ADVENTURES IN NEW ZEALAND

A New Zealand Wine Tasting Sampler

        New Zealand wine's have become world-class, and its wineries are found in almost all parts of the country. Join us for one of the world's longest wine-tasting tours—across the North and South Islands of New Zealand.

Photo courtesy NZ Tourism.

WHAT'S NEW in New Zealand?
        Time was when New Zealand cuisine meant lamb, mutton, mint jelly, and peas. And gourmet cuisine in New Zealand meant pan-fried trout and kiwi fruit. If not forgotten, those days are long gone. Over the last fifteen years a culinary revolution has occurred. And the leaders of the revolution are New Zealand’s vintners. And—and this is the fun part for visitors—wine production is suddenly found all over New Zealand, and you are welcome to stop by and sample some of the wine world’s newest success stories.

The BIG STORY of New Zealand wines has been about two varieties and two regions. And, if your wine store has any wines from New Zealand (chances are that they will have only a few bottles), they will all be Sauvignon Blancs and Chardonnays from Hawkes Bay on the North Island or Marlborough on the South Island (with 60+ wineries and 52% of the country’s production).
        By now the big story is old news. For wine enthusiasts, a trip to the Hawke’s Bay or Marlborough regions remains very rewarding for the wines—both classic and new—to be enjoyed. But these two principal wine regions themselves lack the cultural variety necessary to hold one’s interest with the intensity of, for instance, Tuscany, Bordeaux, Rhine/Mosel, Napa, or Vaud.

The NEW STORY of New Zealand wines is the proliferation of varieties of wines in an even wider range of climates and geographies. Indeed, today it is difficult to be in New Zealand and be more than fifty miles from a wine-producing region. Moreover, Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay have contenders as the undisputed heavyweight champions of New Zealand wines. New Zealand’s top Semillons (white wine) and several of its boutique Cabernet Sauvignons, Merlots, and even Pinot Noirs—all reds—have drawn new attention to new varietals, new vineyards, and new wine producing regions on both islands. With so many different geologies and microclimates, New Zealand is ripe for boutique wineries producing small quantities of high-quality wines of almost all varieties.

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A GAZETTEER OF NEW ZEALAND WINE REGIONS
        Today, a touring excursion throughout New Zealand can follow an almost nation-long wine trail. Here’s a gazetteer of wine regions you might visit as you travel throughout New Zealand:

NORTH ISLAND

1. NORTHLAND: New Zealand’s smallest wine region.
Warm and humid conditions here are best for Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Merlot. Two of the mostly boutique wineries in the region, Cottle Hill and Marsden Estate, are located close to Home at First lodgings in Northland.

2. AUCKLAND AREA: Winemaking in New Zealand started here, near Huapai well over 100 years ago. And, while the Auckland region has never stopped making wine, the centers of Kiwi wine production have shifted elsewhere. Then, in the 1980’s, boutique vintners on Waiheke Island, a 30-minute ferry ride east of Auckland in the Hauraki Gulf, discovered the local microclimate is excellent for quality wines. Now other area of Auckland are making similar discoveries proving that what goes around comes around. There are now scores of wineries in the region, from traditional Huapai northwest of the city to Waiheke Island, to Clevedon south of town. For those going out to Waiheke Island on the car ferry, we recommend a stop at the Te Whau ("Tay Fow") winery at its dramatic location on a steep headland. The views are most unusual for a vineyard, and its red wines (from Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, and Malbec varietals) are excellent and available few places other than at the winery.
Photo copyright © Bob Ecker - used with permission.

3. WAIKATO: South of Auckland there are several small wineries located in the rich agricultural flatlands of the Waikato District. Typically, these vineyards experience warm growing seasons and soils best for producing Chardonnays. Home at First guests moving from Auckland south to the Coromandel Peninsula or further south to the Rotorua/Taupo region might want to stop by the Rongopai Winery at Te Kauwhata just off Highway 1 about 10 miles south of the Highway 1 & 2 junction at Pokeno. The award-winning Chardonnays at this winery are worth the stop.

4. HAWKE’S BAY: Largest wine region on the North Island, and second largest in New Zealand, Hawke’s Bay offers a widely varied topography and many varieties of wine. Still, the Chardonnay grape is king here, even though other whites and several reds are found plentifully in the region. Home at First visitors to the Hawke’s Bay region will find its well-established wine trail to be an easy way to sample the region’s considerable variety. We recommend consulting the region’s interactive wine trail map showing 36 wineries in the tri-cities area of Napier, Hastings, and Havelock North to determine which wineries may be worthwhile stops on your itinerary. If you have time to visit just one, we recommend Te Mata at Havelock North.

5. WAIRARAPA: The focus of this region—the southern tip of the North Island—is Martinborough, about 40 miles northeast of Home at First's Wellington city lodgings. Pinot Noir and Sauvignon Blanc are the two primary success stories of the region, which, like Waiheke Island near Auckland, is known for high quality wines but for relatively low production quantities. Stop by the Martinborough Vineyard on Princess Street in Martinborough daily between 11AM-5PM for tastings and purchases of their many award-winning wines.

GO TO PART 2—

You can visit wineries throughout NEW ZEALAND as part of your own independent, custom-designed Home at First travel itinerary.