Bilancia ‘la collina’ Syrah 2020

Why is this Wine so Yummy?

About Bilancia

Prologue

Back in 2002 Warren & I did the Advanced Wine Assessment Course at the Australian Wine Research Institute. At the time most of the palates in the room were very new world / OZ focused, few had experienced enough ‘Euro piss’ to get their heads around it. The styles between new and old world were much more distinct than today. Warren was one in the room who had a the understanding of what made great one from both new and old world. A winemaker with a very sharp palate.

Fast forward a year and I found myself in Hawkes Bay meeting at Esk Valley Estate for a winemaking position.

Naturally I took the opportuntity to drink with Warren & Lorraine. A time when I had hair and was charged with building the BBQ if we were going to eat!

It was clear the potential of Hawkes Bay to make great wine was starting to being realised. At the front of the queue, Warren looking after Trinity Hills and establishing Bilancia with Lorraine.

There’s a great diversity of sites in Hawke’s Bay. Most are relatively flat, some on rolling hills. Around those hills, the geology like much of New Zealand, running along a fault line, can be extreme. Warren & Lorraine, not afraid of a little manual labour decided to plant on a virtual cliff face!

As much as the name Bilancia is about equilibrium and harmony, I reckon you could add staying upright, balanced, whilst working their ‘la collina’ vineyard by hand!

A bit more …

Bilancia is a small Hawkes’ Bay producer of exceptional Chardonnay, Viognier/Marsanne/Roussanne and Syrah. It is the label of us, winemakers Lorraine Leheny and Warren Gibson, and was established in 1997 when we returned to New Zealand from winemaking overseas. Our first wines were released in 1998.

Both studied winemaking at Roseworthy Agricultural College in South Australia and in the subsequent years, before settling in Hawkes Bay in 1997, we made wine in New Zealand, Australia, Hungary, Italy, California and France (Warren) and New Zealand, Australia, Portugal and California (Lorraine).

The word Bilancia (be-larn-cha) means, in Italian, balance, equilibrium and harmony. These terms have obvious connections with wine and winemaking, but also, Bilancia is the Italian word for the Zodiac sign Libra which we were born under. Warren worked in Southern Italy for a number of harvests and the name came to him whilst reading his Horoscope in the Italian newspaper!

The philosophy of balance, equilibrium and harmony is something that is carried through all aspects of the winemaking and, hopefully, people will see this when they drink our wines.

In the Vineyard

The viticultural central point for Bilancia is the 6 hectares (15 acres) of land covering the front and back of Roys Hill (west of Hastings on State Highway 50) where, planted only on the North – Northwest facing slope is the vineyard known as la collina (col-ee-na), which is Italian for “the hill”. The upper most slopes and terraces are planted to Syrah whilst the lower gently rising land and gravels flat is planted to Chardonnay with eight rows of Viognier, Marsanne and Roussanne of the edge of the gravels.

All fruit is sourced from Hawke’s Bay vineyards: Syrah from la collina and Roys Hill, Chardonnay from la collina (Tiratore), Roys Hill and Otane (Central Hawke’s Bay).

In the Winery

Winemaking is a pretty simple affair at Bilancia. It’s all about the fruit with a little stylistic influence from the hand of the maker.

Wild ferments, detailed handling, a focus on texture, balance and harmony. Oak influence is minimal.

Bilancia’s wines have wonderful presence and composure.

Where in the World is Bilancia?

Bilancia is in Hawke’s Bay on the East Coast of the bottom half of the North Island.

Their ‘la collina’ vineyard is planted on Roy’s Hill above the Gimblett Gravels.