2020 Hawkshead Pinot Blanc
Regular price $31.75
Unit price per
We always knew one Pinot was missing in our portfolio, Pinot Blanc.
2020 made the headlines for all the wrong reasons and we were looking for a positive, real get up & go project. So a serious search for the perfect Central Otago Pinot Blanc started and we found a gem.
Pinot Blanc is a very popular summer wine in Europe. Loved for its fresh and fruity lightness, but also for its restraint elegant character. Pinot Blanc has the ability to enhance lots of different food pairings and is also a great choice for a social drink at any time of the day.
Enjoying Hawkshead 2020 Pinot Blanc is easy, yet it is a classy, off-dry, summer-fresh wine. With aromas of ripe, buttery pears, white peaches and faint notes of white rambling roses. All the arising promise rolls over the palate with ease add to those flavours a smidgen of citrus and sweet spice and you enjoy a Hawkshead 2020 Pinot Blanc.
Try it and let us know if you agree.
Reviews
Sam Kim, Wine Orbit
94/100pts, Outstanding quality showing varietal purity and exemplifying regional type
Michael Cooper, New Zealand Wines
Michael Cooper’s Buyers Guide 2021 Edition
Excellent Quality
Offering easy-drinking in its infancy, the 2020 vintage (4*) was hand-picked at Gibbston (60 per cent) and in the Cromwell Basin (40 per cent). It was mostly handled in tanks, but part of the blend (17.5 per cent) was fermented in old French oak barriques. Bright, light lemon/green, with fresh pear and spice aromas, it is mouth-filling, with vibrant, citrusy flavours, showing a distinct touch of complexity, a sliver of sweetness and moderate acidity. Best drinking 2022+.
Candice Chow, Raymond Chan Wine Reviews
18.5/20 pts (94 pts) Gold Medal, Perfect to Outstanding
Bright, pale yellow, even colour throughout. The nose is elegantly presented, aromas of peaches and apricots underlined citrus melded with subtle floral and minerals. Medium-bodied, dry-ish to taste, aromas of lemon, peach, apricot has crunchy freshness, interweave subtle white blossoms. Sweetness on the wine is well-balanced to the lively acidity and integrated. The fruit has purity, supported by lacy acidity; the palate has a fine-textured mineral flow and creamy lees details, carries the purity of fruit and subtle nutty nuances to an elegantly fresh finish to linearity. Match with prawn & pork summer rolls and Chawanmushi over the next 4-5 years. Handpicked Pinot Blanc from Gibbston 64% and Cromwell Basin 36%, whole bunch pressed, fermented in stainless steel and older French oak barriques (17.5%) to 13% alc, 8 g/l RS. Rested on its lees for 4 months. Dec 2020
Mark Henderson, Otago Daily Times
Very Good to Excellent
Powerfully fragrant and aromatic nose, rose petals leaping out of the glass, dominating a backdrop of peach and nectarine. Rich palate entry, sweetly fruited with peach, nectarine, honey and musk, cashew nut as well, fat and finishing just off-dry, the acidity coming through on the finish to add zestiness. Sweeter with aeration and distinctively different.
Technical Notes
Sub-Region: 60 % Gibbston and 40% Cromwell basin
Colour: Pale lemon
Style: Off-Dry
Flavour Profile:
Pinot Blanc often called the understudy of the Chardonnay grape variety, is full of versatility, character and very much liked in France and Germany.
Central Otago’s climatic and soil condition bring out the very best of Pinot Blanc, especially retaining good acidity and freshness.
Hawkshead 2020 Pinot Blanc delights with the memory of a mouthful of fresh, very ripe Beurre Blanc pears, add a pinch of sweet spice, then discover aromas of white peach with a twist of lemon. The wine is of rich texture with good palate weight and shows some nutty/mineral characters.
Hawkshead 2020 Pinot Blanc is off-dry, with elegant neutrality and a delicate character. A classy summer food wine. Having a glass of Pinot Blanc is enjoying the moment, the company, easy to drink now, great for lunch, or instead of tea in the afternoon. Anytime is Pinot Blanc time.
Winemaking Comments: The Pinot Blanc was hand-harvested and selected during the middle of April. The wine was whole bunch pressed and fermented in both stainless steel tanks and old french barrique (17.5%).
Indigenous yeast fermented the wine over the next six to eight weeks; then the wine rested on its lees for four months to build up texture before being racked and filtered for clarification before bottling.
Wine Analysis: pH 3.40, TA 6.1g/L, Alc 13%, Res Sugar 8 g/L
Bottling Date: 11th November 2020
Wine Maker: Dean Shaw