"Elegant pinot noir, with appealing sweet plum and cherry together with spice, fresh herb and nutty oak flavours. Impressive underlying power and a promising future. A stylish wine" Bob Campbell, Master of Wine, Real Review

"Magnificently complex and engaging, the fragrant bouquet shows dark cherry, spiced plum, thyme, smoked game and dark mushroom aromas, leading to a concentrated palate that is powerful yet elegant and refined. The wine exhibits gorgeous rounded mouthfeel and texture, wonderfully complemented by rich savoury nuances and polished tannins. A multi-layered offering with excellent depth and sophistication. At its best: now to 2023" Sam Kim, Wine Orbit, Nov 2018

"Even ruby-red colour with slight garnet hues, a little lighter on the edge. This has an elegantly concentrated nose with tightly bound, penetrating aromas of dark-red cherry and berry fruit harmoniously layered with dark herbs and complexing stalk and whole bunch perfumes. This has plenty to unfold and detail to show. Medium-full bodied, the palate is well-concentrated with a complex melding of savoury dark-red berry fruits with thyme herbs, and subtle whole bunch stalk elements. The flavours have interest and detail that fill the mouth, and are supported by fine-grained tannin extraction and structure. The acidity lends some underlying energy and the flavours lead to a sustained finish. This is an elegant, complex-layered savoury Pinot Noir with dark-red fruits, herbs and stalk detail on a fine-structured palate. Match with casseroles and slow-cooked game meat over the next 6-7+ years. Predominantly clone 115 with some 5 and 6, from the oldest vines from the ‘Home’ vineyard, indigenous yeast fermented with 14% whole bunches to 13.5% alc., the wine spending 25 days on skins and aged 11.5 months in 33% new French oak. 210 cases made" Raymond Chan, Oct 2018

These older vines deliver a complex wine. It displays elegant aromatics of rich bramble, blueberry, wild herb and rosemary. This is followed by a mineral driven palate of crushed rock, with layers of fine sweet rich red fruit spice and density. Richly concentrated, it is a seamlessly divine premium wine with great tension, depth and persistence. It will cellar exceptionally well.

Hawkshead 'First Vines' Pinot Noir is from the first block planted at the original Gibbston vineyard. Made predominantly from clone 115, it is an elegant 'old world' Pinot Noir.

Hawkshead premium wines are made from single vineyards throughout Central Otago. The theory behind producing single vineyard wines is that while every piece of land has potential, those with a unique terrior do produce wines with real personality, character and quality.