Bell Hill

Bell Hill takes its name from the small limestone hill in the Waikari district of North Canterbury that was first surveyed in 1917 for Charles Trounce, who quarried it for agricultural lime through into the late 1930s. The hill sat quietly for half a century before Marcel Giesen and Sherwyn Veldhuizen recognised what the quarry had exposed: an outcrop of essentially pure marine limestone, the geological profile that underpins the great vineyards of Burgundy and Champagne but which is almost nowhere replicated in New Zealand at planting density and scale. Marcel had emigrated from Germany to New Zealand in 1983 to join his older brothers Theo and Alex in establishing Giesen Wines on the Canterbury Plains. From the family's first 1984 vintage, Giesen expanded rapidly into Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc and became one of the country's largest producers. Marcel's instincts were running in the opposite direction. He and Sherwyn, a Lincoln University viticulture and oenology graduate who had worked vintages in New Zealand, Europe, and the United States, wanted a tiny site they could farm themselves at Burgundian intensity. The first vines went into the ground in 1997. Plantings continued in stages until 2009, eventually reaching just under three hectares.

• Site originally surveyed and named Bell Hill in 1917 for Charles Trounce, who quarried it for agricultural lime through to the late 1930s before it sat abandoned for roughly sixty years
• Marcel Giesen: German-born, trained in viticulture and oenology in Germany, emigrated to New Zealand in 1983 to join brothers Theo and Alex Giesen, and led his first Giesen vintage in 1984 at age 19
• Sherwyn Veldhuizen: New Zealand viticulturist and winemaker, Lincoln University graduate, with vintage experience across New Zealand, Europe, and the United States before joining Marcel at Bell Hill
• First plantings 1997; final plantings 2009; total area just under three hectares, all Pinot Noir and Chardonnay

Bell Hill is geographically and stylistically distinct from the rest of North Canterbury. The wider region's vineyards cluster in the Waipara Valley, where rolling Glasnevin gravels and clay loams produce most of the area's Pinot Noir and Riesling. The Waipara Valley is also North Canterbury's only registered geographical indication. Bell Hill sits roughly fifteen minutes drive west of Waipara township, in a separate basin known as the Waikari Hills near the Weka Pass, and falls outside the Waipara Valley GI boundary. Wines are therefore labelled with the broader North Canterbury designation. The estate's two and a half plus hectares are planted on a north-facing slope of essentially pure marine limestone with calcareous clay overlays, a profile that virtually no other commercial New Zealand vineyard shares. Limestone-driven minerality, chiseled structure, and the kind of saline grip more usually associated with Chablis or fine Côte de Beaune are the result. The latitude of approximately 43 degrees south places the site close to the cooler edge of Pinot Noir viability, with long autumn hang times producing structural ripeness rather than fruit weight.

• Located in the Waikari Hills near the Weka Pass, approximately fifteen minutes drive west of Waipara township in inland North Canterbury
• Outside the Waipara Valley GI; wines carry the broader North Canterbury appellation alongside Pyramid Valley as the most notable Waikari estates
• North-facing limestone outcrop with essentially pure marine limestone bedrock and calcareous clay overlays, a soil profile considered unique in New Zealand at vineyard density
• Latitude approximately 43 degrees south places the site near the cooler boundary of Pinot Noir viability; long autumn hang produces structural ripeness, not fruit weight

The vineyard's planting blueprint is borrowed directly from Burgundy and adapted to the limestone exposure. Vines are trained low to the ground at 40 centimetres, allowing reflected warmth from the soil to support ripening on a cool inland site. Plant density runs between 9,090 and 12,500 vines per hectare, several times the New Zealand industry norm, forcing root competition that limits yields per vine and pushes flavour concentration. The Pinot Noir parcels are named after features of the original quarry workings, including Quarry, Limeworks, and Shelf. Marcel and Sherwyn began the transition to organic and biodynamic farming in the 2007 to 2008 season, and the estate achieved full BioGro organic certification on 1 March 2015. Cover crops, composted prunings, and minimal intervention define the viticulture, with all work undertaken by hand on the steep slope. The estate's commitment to viticultural excellence was formally recognised in 2021 when Marcel and Sherwyn were jointly named Gourmet Traveller Wine Viticulturists of the Year.

• Vines trained low at 40 centimetres in the Burgundian style to harness reflected ground warmth in a cool inland climate
• Planting density of 9,090 to 12,500 vines per hectare, several multiples of typical New Zealand density
• Named parcels follow the quarry topography: Quarry, Limeworks, and Shelf among them, providing the components for the estate Pinot Noir and the occasional single-parcel Chardonnay
• Organic and biodynamic conversion began in 2007 to 2008; full BioGro certification achieved 1 March 2015; Marcel Giesen and Sherwyn Veldhuizen jointly named 2021 Gourmet Traveller Wine Viticulturists of the Year

Bell Hill makes wine in three iterations. The flagship Bell Hill Pinot Noir is a multi-block selection from the most mature limestone parcels, made in vanishingly small quantities (only 1,253 bottles of the inaugural 2003 release). It is mostly destemmed with occasional whole-bunch trials, fermented on indigenous yeasts with cold pre-fermentation and warm post-fermentation macerations of 27 to 30 days, and aged in 100% new French oak for 12 months before racking and 8 months further in tank prior to bottling. The flagship Bell Hill Chardonnay is whole-cluster pressed straight to barrel, fermented and aged in French oak (approximately 32% new) for 12 months, then racked to tank for another 9 months before bottling. Malolactic fermentation occurs naturally, sulphur use is minimal, and the wines are neither fined nor heavily filtered. The Old Weka Pass Road Pinot Noir is the second label, drawing on younger Bell Hill vines and parcels that do not meet the flagship cut; the name comes from the historic road that leads past the vineyard. Old Weka Pass Road was in fact the estate's first commercial wine from 1999 to 2002 before the Bell Hill flagship label launched with the 2003 Pinot Noir. Recent vintages have also seen the occasional release of single-parcel Chardonnays such as the Limeworks bottling, of which roughly 100 cases of the 2020 were produced.

• Bell Hill Pinot Noir (flagship): multi-block limestone selection, indigenous-yeast ferments, 27 to 30 days on skins, aged 12 months in 100% new French oak then 8 months in tank, bottled with no fining and minimal filtration
• Bell Hill Chardonnay (flagship): whole-cluster pressed directly to French oak (~32% new), 12 months barrel élevage, 9 months in tank, natural malolactic and minimal sulphur
• Old Weka Pass Road Pinot Noir (second label): historically the estate's only label from the 1999 to 2002 vintages before the Bell Hill flagship debuted in 2003; now sourced from younger vines and declassified parcels
• Single-parcel releases including the Limeworks Chardonnay appear occasionally in tiny volumes (~100 cases for the 2020 vintage)

Within a decade of the first Bell Hill Pinot Noir release in 2003, the estate had become a fixed point in any serious discussion of New Zealand's finest wine. Jancis Robinson has reviewed Bell Hill across multiple vintages of both Pinot Noir and Chardonnay; Bob Campbell MW, Raymond Chan, and Jamie Goode have each placed the wines in the upper rank of the country's output; and James Suckling's New Zealand annual tasting reports have repeatedly singled Bell Hill out. The Pinot Noir is the highest-priced Pinot Noir in Canterbury and one of the highest-priced in New Zealand, with average retail prices around $214 to $274 per bottle depending on vintage and market. The wines age remarkably well, a function of the limestone-driven acidity and structural extraction, and library releases of older vintages have demonstrated 15 to 20 year longevity that is rare in the southern hemisphere Pinot Noir landscape. Production volumes have grown only modestly as plantings completed in 2009 reached full maturity, and the estate continues to make wine in the low hundreds of cases. Approximately 65% of the annual output is exported, with the remainder allocated tightly within New Zealand. The cellar door operates by appointment only.

• Bell Hill Pinot Noir is the most expensive Pinot Noir in Canterbury and among the most allocation-limited New Zealand wines, with average retail prices of roughly $214 to $274 per bottle
• Critical recognition from Jancis Robinson, Bob Campbell MW, Raymond Chan, Jamie Goode, James Suckling, and Decanter; ratings frequently in the 95 to 98 point range
• Production: low hundreds of cases per year (only 62 cases of 2004 Chardonnay; only 1,253 bottles of 2004 Pinot Noir) with growth only as 1997 to 2009 plantings matured
• Approximately 65% of production exported; remainder allocated within New Zealand; cellar door by appointment only