Thursday, May 17, 2018

News: Winemaker Changes at Black Hills Estate Winery


From the Black Hills Estate Winery Press Release

After 10 successful years in the position as our head winemaker at Black Hills Estate Winery, Graham Pierce will transition to a new role as our consulting winemaker. In this new part-time role, Graham will continue to be involved in key strategic decisions and practices in the winery's winemaking program. These include but are not limited to: grape picking and fermentation decisions, barrel selections, blending, and stylistic directions.

The assignment of this role allows Graham the time to pursue a long-time dream to create his own brand of sparkling wine and other possible projects, while continuing to work closely with the esteemed Black Hills winery team. This includes his close relationship with the winery's winegrower Steve Carberry, who continues into his 14-year commitment as the veteran vineyard manager at Black Hills. As part of the winery's practice of "continual quality evolution", every member of the Black Hills team is committed to improving the quality of the grapes grown, the wines produced, and the hospitality provided every year.

As consulting winemaker, Graham will also work closely with Black Hills' future winemaker and the existing winery team to execute the day-to-day operations. The search for a new winemaker is now underway. We are confident we will attract a world-class candidate that will be thrilled to work directly with Graham and the rest of our winery team. It is envisioned that Graham will transition into the consulting winemaker role in early July 2018.

"We are thrilled to continue to work with Graham and have on-going access to his incredible experience, perspective, palate and passion for wine," says Glenn Fawcett, director, Black Hills Estate Winery. "At Black Hills, we value every team member and support them in pursuing their dreams. We are very excited that Graham will now have the time and freedom to pursue the side projects that are so important to him. Many of us at Black Hills will be rushing to become Graham's first customer when he makes his sparkling wine release in the future".

Graham proudly shared, "It has been an amazing 10 years working with the exceptional team at Black Hills. The dedication and talent from every team member has allowed us to craft the wine that we proudly stand behind. I look forward to working with the new winemaker and the rest of the team as we continue our continual quality evolution of our wine."

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A sample of some of Graham's most recent releases:


Black Hills Estate Winery 2015 Syrah
Fantastical concentration in this Black Sage Bench sourced Syrah with deep, black cherry and sensual, floral aromas on the generous nose and oak-kissed layers of black cherry, mint, pepper, tobacco and blood orange flavours on the smoky, fine tannin palate. Simply gorgeous.
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Black Hills Estate Winery 2016 Viognier
Black Hills have dialed in their Viognier program delivering a focused wine with both plump, Tropical fruit and lean, refreshing citrus characters that make it a great pairing for rich, spicy soups and seafood dishes. Look for subtle notes of white flowers on the pleasant nose and fresh, tangy apricots on the palate. The finish is long with lingering clove and aniseed spice.
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Black Hills Estate Winery 2016 Chardonnay
Both rich and vibrant and anchored with baby bear levels of oak (just right) on the vanilla and peach cream scented nose and on the orchard'n'citrus fruit infused palate. Layers of mineral, blossom and spice add depth throughout. Clove, pear and ever-so-slightly bitter lemon zest notes linger on the long finish.
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Black Hills Estate Winery 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon
Likely to be limited to the wine club only, this 100% Cabernet Sauvignon wine may be the best reason ever to join such a club with its out-of-this-world depth of flavour, rarely seen in a BC Cab. Both sensual and powerful on the nose with deep, minty dark chocolate, pure cassis liqueur, cordial cherry and nutmeg aromas.
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- Liam Carrier ©copyright 2018 IconWines.ca

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