Elephant Hill winery is situated on one of my favourite stretches of wild, windy coastline in Aotearoa New Zealand. Its location at Te Awanga, south of Napier city, is an edgy one for growing grapes, which accounts for why the wine wines from here shine with vibrant acidity and depth from the relatively long growing season.
The following wines are the latest to land on my tasting table from this winery and all of them are underpinned by fresh, fine acidity that lends brightness to each sip.
18.5/20
2023 Elephant Hill Sea Chardonnay RRP $65
The cool ocean breezes at Te Awanga bring a freshness that shines in the citrus flavours of Sea Chardonnay. This wine channels a Chablis-like style with its crisp lemon-laced acidity and vibrant freshness. It’s youthful and drinks well now with the purity and precision to see it age for up to a decade.
18/20
2023 Elephant Hill Salomé Chardonnay RRP $95
Salomé is the top of the top Chardonnays from Elephant Hill and is a wine that reveals ripe peach and fleshy stone fruit beneath its bold and creamy front palate. It’s full-bodied, dry and layered with subtle citrus aromas. It evolves in the glass and drinks well now with further ageing potential for five to six years.
18.5/20
2024 Elephant Hill Sea Sauvignon Blanc RRP $34
Sauvignon Blanc does best in cool climates, which is where coastal Te Awanga comes in with its ocean breezes bringing freshness to this weighty Sauvignon Blanc in the form of citrus, green plums and a tropical fruit flavour. It has a gentle smooth mid palate as a result of lees influence and a lingering zingy finish.
17.5/20
2024 Elephant Hill Sea Viognier RRP $34
Hand picked Viognier grapes were pressed into a mixture of fermentation vessels, including 50% stainless steel, 42% older seasoned barrels and 8% new barrels. This classic combination emulates some of the great Viogniers of the world from the Northern Rhone Valley, France. The wine is dry with citrus and white pear aromas, a peachy note and spice from 10 months oak ageing. This finely tuned Viognier drinks well now and can age further.
17.5/20
2023 Elephant Hill Stone Syrah RRP $65
This wine is made in small volumes and has highly structured, dark and concentrated black plum flavours, enmeshed with aromas of spice, dry firm tannins and great structure. It was fermented with wild yeasts and aged for nearly two years in French oak, 39% of which was new. The name Stone is a reference to the arid stony soils on which this wine is grown in Hawke’s Bay.
