QUICK WINERY FACTS
- Owner: Denis Marshall & Ulrike Kurenbach
- Grape varieties: Pinot Noir, Riesling and Pinot Gris
- Altitude (metres above sea level): 390 – 410
- Date first planted: 2001
- Size: 5 Hectares
- Wine labels: Hawkshead Pinot Noir
- Winemaker and Viticulturist: Denis Marshall
HAWKSHEAD WINES
Hawkshead is one of the smallest boutique vineyards in Gibbston. Owners Denis Marshall and Ulrike Kurenbach first planted Pinot Noir on the Northern facing slopes in 2001 and later planted Pinot Gris on the lower terraces in 2009. Situated right next to Kinross Wine Experience it is here that you get a chance to taste the wines on your Altitude Tour.
Like so many of their counterparts in Gibbston now, the Hawkshead vineyard is an Accredited Vineyard under the Sustainable Winegrowing New Zealand Program as well as being a recognised organic Pinot Noir producer. Dennis is very strict with his vine and soil management with minimum interference with nature – under the philosophy that ‘good grapes make good wine’.
At harvest the different grape clones (Pinot Noir 5, 6, 114, 115, 667, and Able) are actually all hand picked and fermented individually and then blended based on tastings from the barrels. Hawkshead subsequently releases a “First Vines” wine which is a selection of the very finest of the individual batches for that year.
