter's International Pinot Noir trophy for wines over £10.  "Wow," he thought. "We must be doing something kind of special!"

 

Hold on...the story gets even better.  He remained in London to attend the big wine trade show the following week and have the 2005 Pinot Noir compete again in the International Wine Challenge (IWC) - the largest blind tasting challenge to date in 2007.  

Just prior to the prestigious dinner at the Grosvenor Hotel in London’s Park Lane, he discovered that the offical water of the event was Fiji water - from his home.  How curious he thought.  He called his wife Estelle and told her he believed it was an omen - that they would have good luck in that competition too. 

His intuition was right.  Hours later at the dinner the IWC announced that the 2005 Bald Hills Pinot Noir was the Champion Red wine for 2007.  Unbelievable!  What a wine hat-trick! 

Then much like four wickets in four balls or a Grand Slam Home Run, the odds were simply with him and his wine.  Before the evening was over Bald Hills was asked to return to the stage to accept the IWC Planet Earth Sustainability award for sustainable viticulture.  Four very prestigious awards in less than two weeks.  They really were doing something very special at Bald Hills.

Blair and his son Ross recently visited Singapore and TLN was invited to a Bald Hills wine dinner to taste through their range of wines, including the famed 2005 Pinot Noir.  Aside from the recommended Pigeon Rocks Pinot Gris, which was a very easy-going aperitif, the first course of roasted scallop with Foie gras and Curry sauce featured the Bald Hills "Last Light" Riesling 2008 as a pairing. 

The wine is named "Last Light" because the parcel of Riesling grapes it's made from is planted where the last light of the day remains.  So, this parcel receives all the heat at the peak temperature before the sun sets in the autumn at 6pm - which lengthens the ripening period for the Riesling grapes well into the autumn.  Blair explained that the Last Light Riesling was trying to express all that the land could produce from it's vineyard aspect and terroir.

Next course brought the "Friends & Lovers" Rose 2008 along with a Millefeuille of Crab Mousse and Beet Root.  As Blair says, "the label speaks for itself..."  The message is clear:  this wine is easily shared and enjoyed by all.  With a little residual sugar this rose drinks very fresh with ripe cherry, whiffs of white grapefruit and white peaches - light and lively for sure.

The grand finale was the roasted lamb with Pinot Noir.  We were lucky enough to taste the Bald Hills Pinot Noir 2006, and 2007...then the surprise appearance of the famed 2005. 

The 2006 Pinot Noir presented a much fruiter nose than the other two along with a generous, medium+ bodied character throughout. The 2007 was an altogether different wine reflecting the much different vintage of that year. Poor fruit-set in the spring started everything off, but in fact led to much more selective grape picking at harvest.  This wine was much more concentrated, with dried vine aromas and a fuller-bodied richness.

Still, the 2005 stood out again.  With the little bit of age this wine has developed earthy, sous bois secondary aromas behind rich crushed red cherry and tobacco leaf.  It still offers loads of fruit concentration, silky tannins and vibrant, deeply textured finish.  It was simply delicious.

I was happy to learn that Singapore has one of the last existing stocks of this wine in the world -  Le Vigne has a very limited, but available supply.  Now the secret is out!

Here is a video interview with Ross from the dinner at Garage - it's a little dark, but hey that's atmosphere!

Bald Hills wines are imported and distributed by Le Vigne wine shop on Holland Grove Road.

Contributed by Sarah Mayo, TLN Editor