Overlooking Maté’s Vineyard, Hunting Hill is named after the hillside farmland where Maté used to hunt rabbits and pheasants for the home kitchen. In 1994 we established new plantings of Pinot Noir on our Kumeu Estate with the aim of producing red wine to rival the quality of our Kumeu River Chardonnay. To this end only the best new planting material available from Burgundy was chosen, and grafted onto extremely low-vigour rootstocks to limit the yield and intensify the flavour of this wonderfully aristocratic grape variety.

100% hand harvested
100% de-stemmed then crushed
Indigenous yeast fermentation
2-3 weeks total cuvaison
Thrice daily remontage or pigeage
11 months maturation

This 2015 vintage is the third release of Hunting Hill Pinot Noir and there was only 400 cases made. The Pinot Noir from Hunting Hill has always gone into the Estate Pinot Noir but from 2013 we have selected the very best from this parcel to release as Hunting Hill Pinot Noir and the rest has gone toward the Kumeu Village Pinot Noir. Lovely colour, the aroma is very Burgundian with ripe cherry and spice notes the palate is supple but with nice tannin to provide longevity.