Bilancia
bi’lancia Italian. (be-larn-cha) balance, harmony and equilibrium; the scales, of the zodiac (libra).
Bilancia is a small Hawke's Bay producer of exceptional Chardonnay, Viognier/Marsanne/Roussanne and Syrah. Lorraine Leheny and Warren Gibson have been making fine Hawke's Bay wine since 1997. The first wines were released in 1998 and the first la collina Syrah, from the 2002 vintage, was released in 2004.
All fruit is sourced from Hawke's Bay vineyards: Syrah from la collina and Roys Hill, Chardonnay from la collina (Tiratore), Roys Hill (Trelinnoe Vineyard), Mangatahi (Two Terraces Vineyard) and Otane (Kaikora Vineyard - Central Hawke's Bay).
"You have to visit Hawke’s Bay on the east coast of New Zealand’s North Island to realise just how special Bilancia’s La Collina is."
Jancis Robinson
21 April 2023
Reviews
95 points
"The 2021 Tiratore Chardonnay is powerful and concentrated, but it is also superbly balanced. This is rich and dense and undulates over the palate with salt and richness ... kaleidoscopic, really. There's curry leaf, yellow peach, saffron, grapefruit, preserved citrus rind and even a hint of warm sourdough crust. It's a ripper of a wine. There's a really long draw of flavour across the palate."
Erin Larkin
November 2023
2024 Kaikora Vineyard Chardonnay
96 points
“This is a penetrating, sapid wine, with an intensity of flavour that is coupled with a lightness of touch. It is restrained, composed and tight - just super.”
Erin Larken
17 March, 2025
"The La Collina Syrah is without a doubt, New Zealand's greatest Syrah, and it is a gift to the wine world. If it is new to you, make it not so. It ages with grace and ease and will only repay careful cellaring with years of joy in the future. Go slow and gentle."
2024 la collina Syrah
98+ points
"This is the first wine released since 2021. The 2024 la collina is 100% whole-bunch fruit, which is dependent on the year, but this 2024 season was well suited to it. Aromatically, there's raw cocoa, fresh blood, pomegranite molasses, star anise, freshly mowed fennel, crushed rocks, licorice, lavender, raspberry and black tea, with pastrami and hung deli meat lace the edges. On the medium bodied palate, the wine is shaped by ductile chalky tannins, which serve to enhance the perception of fruit and spice, and these tannins drag out the flavour through the long finish. This is a spectcular wine. It's truly great, and not just in a Hawke's Bay context, not merely a New Zealand context, but truly great in a global Syrah context. This is a superb example. I love it.
This terraced place is as beautiful as it tastes in the glass , which brings forth rose petals, ashphalt, petrichlor, a crack of minerality and ozone. And the wine will only get better as it gains bottle age."
Erin Larkin
17 March, 2025
This wine is limited. Please contact us if you would like to purchase this.
2024 Two Terraces Vineyard Chardonnay
94 points
"The wine is textural and abundantly phenolic, with loads of fruit here - peach, pear, apple, licorice and white pepper. The wine has partially (that is, half the barrels) gone through malolactic fermentation, and it has a nutty, creamy character that works well. This is more opulent in style than the Kaikora Vineyard Chardonnay, but the acidity remains taut and saline, providing freshness and details to the fruit and an extra layer of frame work. This is a great wine."
Erin Larkin
March 17, 2025
96/100
"Fine-boned and very long, everything here is perfectly balanced with sleek and deliberate intentionality. A masterpiece of perfume and presence."
Stephen Wong, MW
16 February 2025
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