Elephant Hill

Link: Elephant Hill Website

Elephant Hill is a relatively new vineyard and winery established by Reydan and Roger Weiss after they fell in love with the beauty of Te Awanga when visiting from Germany in 2001.Together they envisaged owning a state-of-the-art winery, merging the traditional values of wine making with an innovative approach and contemporary style to produce exceptional wines to savour and enjoy. Elephant Hill spans over 25 hectares of vineyards producing classical, aromatics whites and world-class reds.

The vineyard enjoys the spoils of a temperate, dry climate and an extended growing season. Cooled by afternoon Pacific Ocean sea breezes, the shingle vineyard grows wines that display a great fruit purity and elegance.The afternoon sea breeze is perfect for preserving a lively acidity, yet allowing excellent maturation and ripening of the grapes. This moderated climate results in intense flavour development ensuring that distinct wines are produced representing the terrôir of Te Awanga.

I have tried a few of their wines most recently a Syrah 2009 with lots of ripe plum, red fruits, good intensity, balanced and complex.  the wine from this vineyard are on my watch list and are likely to improve as the vine age increases.

Elephant Hill Estate, September 19, 2013