Elephant Hill 2021 & 2022

Wine Region

Hawke’s Bay, New Zealand

Vineyard

60 hectares

Elephant Hill is a story of human enterprise, of dreams and determination, and more than a little serendipity. Elephant Hill, in New Zealand’s Hawke’s Bay region, is an exceptional estate, grounded in the Old World philosophy of ‘terroir’ — the belief that all great wines should express the unique character of their site. The estate’s Icon and Elemental wines are garnering increasing critical acclaim around the world. The Icons represent the ultimate blends from the very best fruit, drawn from across all three of their distinct subregions within Hawke’s Bay. A separate project, the Elementals collection, brings the spotlight to specific terroirs and varietal expression. We are delighted to present the superb 2021 and 2022 vintages — contemporary classics, beautifully wrought with a sense of place.ELLIOT PERKOFFSENIOR BUYING ASSISTANTMay 2025

Vintages

The 2021 Vintage

2021 completes a trilogy of outstanding Hawke’s Bay vintages — all different, but each has delivered wines that are true to their place and the season. Winter was mild and dry, leading to an early budburst in spring, which remained frost-free, giving the vines a healthy start. At the end of spring, significant rainfall recharged the soils, which was to prove invaluable further into the season. Summer started out hot and dry, with several heat spikes leading to vine stress. However, the vines’ roots could draw on stores of water and continue to focus their energy on ripening fruit. Conditions cooled in late summer through to the end of the season, but critically they remained dry. This weather contributed to fruit purity, the retention of natural acidity, balance, and refinement in the final wines. It also meant there was no disease pressure, allowing the harvest of pristine fruit at the point of optimum ripeness. There was no pressure to pick within a tight window of time, which can occur in some years. The 2021 reds, while still in their infancy, show that lovely combination of power and restraint, purity and concentration. They will further develop into complex, age-worthy wines that will reward cellaring, but allow earlier enjoyment with their hallmark elegance and approachable structure.

The 2022 Vintage

The 2022 vintage presented challenging summer conditions with heat, humidity and rainfall events, but was ultimately saved by a dry, warm autumn that prevailed to produce excellent fruit. The season started with a mild, dry winter, which led to an exceptionally early budburst. With the fear of frost looming, risking damage to the young buds, there was great relief when spring and early summer turned out to be warm, right from the start. A healthy amount of rain led to strong vine growth and full canopies. Midsummer onwards saw a sustained period of hot weather, with a record number of days above 30 degrees for the time of year. The heat put the vines under stress at a critical point in the growth cycle, resulting in small berries with outstanding flavour concentration. The rains arrived just before harvest, threatening mould and mildew. However, Elephant Hill’s vineyards at breezy, coastal Te Awanga and on free-draining soils in Bridge Pa and Gimblett Gravels coped exceptionally well. Their low-cropped vines had ensured early ripening, giving exceptional Chardonnay grapes with superb fruit concentration, fragrant aromatics and fresh natural acidity.

The Icon wines represent the pinnacle of achievement at Elephant Hill, in terms of absolute quality, character and exception. These are essentially ‘statement’ wines, emphatically so, blended from Elephant Hill’s highest quality fruit: the ‘cuvée ronde’ par excellence bringing together the best of the best from all three vineyard holdings: the best barrels from the best rows from the best blocks, to create blends of different clones and in the case of Hieronymus and Airavata, different grape varieties. Each Icon is created in homage to a classic ‘old world’ wine style, with its unique Hawke’s Bay accent.

As all winemakers will say, quality begins in the vineyard, and this is certainly true of Elephant Hill’s approach in the making of the Icons and Elemental wines. In each case, the process starts at the beginning of every season, when blocks and rows are chosen specifically with each wine in mind.

The vines are pruned severely, reducing the number of potential buds and bunches and thereby slashing production to as little as a single bottle per vine! The leaf canopy is managed meticulously throughout the growing season, working day by day to balance the vagaries of Mother Nature and (with luck!) achieve a healthy, optimally ripe crop.

Bunches are picked carefully, one by one, following a precise brief, often resulting in multiple passes through the vines. High-tech optical sorting kit provides a final safeguard prior to the all-important ferments. Fermentation is carried out by block, and sometimes by clone, with a view to reflecting and respecting the specificity of site and the work carried out in the vineyard. For the red wines, the initial crush is performed by foot, aiming for gentle extraction and fine tannins.

We have a small allocation of these wines to offer.

THE ICON WINES

Salomé 2022

Named after a Weiss family ancestor, this exceptional expression of the Chardonnay grape is created in the mould of great white Burgundy, whilst continuing the narrative of Hawke’s Bay’s own identity. This vintage, the grapes come from the Te Awanga vineyard (98%) and Bridge Pa (2%) and were trained to low yields (35–50hl/ha on average). The fruit was carefully picked by hand, then fermented in French oak barrels (62% new). The wine was aged in the same barrels for 11 months, with light bâtonnage to enhance the texture and aromatic profile. This was followed by an additional 7 months in tank, resting on the lees, allowing the flavours to meld. Total production was only 300 cases. A complex, layered Chardonnay. Grapefruit and lemon zest on the nose, with toasted cashews and savoury pastry. Expansive fruit flavours of yellow nectarine and green apple with a taut, tightly coiled limey acidity. Nutty notes and a delicate creaminess coat the mouth, with a mineral, briny finish.

Corney & Barrow Score 18.5

Recommended drinking from 2025-2032+

£225 / case of 6 bottles, in bond UK

Airavata Syrah 2021

In Hindu tradition, Airavata is the King of Elephants. Elephant Hill’s Airavata is made in honour of its namesake, an animal beloved of the Weiss family. It is also an homage to Côte Rôtie, made in even smaller quantities than you might find from a vigneron in that hallowed appellation: the total production was just 300 cases. The 2021 vintage demonstrates the fragrance and warmth of Bridge Pa (67% of the blend), offset by the structure of the Gimblett Gravels (33% of the blend). It was matured for 22 months in French oak barrels (33% new). A wine of style and substance. Mesmerising aromas of dark plums, black cherry and white pepper, with the sweet smoulder of cigar smoke. Cashmere tannins form a backdrop, setting the scene for dark berry fruit, earthy minerals and a savoury meatiness.

Corney & Barrow Score 18.5+

Recommended drinking from 2026-2036+

£295 / case of 6 bottles, in bond UK

Hieronymus 2021

‘Hieronymus’ seems a suitably dignified title to honour this signature wine. The word derives from Ancient Greek, meaning ‘with a sacred name’, but also pays tribute to a noble ancestor of the Weiss family, the Lord Mayor of Nuremberg in the early 1500s. While classical Bordeaux may be its stylistic inspiration, Hieronymus is created in aspiration, a vision of the potential of Hawke’s Bay as a world-class wine region. The blend brings together Cabernet Sauvignon (50% of the blend), Merlot (42%) and Cabernet Franc (8%) from Elephant Hill’s vineyard holdings in the Gimblett Gravels. It spent 22 months in French oak barrels (50% new). Total production was 294 cases. An alluring nose packed full of sweet spice — cloves, cinnamon — dark fruit and leather, with a fresh herbaceous edge. Opulent bursts of black cherry and blackcurrant rest on a bed of snug tannins, embellished with mocha, pencil shavings and smoky oak. Powerful, polished and refined.

Corney & Barrow Score 18.5

Recommended drinking from 2026-2036+

£295 / case of 6 bottles, in bond UK

The Elemental wines mark the next stage of Elephant Hill’s terroirs project, its natural corollary. The fruit of a single site, single blocks, a single grape variety, a single year, these are wines designed to express the unique and specific characters of Elephant Hill’s three subregional vineyards — that age-old and very European notion of ‘sense of place’. Their very creation marks a certain coming-of-age, showing the team’s confidence in the potential of the sites and what can be achieved through careful viticultural practice and winemaking.

Produced only in vintages that display with clarity and definition the true potential of these vineyards, Sea, Stone and Earth are the result: limited edition wines reflective of their site.

The wines are conceived in a similar way to the Icon wines, in that specific blocks and vines are identified for their potential at the end of harvest of the previous year, deliberately pruned for low yields, then managed with kid gloves through the growing season to harvest. The canopy is carefully balanced, and the vines are managed meticulously to coax them to their full potential. The attention to detail and man hours required are impressive. Obsessive? Absolutely!

Sea

Sea is the wine of Te Awanga, on the shores of the Pacific. This area is something of a viticultural gem, encompassing an impressive range of sites and soils. It is fortunate in benefiting from persistent, luminous sunshine, the tempering effects of the ocean, and relatively low rainfall. As a result, the growing season is also extended, allowing a prolonged ripening period for the grapes. The predominant characteristic of the soil here is an extraordinary band of free-draining shingle running across the front of the vineyard, just 50 metres from the coastline. The block was formed by the famous 1931 earthquake which raised the seabed by an incredible 4 metres.

Stone

Stone is the wine of Gimblett Gravels. An exceptional site, the 17-hectare vineyard is planted on deep greywacke gravels, exposed after a cyclone in 1867 altered the direction of the Ngaruroro river. Free draining, with very little top soil, this is poor terrain ideally suited to red varieties.

Earth

Earth is the wine of the Bridge Pa Triangle. Like the Gimblett Gravels this area owes its unique soil type to a diversion of the Ngaruroro river, though it was formed many thousands of years earlier. Here, top soils of red metals have built up over the traditional greywacke gravels, so it should be no surprise perhaps that this area sports the highest concentration of vineyard plantings in the Hawke’s Bay.

ELEMENTAL WINES

Sea Chardonnay 2022

Aromas of lime zest and white peach, with flinty notes and some exotic spice. The palate is intense and focused, with juicy nectarine and yellow plum — a bracing, saline finish harking back to the wine’s origins next to the Pacific Ocean. 18 months on the fine lees (the first 11 months in French oak (69% new) and the last 7 months in tank) gives a soft texture and a background hum of toasty oak, balancing the crystalline fruit flavours.

Corney & Barrow Score 18

Recommended drinking from 2025-2030+