Reviews

Eric Asimov, The New York Times
DECEMBER 2025

The Most Memorable Wines of 2025 The best bottles Eric Asimov tried this year were not always the oldest. Some were young and fresh, others were venerable. All resonated in unforgettable ways.
“Of the many bottles I open over the course of a year, I never know which ones will speak most clearly to me. The best wines are not necessarily the oldest or the most profound, but the ones that touch your emotions. That’s odd to think about a subject that is so often considered academic, but great wines are not those that tick off rational boxes, like old or complex. They’re the ones that leave you struggling for words. They make you think, yes, but they also make you feel happy, grateful and deeply moved. You don’t forget them.

Bell Hill North Canterbury Pinot Noir 2020 “I visited New Zealand for the first time in February, and had time enough to explore the Central Otago and North Canterbury regions on the South Island. Among the wonderful estates I visited, Bell Hill stood out, both for the astounding location — the vineyard is on an old limestone quarry — and the dedication of the couple, Marcel Giesen and Sherwyn Veldhuizen, who farm the site and make the wines. Over lunch we tasted several wines, including this 2020, the current release at five years of age. “Our wines want the time,” Ms. Veldhuizen said. “They’re very shy in their youth.” The ’20 was fresh and precise, with depth, finesse and clarity, the epitome of elegance.”

James Suckling Top 100 Wines of New Zealand 2025
NOVEMBER 2025

The 2021 Bell Hill Pinot Noir ranks this year at No. 6 – a superb red and a fine follow-up to its Chardonnay Single Parcel Limeworks 2020, which was my Wine of the Year last year.

Bell Hill Pinot Noir 2021

Stupendous and complex aromas of dried strawberries, smoke, oyster shells and rust follow through to a medium body with dusty, velvety tannins that give length and lift. Spicy at the end, with cloves and gunpowder. From organically grown grapes. Drink or hold. No. 6, 98 Points

James Suckling Top 100 Wines of New Zealand 2025
NOVEMBER 2025

Bell Hill Chardonnay 2021

The purity of fruit in this vibrant and vivid wine is electrifying. The aromas are bright and perfumed, with honeysuckle, sliced apples, acacia and touches of crushed stones, light vanilla, yogurt and meringue. The palate is medium-bodied and focused, with tangy acidity and a mineral finish that turns to mojito, limes and Meyer lemons. Zesty, complex and textured. It changes in the glass constantly. A benchmark Chardonnay for New Zealand. Drink or hold. No. 17, 98 Points

James Suckling.com - Vinous Top 100 Wines 2025 
NOVEMBER 2025

Bell Hill Pinot Noir 2020

#17 Bell Hill Pinot Noir 2020 The best Pinot Noir producer in New Zealand? Probably. The country’s wines have been accused of being technically correct, clean and fruity but lacking in frisson. If you’re one of said accusers, come to Bell Hill. The ethereal nature of this Pinot Noir will leave you swooning. Then secret could be in the limestone that lies beneath this remote part of Canterbury.

The 2020 Pinot Noir exudes elegance and restraint, with plenty of fruit and a gentleness that reflects hands-off winemaking. The precise, finessed texture reminds me of a soluble aspirin in an appetizing way. The oak is 100% new, but you wouldn’t know that from its intense fruit concentration. It is seamlessly integrated thanks to low levels of toast. The 2020 culminates in an extraordinarily long finish. 97 Points

Rebecca Gibb MW, Vinous
NOVEMBER 2025

The Emerging Glory of New Zealand Chardonnay

“…in 2017, I finally made it to the North Canterbury region. There, I paid a visit to Bell Hill and Pyramid Valley, and understood that New Zealand was actually capable of making some of the most exciting Chardonnays on the planet…”

The North Canterbury region of the South Island offers a more continental climate for growing Chardonnay. But along with the windy days, chilly nights, and a lot of cloud cover even during the summer, North Canterbury also offers the country’s most accessible outcrops of limestone, which several producers are exploiting to great effect. With the continental climate, however, comes severe frost danger. When combined with the naturally reduced yields from wind during flowering and the limits of calcareous soils, making wine can be a touch and go proposition sometimes, given just how small the crops can be. When things go right, however, the region produces easily the most exciting Chardonnays in the country.
The Limestone Legends

New Zealand makes a lot of really excellent Chardonnay, but two wineries stand out from the pack and always have. The fact that these two producers are a very short drive from one another can’t be chalked up to coincidence.

The limestone of the Weka Pass in North Canterbury drew Sherwyn Veldhuizen and Marcel Giesen to establish Bell Hill in 1997 on the site of an old lime works. From their earliest days, their wines set a new bar of quality for New Zealand Chardonnay. With the imminent release of their 2020 Limeworks Chardonnay, made from their purist and most difficult-to-farm slice of raw limestone terroir, they have yet again redefined the potential for the grape in New Zealand.

In 2000, Mike and Claudia Weersing established Pyramid Valley Vineyards just down the road from Bell Hill. Soon after, they began making their own magic from biodynamically-farmed vineyards on clay and fractured limestone. Their estate has since been purchased by Aotearoa New Zealand Fine Wines Estates, which has both continued and built upon the Weersings’ legacy, while adding the operational precision and elevating branding occasioned by larger budgets and luxury aspirations. The wines are as good or better than they have ever been.

These two producers represent the pinnacle of New Zealand Chardonnay and the guiding lights for where it can and should go, in terms of quality, but also style. Of course, they both possess a set of raw assets in their limestone soils that are not accessible to other producers, but their knowledge and their wines are pointing many in the right direction.

Rebecca Gibb MW, Vinous
NOVEMBER 2025

Bell Hill Chardonnay 2022

Light greenish gold in the glass, this wine smells of lemon pith, lemon oil, and a hint of yellow flowers. In the mouth, lean flavours of lemon pith and lemon oil have a wonderful wet chalkboard minerality that expands to an overall chalky sensation in the mouth. Excellent acidity. The wine flirts with austerity, but has enough fruit to keep it from being too lean. Score: Between 9 and 9.5

Rebecca Gibb MW, Vinous
NOVEMBER 2025

Bell Hill Limeworks Chardonnay 2020

Palest gold in the glass, this wine smells of lemon pith and crushed stones. In the mouth, saline flavors of candied lemon peel and electric acidity have a brilliant crystalline purity and amazing lemon oil brightness that lingers with a white floral sweetness for a long time in the finish. Outstanding. Silky AF (sic). I originally scored this wine between 9.5 and 10 on my scale, but I can’t stop thinking about it. Its presence, poise, and depth keep hounding me. So 10 it is. This wine won’t be released until October 2025. The price remains undetermined, though it will likely be north of $300, making it the most expensive white wine in New Zealand and among the top 5 most expensive wines in the country. It is, without a doubt, the best New Zealand Chardonnay I’ve ever had. Score:10

Rebecca Gibb MW, Vinous
NOVEMBER 2025

Bell Hill Chardonnay 2020

Light yellow gold in the glass, this wine smells of white flowers, pomelo pith, and wet chalkboard. In the mouth, intensely bright flavors of lemon peel and lemon pith have a tang of lemon oil as fantastic acidity makes the mouth water, and a light sweet-sour salinity keeps the salivary glands in overdrive. There’s also an aromatic sweetness that hangs over the palate. Long, persistent, and incredibly crystalline in quality. Score: Around 9.5

Rebecca Gibb MW, Vinous
NOVEMBER 2025

Bell Hill Chardonnay 2014

Pale gold in the glass, this wine smells of wet chalkboard, lemon pith, and lemon oil. In the mouth, exceptionally stony wet chalkboard minerality sizzles on the palate, as saline flavors of white flowers, crushed shells, and lemon pith are electric with a crystalline purity. A stunning wine, still vibrating in the prime of its life. Score: Between 9.5 and 10

Rebecca Gibb MW, Vinous
NOVEMBER 2025

Bell Hill Chardonnay 2010

Pale to light greenish gold in color, this wine smells of lemon curd and orange blossom. In the mouth, beautifully silky flavors of orange blossom water, lemon curd, and wet chalkboard have a lovely, faint stoniness along with a for di latte creaminess that is quite seductive. There’s still some saltiness here that keeps the mouth watering despite the slightly more subdued acidity that comes with age. Looooong finish. Score: Between 9 and 9.5

Alder Yarrow, Vinography - a wine blog
AUGUST 2025

Under the Radar New Zealand Wines to Seek Out Now

Some of my favorite producers like Sato Wines which makes pure, precise in Central Otago, and Bell Hill Vineyards in North Canterbury, which makes world-class pinot noirs and chardonnays, are barely imported at all into the United States…Perhaps no vineyard on the South Island is as unusual as Bell Hill Vineyard, first planted 28 years ago in a onetime lime quarry with the Southern Alps on the horizon. From its original area of roughly 25 acres, Bell Hill now covers almost 156 acres though only 8 acres or so are planted, entirely with chardonnay and pinot noir. The married proprietors, Marcel Giesen and Sherwyn Veldhuizen, make no bones about their inspiration. “Burgundy, that’s where our heart beats,” Ms. Veldhuizen said. The former quarry, chalky limestone and weathered topsoil. Forms a bell shape, hence the name. “It’s not an easy place to farm,” Ms. Veldhuizen said. “Grapes and everything move fast here. The land exposes you.” Along with their vines, the couple is devoted to increasing the biodiversity and preserving the wetlands that border the area, hoping to strengthen a self-sustaining ecosystem. “You have such an intimate relationship with the vineyard, living plants and living soils,” Mr. Giesen said. “It’s the power of nature.” Mr. Giesen came to New Zealand from Germany in 1983 to join his two brothers who had established Giesen Wines, one of the pioneers of the Marlborough region. He is still involved with Giesen, but he is devoted to Bell Hill. The current vintage of Bell Hill is 2020, meaning the wines receive an unusual amount of aging before they are released. “The wines want that time,” Ms. Veldhuizen said. “They’re very shy in their youth. It’s not the easy way or the cheap way.”

The wines are superb. A 2020 Limeworks chardonnay, made from a single parcel of vines, was stony, herbal and pure, while a 2017 chardonnay was tense and energetic with gorgeous minerality. A 2020 pinot noir was fresh and delicate with precision, finesse and clarity.

Sadly, American consumers have little chance of seeing for themselves how good they are. Bell Hill currently has no official American importer, though an individual shop here of there may import the wines directly. “It’s been incredible to be in the New Zealand wine business for 43 years, from the dark ages,” Mr. Giesen said. “It’s been a beautiful journey.”

Eric Asimov, The New York Times
AUGUST 2025

Fine Wine in New Zealand: An Extraordinary Impact: Box 3: Bell Hill

This tiny cult operation was established by Marcel Giesen. Of the famous Giesen winemaking family, and his wife Sherwyn Veldhuizen in the late 1990s on the site of an old limestone quarry in Waikari. It was also part of a bell-shaped hill. The aim, as it so often is, was world-class Pinot and Chardonnay. Officially, the first Bell Hill wines date back to the 2003 vintage, though they make a second label, Old Weka Pass Road, that had appeared prior to this.

The place reminds me of what one might have encountered had Hobbiton had a winery, but these days, if one is talking movies, Jurassic Park might be more apt. A small patch of swamp at the base of the property is proving to be an incredible source for fossils, mostly of the giant moa (imagine a very hefty 10ft (3m) ostrich). There are also remains of a number of Haast’s eagles, which fed on the moa – those I’ll leave to the imagination.

Production, especially in the early days, was minuscule. Even many Bell Hill aficionados were unaware that it made a Chardonnay for quite a few years, and allocation across mail-order customers, local outlets and restaurants, overseas distributors and fans can be extremely difficult. Just how do you share 252 bottles of Chardonnay with such demand? That was what frost left them in 2015. The wine is spectacular – for me, one of the two great southern-hemisphere Chardonnays (along with Giacona from Australia). During our visit, Marcel and Sherwyn brought out, among many bottles, a 2002 Chardonnay. Yes, 2002; a year before a Bell Hill wine was ever released, they bottled 100 bottles for themselves. It was the most glorious Chardonnay I have seen for some time. I would have no hesitation in giving it 100 points and happily argue all night with anyone who did not.

The Pinot is slightly better known. For both the Chardonnay and the Pinot Noir, they are now making tiny amounts of single-parcel wines. They are not big enough to allocate a single vineyard to them: Limeworks (first vintage 2016) for the Chardonnay and Shelf (first vintage 2018) for the Pinot. Marcel did bottle a tiny quantity of Shelf Pinot in 2007. It was still fresh and yet stunningly complex. By a tiny quantity, I mean three bottles. It seems he dipped into a bottle of their standard release at the time. It’s not often that one gets to drink one third of the entire production of a wine.

…While Pyramid Valley is one of the best-known names from the region, Bell Hill is one of the best known from the country as a whole. Personally, if I were limited to a single New Zealand winery for both Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, it would be Bell Hill without a question.

Eric Asimov, The New York Times
AUGUST 2025

Bell Hill Chardonnay 2019

This is perhaps a little richer and fuller than some. Stunning stuff, intensity intertwined with elegance and that line of salinity that runs through so many of their Chardonnays. Such potential. 98 Points

Eric Asimov, The New York Times
AUGUST 2025

Bell Hill Shelf Pinot Noir 2018

Sour cherries, bay leaves, bold cherries, animal skins, flesh, tobacco leaves, and undergrowth, with the wonderful chalky note that provides support for so many of their Pinots. This is clearly a 20-year proposition. 98 Points

Ken Gargett, The World of Fine Wine, Issue 88
JUNE 2025

Top Wineries 2025 Feature Week - Bell Hill Chardonnay 2020

The 2020 Bell Hill Chardonnay is a triumphant wine which firmly secures its place at the pinnacle of New Zealand Chardonnay. This shows none of the obvious reduction which was evident on the previous two vintages so it can be enjoyed in its youth if you so choose (though I would strongly advise cellaring it to see it at its best)…This chardonnay has a track record of long aging, as evidenced by deliciously lively 20 year-old bottles of it would confirm.

A restrained but precise nose which flits from white peach and stone to orchid, soaked in smoky-sweet, spicy oak. The palate is incredibly intense with waves of concentrated lemon and oyster-shell crashing over the spicy oak and hints of salted caramel. Very powerful and driven, most of the flavour currently resides on the back-palate and unfolds on the incredibly long finish. Super-serious with a confronting juxtaposition between immensity and linearity, this is just a baby right now and will only come into its own with careful cellaring. The structure and density here suggest a very long life ahead. Top Rank #1 of 17 2020 Chardonnays from Canterbury 97 Points, 5 stars

Stephen Wong MW, The Real Review
MAY 2025

A breakaway group proves there’s much more to NZ wines than Sauvignon Blanc – New Zealand Fine Wine Producers (NZFWP)…

In North Canterbury, Sherwyn Veldhuizen and her husband Marcel Giesen struggle against particularly chilly weather to eke out a reasonable crop of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay from their 3.2 ha (8 acres) of vines planted atop deep swathes of pure limestone at Bell Hill winery. Their Chardonnays have always been among the best of New Zealand’s wines, but on my recent visit I tasted what is without a doubt the best example of the variety I’ve ever had from the country. They have yet to release this wine and still don’t know what the final price will be but are confident it will be more than NZ$400, making it the most expensive white wine in New Zealand by a good margin.

The what? Shelf will be the single parcel Pinot, which the team will release in due course (2018, the initial release, has just become available). But not this one. Has there ever been a smaller production wine? Three bottles. Yes, just three. Seems Marcel dipped into the Shelf barrel from 2007 during the production of the Bell Hill Pinot, as the fruit has usually gone into that wine, and removed three bottles. Not often one gets to drink an entire third of the production of a wine. I wish I had asked Marcel whether he regretted not releasing this as the first Single Parcel Pinot. It would have been a smash hit, I’m sure. This is a star Pinot. Flesh, soy, leather, miso, the typical dried herbs that seem to be ever-present here. Hints of bay leaves. Seamless and with silky tannins, this has depth and complexity. The intensity never waivers. A truly stunning effort. Still a future. Well, it would have a future if there were any left. 98 Points

Alder Yarrow, Vinography - a wine blog
JUNE 2025

Bell Hill Limeworks Chardonnay 2020

Aromas of lemon pith and crushed stones. Saline flavours of candied lemon peel and electric acidity have a brilliant, crystalline purity and amazing lemon-oil brightness that lingers with a white-floral sweetness for a long time in the finish. Strikingly sensual and silky on the palate, while, at the same time, a clear, resonant chime of minerality echoes through a stone valley. Utterly riveting and quite likely the best New Zealand Chardonnay I’ve ever tasted. Drink 2025-2038. Score: 19/20

Erin Larkin, Rober Parker Wine Advocate
APRIL 2025

Bell Hill Pinot Noir 2019

New Zealand: Pinot Noir from the Land of Plenty 2019 Bell Hill Pinot Noir The 2019 Pinot Noir is bright and spicy, with pomegranate, cherry, succulent summer strawberry, shaved fennel, sweet red apple and caper brine. In the mouth, the wine is complex and settled, with all elements in balance and no one part speaking with a louder voice than any other. This is a tremendous wine that comes highly recommended 95 Points