The “team” have been in for a few days attending to bud-rubbing and shoot thinning and the vineyard is looking a picture.  The hills are purple with wild thyme amidst the green of grass brought on by unusually regular rainfall.

Recent Awards  include 90 points for our 09 Last Light Riesling and 91points for our 09 Single Vineyard Pinot Noir from Robert Parker’s experienced taster Lisa Perrotti Brown. The results have been published in the USA’s “Wine Advocate” magazine, considered the bible in that country and highly regarded throughout the wine-drinking world. Anything over 90 is said to be miraculous! We have sent just a pallet of both wines to New York so it will be interesting to see if the demand is there.

The Sydney International Wine Competition has awarded us Blue/Gold Top 100 for our ’09 Single Vineyard Pinot Noir and Blue/Gold for our ’10 Single Vineyard Pinot Noir. Keep an eye on that ’10.  We think it will go places.
The Tasting Room is open again 7 days a week from 11a.m until 5p.m. Have a look at the garden too when you are here and be sure to go all the way around and wander down the paths.

The good life at Bald Hills!  The pullets have started to lay the most divine little brown eggs and they set up such a cacophony after delivery.  The two older hens are still thinking about it. Both of them are frequently clucky and they sit side by side in the nesting boxes with warm undersides and patient expressions to no avail.

We are eating strawberries,”drunken woman” lettuces (can’t resist that name) spinach and florence fennel and a couple of weeks ago we planted 200 red onions and a patch of sweetcorn. A small handful of blood and bone every 8-10 days keeps them all moving.

The roses are looking wonderful.  Today we picked a large bunch of “Lady Hillingdon” for the Tasting Room and another stout little bunch of “Chianti” for the living room plus a wide-mouthed earthenware jar of irises of mixed colours and unknown names.

Bannockburn, soils, climate, water.  The following extract from Soils for Horticulture CENTRAL OTAGO by PD McIntosh ( Scientist with Landcare Research New Zealand) explains a few of your questions about our site:

SOILS, AND CLIMATIC ZONES

“The Bannockburn Valley contains three areas with more than one thousand growing degree days (1000GDD)”.

Bald Hills is located within one of these favourable areas – “the slopes with northwesterly aspect between the Kawarau River and the Eastern Hill Country”.

Soils most suited to horticulture include the highly suitable Manuherikia soils of Bald Hills. These soils are moderately deep to deep fine sandy loam, accumulated as wind-blown loess over free-draining terrace gravels.

ALTITUDE
Around 200m above sea level.

RAINFALL
300-400 mm annually.

WATER SUPPLY
There is an abundance of water from the rivers and streams draining the surrounding mountains.  Bald Hills irrigates by means of drippers, each vine having its own dripper. A bore located within the Bald Hills property derives water from an aquifer some 30m deep.

Recent Awards Another award to our credit is a source of great pride.  Cuisine has awarded us 4.5 Stars for our “Single Vineyard” Pinot Noir 2010 – not long in the bottle so it promises great things though still very young. Did we tell you about Gold from the Australian Boutique Wine Awards?  That’s for the 2009 “Single Vineyard” Pinot Noir offered above. Awards must seem “a dime a dozen” to the casual observer.  Our policy is to enter only well-established competitions which are highly regarded amongst the wine cognoscenti.
The Tasting Room is open again 7 days a week from 11a.m until 5p.m. and it is usually Blair who is in attendance to talk about the wines and the vagaries of the season which produced them. Be sure to call in when you are here.

The good life at Bald Hills!  Sad to say those baby chickens turned out to be 3 roosters and 2 hens contrary to previous predictions. The roosters are practising crowing at present. They are teenagers so their voices are just a kind of strangled cry.

One of our great pleasures is strolling around the gravel paths. Daffodils,violets, hellebores, trilliums, some peonies, grape hyacinths and the early irises make you feel so happy! In the vegetable garden we have planted lettuce, beetroot, side-sprouting broccolli, baby cabbages, red onions, garlic, florence fennel and spinach. The strawberries are flowering and the raspberries and currants are not far off.

Budburst is expected by the first week in October requiring all hands on deck until harvest in April. Vineyard work is very demanding but it is varied and ultimately satisfying, and it certainly beats the daily grind of pure office work.

Bannockburn, a special place! Here is a borrowed description explaining the geography and the wines produced in this part of the country better than we can:

“Bannockburn, the oldest and currently the most intensively planted of the micro climates in Cromwell, is a North facing crescent bordering the Kawarau River as it flows across the base of the Cromwell valley to its meeting with the Clutha River. A very warm and dry area, it has two distinct areas within it of Cairnmuir and Felton Road…..Wine Typicity: Spice, darker fruits and complexity, with well-defined but fine tannin structure.”(COPNL literature)

Recent Awards include Pure Gold from Bragato Wine Awards 2011 for our 2010 “3 Acres” Pinot Noir (see the special offer above) and Gold from the Australian Boutique Wine Awards (Chief Judge Huon Hooke) for our 2009 “Single Vineyard” Pinot Noir! The Pinots continue to benchmark well against earlier successes while the whites are developing a delicious depth of flavour and character as the vines age.

Dunedin visit September 15. Bald Hills will show their wines along with other Central Otago vineyards at the Dunedin Public ArtGallery this Thursday. The Consumer Tasting takes place from 6-8p.m.and you will be able to taste wines from some 30 Central Otagovineyards – a terrific chance to taste them all in one place. In addition you will have the opportunity to win one of several “spot” prizes     of mixed wines. Tickets for this “must do” event are available at “Rhubarb”café, 299 Highgate, Roslyn, phone 4772555, email rhubarb299@xtra.co.nz. The modest entry cost is $30 and all tastings will be provided free of charge. Prior to the consumer tasting a trade tasting (2-5 p.m.) and master classes (1-2p.m.) will be held at the same venue.Tickets for these are free of charge. We will be sending them out to our contacts in the trade, but if we should miss anyone you know of please contact us direct.

The Tasting Room is open again 7 days a week from 11a.m until 5p.m. and it is usually Blair who is in attendance to talk about the wines and the vagaries of the season which produced them. Be sure to call in when you are here.

The good life at Bald Hills! Those baby chickens seem to be all hens at this stage. We must admit though that one of them seems to have a longer neck than the others and perhaps a fuller chest.If we do have a rooster we are philosophical about it. There’s a story amongst poultry keepers that a bloke keeps the girls happy. Any truth in that?

Warmer weather entices us into the garden.The soil’s frozen crust has softened and we are incorporating composted leaves into the vegetable area. Time now to put in peas and potatoes and broad beans. Perennial herbs are putting on growth and the borders of strawberries planted last year courtesy of our friends “Goodies from the Gorge” along with raspberry canes from the same source are suddenly green and perky.

Budburst is expected by the first week in October requiring all hands on deck until harvest in April. Vineyard work is very demanding but it is varied and ultimately satisfying, and it certainly beats the daily grind of pure office work.

Bannockburn, a special place! Here is a borrowed description explaining the geography and the wines produced in this part of the country better than we can:

“Bannockburn, the oldest and currently the most intensively planted of the micro climates in Cromwell, is a North facing crescent bordering the Kawarau River as it flows across the base of the Cromwell valley to its meeting with the Clutha River. A very warm and dry area, it has two distinct areas within it of Cairnmuir and Felton Road…..Wine Typicity: Spice, darker fruits and complexity, with well-defined but fine tannin structure.”(COPNL literature)

Recent Awards include Pure Gold from Bragato Wine Awards 2011 for our 2010 “3 Acres” Pinot Noir (see the special offer above) and Gold from the Australian Boutique Wine Awards (Chief Judge Huon Hooke) for our 2009 “Single Vineyard” Pinot Noir! The Pinots continue to benchmark well against earlier successes while the whites are developing a delicious depth of flavour and character as the vines age.

Dunedin visit September 15. Bald Hills will show their wines along with other Central Otago vineyards at the Dunedin Public Art Gallery this Thursday. The Consumer Tasting takes place from 6-8p.m.and you will be able to taste wines from some 30 Central Otago vineyards – a terrific chance to taste them all in one place. In addition you will have the opportunity to win one of several “spot” prizes of mixed wines. Tickets for this “must do” event are available at “Rhubarb”café, 299 Highgate, Roslyn, phone 4772555, email rhubarb299@xtra.co.nz. The modest entry cost is $30 and all tastings will be provided free of charge. Prior to the consumer tasting a trade tasting (2-5 p.m.) and master classes (1-2p.m.) will be held at the same venue.Tickets for these are free of charge. We will be sending them out to our contacts in the trade, but if we should miss anyone you know of please contact us direct.

The Tasting Room is open again 7 days a week from 11a.m until 5p.m. and it is usually Blair who is in attendance to talk about the wines and the vagaries of the season which produced them. Be sure to call in when you are here.

The good life at Bald Hills! Those baby chickens seem to be all hens at this stage. We must admit though that one of them seems to have a longer neck than the others and perhaps a fuller chest.If we do have a rooster we are philosophical about it. There’s a story amongst poultry keepers that a bloke keeps the girls happy. Any truth in that?

Warmer weather entices us into the garden.The soil’s frozen crust has softened and we are incorporating composted leaves into the vegetable area. Time now to put in peas and potatoes and broad beans. Perennial herbs are putting on growth and the borders of strawberries planted last year courtesy of our friends “Goodies from the Gorge” along with raspberry canes from the same source are suddenly green and perky.

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Here’s to all of us!

Estelle and Blair

Bald Hills 3 Acres Bannockburn Central Otago Pinot Noir 2009 ««««1/2

A delicious drink-young style, but also ageworthy.  The bouquet is savoury, with good complexity; the palate is very silky and harmonious, with ripe cherry, spice and nut flavours, threaded with fresh acidity.  Good value at $32 (A)

Bald Hills Single Vineyard Central Otago Pinot Noir 2009 ««««1/2

Concentrated, tightly structured Bannockburn red, showing long-term cellaring potential.  Fresh, deep cherry, plum, spice and nut flavours, savoury, complex and underpinned by firm tannins.  Best 2013+.     $48 (A)

These wines were made by Grant Taylor who is known for making wines of great cellaring ability! We are delighted with this result from Winestate, confirming the view of judges at the 2010 Air NZ Wine Awards which gave the “Single Vineyard” Pure Gold and the “3ACRES” Silver.

Winter is a great time for attending to maintenance in the vineyard. Whilst our “unsung hero” Tony labours away with the pruning secateurs Blair follows behind mulching the prunings, not once but twice, leaving behind a fine easily broken down mulch which gradually improves the soil structure and the micro-organisms beneath. Bald Hills is certified sustainable and we are very conscious of the need to treat our soils with care  for our own benefit as well as that of future generations.

In the office we  have contracted Rachel McDougall as our admin person and she is proving to be indispensable! This will result in freeing Blair to spend more time visiting our outlets throughout New Zealand.  In fact he is off to the Taranaki and to Palmerston North early in August and hopes to also visit Wine Clubs in other parts of the North Island. Please let us know if you belong to a Wine Club or know of one and would enjoy a visit from Blair.

Australia calls! We have family there including a 2 year-old Grand-daughter and it is lovely to spend time with them. Son Colin Hunt, incidentally, is the Director of Golf at Royal Sydney, which will no doubt be of interest to the golfers amongst you.We will be away during some of July. If it happens that you are planning a trip down this way,July apart, just give us a call if you would like a tasting.  Our Cellar Door (pompous sounding I know – really just the Tasting Room) is open by appointment only at this time of year but you are always welcome.

The good life at Bald Hills! Our baby chickens are really growing fast.  We protected them and their mother from our sole remaining hen but she is lonely and hops in with them whenever possible.In the garden roses are shooting- to prune or not to prune? We are still picking herbs galore plus celery and brussels sprouts.  Need to plant out brassicas and broad beans before we go away.By the way, that sole hen still lays an egg most days.  She doesn’t realize hens take a break in Winter!

In the vineyard the cycle continues as with all farming. Winterizing has been completed with the shutting down and maintenance of the irrigation and fertigation plant. Water has been drained from all pipes to protect them from the hard frosts which are almost upon us. Mother Nature however has decided to keep us all “clean and green” down here, with regular showers of rain.  Mowing therefor continues around both vineyards and homestead for the time being.

Pruning is well underway.Tony Lingard, upon our Viticulturist’s advice, is taking a large area of Clone 5 back to cane pruning.Tony is one of those rare vineyard workers who prefers to work alone and he will cover the Bald Hills plantings single-handed!  A treasure indeed.

The good life at Bald Hills! In the garden we are still picking masses of herbs (parsley,thyme,rosemary,chives,bay leaves,marjoram,French tarragon and so on) as well as baby onions, clustered shallots, pumpkin, celery and brussels sprouts from a hardy self-sown plant.  Huge tidy-up last weekend in readiness for brassicas, onions, strawberries, broad beans. Made piles of “future” compost from green waste with dry leaves chook droppings and blood and bone. Trees and shrubs have grown so prolifically this year that we are having to thin some of them out. Apples are fully ripe and unblemished with not a sign of codlin moth after wrapping the trunks with a sticky organic trap to deter the crawlers.

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In the Vineyard work goes on as usual. Mowing, spraying and crop thinning are the main pursuits. The young vines in the former olive block are making huge advances this year and will be producing next year. Being of a different clone to other Pinots in the vineyard this block will add further complexity to our 2012 Pinot Noir.

The first signs of veraison (the changing of colour indicating the commencement of ripening) are appearing. Once this ripening first appears it is usually only about two weeks before veraison across the entire vineyard occurs and soon after the protective nets against marauding birds must go on. Harvest will probably be late  March or early April unless the present cooler weather persists.

The good life at Bald Hills !  We have so many green beans that it is impossible to keep up with them!  Sweetcorn is prolific, tomatoes (outdoor) are ripening, even capsicums and eggplant are already being picked! Raspberries were marvellous early in January.  Grand-daughter Lucy picked them every day and we made jam, smoothies and the best icecream we have ever tasted.

Our lovely site now shelters us beautifully from those big rip-snorting winds we are prone to in parts of Central Otago. The trees and hedges now deflect and soften the winds and the sun pours in to our oasis, ripening peaches, apples and figs too,while not forgetting those all-important wine grapes.

Here’s to all of us!

Estelle and Blair

Made in a similar fashion to the 2008, the 2009 Single Vineyard Pinot Noir gives a medium-deep ruby-purple color and a wonderful balance of earth, game and fruit aromas. Notes of black cherry, underbrush, truffles, dried roses and peppered pigeon breast effortlessly intermingle, making for a tantalizing nose. The medium-full bodied palate has excellent savory and berry flavor concentration with crisp acid and a medium-firm level of very fine tannins. The finish is long and layered with nuances of pepper, truffles and cherry-glazed game. Approachable now, it should develop over the next 3-5 years, drinking to 2018.

In the Vineyard bud rubbing, shoot thinning, canopy spraying and mowing are almost a daily pursuit.  A week ago the Vanuatuan team were here working with speed and dedication.  Perhaps it helps that Blair likes to talk to them in a combination of Fijian and Pigeon English although they do seem somewhat bemused before erupting in gales of laughter.The weather here has been hot during the day and cool at night. Flowering is now at 80%.

In the garden you would be very impressed by the vegetables.This year we have been vigilant with the weeding and the fertilising (blood and bone and a remarkable blend of old deer manure and decayed straw used as a mulch).  The deer “compost” came from a local farm where it surrounded a feeding bay during the Winter months – bottom of the heap stuff! $20 for two massive scoops. Eat your heart out.

In the main gardens the twelve yellow “Friesia” roses near the front door are  six feet tall and covered in fragrant bloom while flag irises and peonies spill abundantly onto the gravel pathways.

There is a lot to be said for living in the country. Traveling theatre groups visit our small town of Bannockburn, as do singers and song-writers of renown, exhibiting artists, authors; even the NZ Ballet Company comes to Alexandra. The wonderful thing is one can always park close by and get a seat practically in the front row!

Wishing you a happy and peaceful Christmas and all good things for 2011,

Estelle and Blair

In the garden Spring is very much in evidence.  Violets have spread wonderfully, in purple, cream, pink, rose and violet.  We are always reminded of how the older generation used to wear fresh violets on their lapel. The delicious scent of daphne wafts through the air too – we will be taking cuttings this year, when the flowering is over.The hellebores are marvellous this year and they are sending up babies every where, after sulking last year.

Congratulations to Monique and Bevan at Riverstone Kitchen for taking out the supreme award from Cuisine this year. So worthwhile taking a trip to Oamaru to eat there! Needless to say they stock Bald Hills – our “3 Acres” Pinot.

New Queensland Distributor. Paul McMonagle of Gaia Fine Wine Merchants is based in Brisbane and distributes for us from Ballina to Cairns. Paul has a wonderful knowledge of wine, is energetic and highly regarded in the industry so we are very happy to have formed an association with him. Paul  (Cell: 041 775 0991) will tell you where to find our wine along the Queensland Coast when next you are in Australia.

Tasting a lineup of Central Otago 2009 Pinots tomorrow afternoon at Northburn Station. The tasting follows the format of the former Central Otago Pinot Noir  “Sneak Preview” at which wine gurus  from around New Zealand blind taste and comment on the vintage.  We COWA members will also taste once the closed session is completed and listen to a report from those very knowledgeable wine persons.It is always a most interesting exercise and a fine opportunity to savour the differences between the various sub-regions.

Thankyou to all of you Aucklanders and Wellingtonians who have been so helpful in recommending your favourite Restaurants. Progress is being made and we will report back to you as soon as there is confirmation of placements.

Thinking of you folk in Christchurch,

Cheers,

Estelle and Blair