Trinity Hill

Trinity Hill's story begins at the Bleeding Heart Bistro in London in the late 1980s. John Hancock, then winemaker at Morton Estate in the Bay of Plenty and one of the most-decorated Chardonnay producers in New Zealand, was in town promoting his wines and dining at the Bleeding Heart, owned by transplanted New Zealanders Robert and Robyn Wilson. Over a bottle of his own Morton Estate Black Label Chardonnay, the three began discussing what it would take to build a Hawke's Bay winery from scratch on the right site. By 1993 they had assembled the capital and additional Wellington-based business partners, and Hancock had identified the site. It was a stretch of pale, stony, sun-bleached ground on a former bed of the Ngaruroro River, a wedge of land in central Hawke's Bay that almost no one was farming and that orchardists considered too poor for fruit. Hancock had walked it, dug pits, taken temperature readings, and concluded that the heat retention of the gravel and the long warm autumns of central Hawke's Bay added up to a genuine warm-climate site for Syrah and Bordeaux varieties. Trinity Hill planted in 1993, becoming one of the first three or four producers on what would soon be christened the Gimblett Gravels. The first commercial vintage came in 1996, made in a leased facility; the Richard Priest-designed barrel-hall winery, with its five-metre ceilings and farm-structure silhouette, opened for the 1997 harvest. In 2001 Trinity Hill was a founding member of the Gimblett Gravels Winegrowers Association, the 34-vigneron group that established the soil-defined boundary that remains New Zealand's only formal terroir designation.

• Concept first discussed at the Bleeding Heart Bistro in London, late 1980s; John Hancock was then winemaker at Morton Estate and visited the Wilsons' restaurant on a marketing trip
• Founded 1993 by John Hancock, Robert and Robyn Wilson, and additional Wellington-based business partners; Hancock identified the Gimblett Gravels site after pit-digging and temperature work
• Among the first three or four producers to plant on the Gimblett Gravels in 1993; first commercial vintage 1996; Richard Priest-designed barrel-hall winery opened for the 1997 harvest
• Founding member of the Gimblett Gravels Winegrowers Association in 2001, the 34-vigneron group that defined New Zealand's only formal soil-based wine appellation

The 80 hectares of Trinity Hill estate vineyards are all on or immediately adjacent to the Gimblett Gravels, the soil-defined sub-region of central Hawke's Bay built on a former bed of the Ngaruroro River. A flood in the 1860s shifted the river roughly two kilometres south, leaving behind a pale, deep, free-draining apron of greywacke shingle and silt that retains daytime heat and radiates it back through the cool central Hawke's Bay nights. The Gimblett Estate is the original Trinity Hill block: 18 hectares off Gimblett Road, the stoniest and warmest of the three sites, home to 95 percent of the estate's Syrah and to the oldest vines, including some of the first Syrah cuttings brought into New Zealand and the propagations of Gerard Jaboulet's Hermitage budwood that now go into Homage. The block is also planted to Tempranillo, Touriga Nacional, Montepulciano, Viognier, and Cabernet Sauvignon, reflecting Hancock's conviction that the terrace could support warm-climate Mediterranean and Iberian varieties alongside Bordeaux and Rhone. The Gimblett Stones vineyard sits just behind Roys Hill and is exceptionally warm and wind-sheltered, planted to Malbec, Tannat, Merlot, Petit Verdot, Cabernet Franc, Tempranillo, and the Cabernet Sauvignon parcel known internally as the Prison Block, a small block of long-rooted vines that contribute the spine of the Bordeaux blends. The Tin Shed vineyard at 125 Gimblett Road is the source of the 125 Gimblett single-vineyard Chardonnay: silty topsoil over the gravel base, largely dry-farmed, and giving a richer, finer Chardonnay than the stonier Gimblett Estate blocks. Together the three sites cover the full spectrum of what the Gimblett Gravels can do, with the Gimblett Estate as the structural and aromatic core of the entire portfolio.

• Gimblett Estate (18ha, off Gimblett Road): the stoniest, warmest block; 95 percent of estate Syrah; original 1993 plantings plus the Hermitage budwood from Gerard Jaboulet propagated and planted from 2002 onwards; also Tempranillo, Touriga Nacional, Montepulciano, Viognier, and Cabernet Sauvignon
• Gimblett Stones (behind Roys Hill): wind-sheltered and exceptionally warm; Malbec, Tannat, Merlot, Petit Verdot, Cabernet Franc, Tempranillo, and the Cabernet Sauvignon Prison Block; supplies most of the Bordeaux-blend fruit
• Tin Shed (125 Gimblett Road): silty topsoil over gravel; largely dry-farmed; source of the 125 Gimblett Single Vineyard Chardonnay, which won the only New Zealand trophy at the International Wine and Spirit Competition 2022
• Soil base across all three sites: greywacke shingle laid down by the Ngaruroro River before its 1860s flood-driven course change; high heat retention through warm dry days and cool nights gives full phenolic ripeness in red varieties

Homage Syrah is the wine that built Trinity Hill's international reputation and remains the most-cited example of what New Zealand Syrah can do at the top of the market. The connection that produced it began in 1996, when John Hancock spent the Northern Hemisphere harvest at Domaine Paul Jaboulet Aine in Tain l'Hermitage, hosted by Gerard Jaboulet. The two became close friends, and at the end of the visit Jaboulet sent Hancock home with budwood: three clones of Hermitage Syrah and one of Cote-Rotie Viognier. The cuttings were quarantined and propagated through New Zealand's strict biosecurity process and were planted in the Gimblett Estate from 2002 onward. Gerard Jaboulet died unexpectedly in 1997, and when Trinity Hill released its first prestige Syrah in 2002, Hancock named it Homage in his memory. The 2002 Homage was made primarily from older Gimblett Estate vines (the Jaboulet plantings were too young at that stage); subsequent vintages have increasingly drawn on the Hermitage clonal selection, with around 85 percent of fruit from the Gimblett Estate and the balance from a hillside parcel on Roys Hill adjacent to the winery. The wine is made only in vintages Warren Gibson judges to be of the very highest standard (vintages have been skipped when conditions did not meet the bar) and is produced in tiny quantities. Bob Campbell MW has rated recent vintages at 97 to 98 points and routinely tags Homage as Top Rank; James Suckling has scored it as high as 99 points; Decanter, the Wine Society, and the global Syrah specialist press treat it as the New Zealand Syrah benchmark. Although Craggy Range's Le Sol from the adjacent Gimblett Gravels narrowly preceded Homage to market (2001 vintage versus 2002), the two wines are now generally discussed as the joint apex of New Zealand Syrah.

• Hancock spent the 1996 Northern Hemisphere harvest at Domaine Paul Jaboulet Aine in Tain l'Hermitage as a guest of Gerard Jaboulet; the two became close friends
• Gerard Jaboulet gifted Hancock budwood of three Hermitage Syrah clones and one Cote-Rotie Viognier clone; the cuttings were quarantined, propagated, and planted in the Gimblett Estate from 2002 onward
• Gerard Jaboulet died unexpectedly in 1997; the first Homage Syrah was made from the 2002 vintage and named in his memory; subsequent vintages draw progressively more on the Jaboulet clonal selection
• Around 85 percent of Homage fruit comes from the Gimblett Estate; the balance is hillside fruit from Roys Hill; the wine is made only in the strongest vintages and in tiny quantities, with vintages skipped when conditions are not exceptional

Warren Gibson is the most quietly important figure in modern New Zealand Syrah. After training in New Zealand and Australia and working through the early 1990s in Hawke's Bay, he was offered the winemaking job at Trinity Hill in mid-1995 and took up the Chief Winemaker role in 1997, in time for the inaugural harvest in the new barrel hall. He has now made every Trinity Hill vintage for almost 30 years, including every Homage from 2002 onward, and he is the through-line for the stylistic and quality consistency that the cellar has maintained across two ownership changes. In the same year he joined Trinity Hill, Gibson and his winemaker partner Lorraine Leheny founded Bilancia, the cult micro-label they still operate as their personal project. Bilancia's La Collina Syrah, made from a tiny north-facing hillside vineyard above the Gimblett Gravels and co-fermented with Viognier from the same site, is the only other New Zealand Syrah routinely discussed in the same sentence as Homage. The fact that one winemaker is behind both wines is one of the more remarkable circumstances in New World fine wine: the two best examples of a category, made by the same hand, with one for a 50-hectare estate brand and the other for a multi-hundred-case personal label. Gibson works at Trinity Hill alongside Operations Winemaker Simon Bishop and a broader cellar team, with Rebecca Poynter serving as General Manager for Sales, Marketing, Distribution, and International. Founder John Hancock stepped back from hands-on winemaking after the 2014 ownership change and is now retired from Trinity Hill, running Hancock and Sons with his son Willie from 2018 onwards.

• Warren Gibson joined Trinity Hill as Chief Winemaker in 1997 and has made every vintage for almost 30 years, including every Homage from 2002 onward; he is the through-line across two ownership changes
• Gibson and his partner Lorraine Leheny founded the cult micro-label Bilancia in 1997, the same year he joined Trinity Hill; Bilancia's La Collina Syrah is co-fermented with Viognier from a hillside site above the Gimblett Gravels and is the only other New Zealand Syrah routinely cited alongside Homage
• Same winemaking hand behind the two most highly rated New Zealand Syrahs (Homage at Trinity Hill scale, La Collina at micro-label scale), a circumstance with few parallels in New World fine wine
• Founder John Hancock stepped back from hands-on winemaking after the 2014 ownership transition and has not made a Trinity Hill wine since; he co-founded Hancock and Sons with his son Willie in 2018 after 51 vintages of winemaking

Trinity Hill is structured around three published tiers and a flagship. The Hawke's Bay Range is the everyday entry point: Hawke's Bay Sauvignon Blanc (a blend from the Raukawa, Porangahau, Mangatahi, and Bridge Pa sub-zones, lower-keyed and stone-fruit driven compared to the Marlborough archetype), Hawke's Bay Chardonnay, Hawke's Bay Pinot Gris, Hawke's Bay Rose, Hawke's Bay Pinot Noir, Hawke's Bay Syrah, and The Trinity (a Hawke's Bay Bordeaux blend at the entry red price point). The Gimblett Gravels Range steps up to estate fruit from the three home vineyards: Gimblett Gravels Chardonnay (indigenous-yeast fermented in 500-litre puncheons, 11 months in oak, four months on lees in tank), Gimblett Gravels Marsanne-Viognier, Gimblett Gravels Syrah, Gimblett Gravels Tempranillo, Gimblett Gravels Montepulciano, and The Gimblett (since 2005 a Bordeaux blend variable in composition by vintage but typically led by Cabernet Sauvignon at around 40 to 50 percent, supported by Merlot, Cabernet Franc, and small amounts of Petit Verdot and Malbec). The Single Vineyard tier is the premium estate range, parcel-selected from the same three vineyards: the 125 Gimblett Single Vineyard Chardonnay (from the Tin Shed vineyard, the most-decorated Trinity Hill white), the Single Vineyard Gimblett Estate Syrah (whole-bunch fermented, 20 days on skins, the second-highest expression of estate Syrah after Homage), and rotating bottlings from the Stones and Tin Shed blocks. There is also a Trinity Hill Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc made from purchased Marlborough fruit and a small range of sparkling and dessert styles. Homage Syrah sits above all three tiers as the irregular, vintage-dependent flagship.

• Hawke's Bay Range: Sauvignon Blanc (multi-subzone Hawke's Bay blend), Chardonnay, Pinot Gris, Rose, Pinot Noir, Syrah, and The Trinity Hawke's Bay Bordeaux blend
• Gimblett Gravels Range: estate-only fruit; Chardonnay, Marsanne-Viognier, Syrah, Tempranillo, Montepulciano, and The Gimblett Cabernet-led Bordeaux blend (Cabernet Sauvignon led, plus Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot, Malbec since 2005)
• Single Vineyard tier: 125 Gimblett Chardonnay (Tin Shed), Single Vineyard Gimblett Estate Syrah (whole-bunch, 20 days on skins), and rotating Stones and Tin Shed parcel bottlings
• Above the published tiers: Homage Syrah, made only in the strongest vintages; small parallel ranges include a purchased-fruit Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc and limited sparkling and dessert styles

Trinity Hill has been through three ownership phases. The founding period from 1993 to 2014 was led by John Hancock and the Wilson family with Wellington-based business partners. In December 2014, American investor Charles Banks of Terroir Selections, the former co-owner of Screaming Eagle, acquired a 67 percent controlling stake through the Terroir Winery Fund. The investment thesis was to keep Hancock and Gibson in place and to scale international distribution. That plan was upended in April 2017 when Banks pleaded guilty in a federal court in San Antonio to defrauding former NBA player Tim Duncan; he was sentenced to four years in prison. The winery continued operating normally through this period under Warren Gibson's direction. In February 2021 the company was bought outright by a four-person New Zealand investor group: Mark Sandelin, Mitch Plaw (a Waikato-based businessman on the New Zealand rich list), Craig Turner, and Michael Nock. The 2021 sale returned Trinity Hill to full New Zealand ownership for the first time since 2014, retained all existing staff including Warren Gibson, and stated an explicit commitment to the existing portfolio and quality direction. The wine show record from this current ownership has been strong: New Zealand Syrah Winery of the Year at the Melbourne International Wine Competition 2025; Hawke's Bay Winery of the Year and the Best Chardonnay and Best Syrah trophies plus five Platinum Medals at Shanghai International Wine Challenge 2024; the only New Zealand trophy at the 2022 International Wine and Spirit Competition (for the 125 Gimblett Chardonnay); regular Hawke's Bay Wine Awards and Aotearoa Regional Wine Awards trophies; and consistent Bob Campbell MW scores of 97 to 98 for Homage. Hancock received Hawke's Bay's wine industry Hall of Fame honour in 2025 for his founding role in the Gimblett Gravels.

• 1993 to 2014: Founding ownership under John Hancock, Robert and Robyn Wilson, and Wellington-based business partners
• December 2014 to February 2021: Charles Banks of Terroir Selections (former Screaming Eagle co-owner) held a 67 percent controlling stake via the Terroir Winery Fund; Banks was convicted of federal fraud in 2017 and served a four-year prison sentence
• February 2021 to present: New Zealand ownership restored under a four-person investor group (Mark Sandelin, Mitch Plaw, Craig Turner, Michael Nock); Warren Gibson and the full cellar team retained
• Recent recognition: NZ Syrah Winery of the Year at Melbourne International Wine Competition 2025; Hawke's Bay Winery of the Year at Melbourne 2024; Best Chardonnay and Best Syrah trophies plus five Platinum Medals at Shanghai International Wine Challenge 2024; sole NZ trophy at IWSC 2022 (125 Gimblett Chardonnay); John Hancock inducted into the Hawke's Bay Hall of Fame in 2025