Reviews

Browse our reviews below.

 

 

BOB CAMPBELL
BOBCAMPBELL.NZ
07 NOVEMBER, 2019

Bell Hill Chardonnay 2016 Intense, powerful chardonnay with toast, wildflower, tree fruits, ginger, chalk-mineral and spicy oak flavours. A delicious wine with real depth, surprising accessibility and impressive length. Great now but with the potential to gain even more depth and stature. 98 Points
Bell Hill Pinot Noir 2016 Taut, elegant pinot noir that's long and linear, with fine tannins restraining savoury, dried herb, violet and red fruit flavours. Impressive wine with power, personality and potential. The wine is flattered by a trademark thread of chalky-mineral character that adds edginess. 97 Points



NICK STOCK
PINOT NOIR LEADS NEW ZEALAND'S NEW QUALITY BASE LINE
JAMESSUCKLING.COM
21 OCTOBER, 2019

The 2016 Bell Hill Pinot Noir has a more sleek, vibrant and detailed feel and the prominent oak in this wine seems to be bedded in deeper in this 2016 release. The top chardonnay we tasted is a wine whose inspiration draws on the great wines of France’s Puligny-Montrachet but whose powerful style is underwritten by the high-density plantings of the Bell Hill vineyard in the region of Canterbury.
Bell Hill Pinot Noir 2016 A very complex and expansive nose here with crushed roses, violets and baking spices on offer, as well as a core of such pristine red cherries and red plums. The toasty and spicy oak seems dialed back a little here, allowing beautiful fruit to take a lead role. The palate has such impressively polished shape and depth; it drives in sleek and central and then blooms wide and upwards at the finish, bathing the mouth in fresh, spiced red-cherry flavor. So focused and vibrant. Silky smooth tannins. Drink over the next decade or more. 98 Points
Bell Hill Chardonnay 2016 Very intense, very refined and very complex chardonnay with a lemon, yellow-grapefruit and white-peach nose, as well as flinty, stony notes. Continues with a very intense palate that has cool, white and yellow peach flavors and a chiseled, refined long finish. Superior power and refined, pristine fruit here. Drink now. 97 Points



TIM JACKSON
MASTERS OF WINE TRIP TO NEW ZEALAND
JANCISROBINSON.COM
17 JULY, 2019

As with their Chardonnays, Bell Hill is again this region’s star producer, with complex, scented, minerally and brisk Pinots that epitomised what North Canterbury is starting to get a reputation for. Their limestone soils and 300 m (1,000 ft) elevation, 240 m higher than the flatland vineyards of the Waipara, bring particular tension and restraint to the wines.
Bell Hill Pinot Noir 2015 Pale ruby. Notable cinnamon-clove oak. Wild strawberry and chalky minerality behind the oak cloak. Racy, German-style acidity, with plenty of wild-strawberry fruit intensity. Good depth. Fairly firm, but polished, fine tannins. Smoky mineral, cinnamon-spice oak and a perfumed, long finish that carries a saline edge. Classy. Give it another year or two to let its oak cloak come down. 17/20
Bell Hill Pinot Noir 2014 Pale ruby with garnet glints. Toasty cedar oak over rich strawberry and red cherry. Hint of flint and some dried herb. Crisp acidity, flinty mineral, stone and spicy clove oak. Filigree, fine, light tannins. This is about acidity. Long, with a toasty oak finish. Great finesse. 17.5/20
Bell Hill Pinot Noir 2010 Pale-mid ruby-purple. Tea and truffle tones to rich, perfumed blackberry and spice. Brisk to crisp acidity, with fresh and drying black-cherry fruit, and resolving, light-medium tannins. Great length. 17.5/20
Bell Hill Old Weka Pass Road Pinot Noir 2016 Pale ruby-garnet. Cinnamon and clove oak, rose-petal perfume to strawberry fruit. Strawberry and cranberry with lively acidity and a delicate tannic structure. Forward and fresh, with moderate length, but plenty of acidity and attractiveness. 16/20
Bell Hill Old Weka Pass Road 2001 Pale-mid garnet with a broad, brick rim. Marked truffle, black tea and old leather complexity. Dried cherry fruit in the background, with balsamic vinegar notes. Fully mature but not over-mature. On the palate, some hollowing out as the density of fruit starts to lose the battle with the brisk acidity now, but pretty good work for a very young set of vines. 16/20
Bell Hill Chardonnay 2015 Pale gold. Marked vanilla-cream oak with intensity of pear and peach fruit. Vibrant acidity, giving a green-apple edge. Flinty and firmly structured, with a Chablis-esque sense. Upright, with a long, mealy-oak finish. Rather aristocratic. 17/20
Bell Hill Chardonnay 2014 Pale lemon-gold. Restrained, flinty-toasty nose, with lemon-citrus and fresh cream. Taut, racy acidity, with lemon, flint, stone-fruit tones on the palate, and subtle nuttiness. Textured and long, with a smoky, flinty finish. One for white Burgundy lovers. 18/20
Bell Hill Chardonnay 2012 Pale-mid lemon-gold. Subtle, nutty oak, some vegetal tones to greengage, apple and stone fruit. Crisp, linear and pure, with great youthfulness and fruit focus at seven years of age. Long. 17/20



THE REAL REVIEW
TOP WINERIES OF NEW ZEALAND 2019
THEREALREVIEW.COM
JUNE, 2019

The Top Wineries list is a national benchmark that shows where your favourite winery is ahead of its peers. My congratulations to the 170 wineries that achieved a place on our list of Top Wineries of New Zealand 2019. It’s tough at the top in the very competitive fine wine market. Bell Hill # 2



JAMIE GOODE
A NEW ZEALAND MASTERCLASS
WINEANORAK.COM
24 JUNE, 2019

Bell Hill Chardonnay 2015 Bold, peachy and toasty with some pineapple and citrus fruit. Powerful with good acid line. This is still compact and intense with amazing depth and precision. Combines richness and freshness, finishing with lovely acidity. A really layered wine that should carry on developing over the next few years. 95/100



FINE WINES OF NEW ZEALAND 2019
FINEWINES.NZ
JUNE, 2019

Bell Hill Chardonnay 2015 Ripe and full flavoured stonefruit and citrus, but with a mineral/herbal edge and hint of matchstick flintiness. Creamy biscuit texture to start on palate, but tightly focussed finish with salty lime minerality, and vibrant acidity.
Bell Hill Pinot Noir 2015 A wine defined by power, finesse and presence. The oak is toasty, spicy and savoury perfectly accompanying damson plums and ripe raspberries. Exotic perfume note bringing further character. 



BOB CAMPBELL
MARK OF TRUE EXCELLENCE
KIA ORA MAGAZINE
MARCH, 2019

Bell Hill Chardonnay 2015 Wonderfully pure, powerful wine supported by a backbone of ripe acidity that helps drive a very lengthy finish 99 Points



HUON HOOKE
THEREALREVIEW.COM
JANUARY 24, 2019

Bell Hill Chardonnay 2014 Very complex, smoky, struck-match sulfides overlying buttered toasty barrel-fermented chardonnay complexities. A riot of chardonnay flavor and bouquet, gloriously flavoursome and layered, rich abut still light on its feet. Very persistent, with well judged subtle bitter phenolics cleansing and firming the finish. 96 Points