30-Aug-2013
Pisa Range Estate is the 33 ha property of Warwick and Jenny Hawker who planted Pinot Noir vines in 1995 with the guidance of the late Mike Wolter. The vines are planted on both the flat and terraced land and are tended to organic and biodynamic principles. The ‘Black Poplar Block’, a 4 ha section of the vineyard named after 100 y.o. trees that are a feature, there has proven to be a particularly suitable site, the wines from it winning many awards. 1.5 ha of Riesling was planted on the flat block recently and yielded fruit for its first bottling in 2012. The wines are made by Rudi Bauer of Quartz Reef. (Rudi made the first Quartz Reef wines of 1998 and 1999 solely from Pisa Range Estate fruit.) Here, I review the inaugural 2012 Riesling, the 2011 ‘Run 245’ Pinot Noir from younger vines, and the library release 2006 ‘Black Poplar’ Pinot Noir. www.pisarangeestate.co.nz
