A delayed quick note about a trip to New Zealand in November-December 2013. I was mainly working, but did manage to spend some time in many of the NZ wine regions on both islands. I have to start with the same statement I always make: NZ is one of the most beautiful countries in the world with some of the nicest people you’ll ever want to meet: it’s a pretty awesome combination!
The wine isn’t too shabby either! Progress continues to be made in every region, although the 2012 vintage was a shocker in most regions except for Central Otago; Marlborough didn’t do too badly either. Another shocker was tasting some of the Hawkes Bay reds from that vintage at many cellar doors. First, many wineries did an early release if they sold out of the previous vintage, and released wine far too soon. That was the first strike. The second and more important strike was the quality of many of the wines: the lack of ripeness was a major issue, and it was painful tasting ‘reserve’ wines that shouldn’t have been released. The third strike were the prices charges for these weak wines (but only at some wineries). The 2012 vintage in Hawkes Bay will really separate those wineries run by accountants versus winemakers. True, many wines were in a nasty mood as they had been released or even bottled fairly recently, so maybe they were still in an awkward stage, but definitely try before you buy in the 2012 (and 2011, but less so) vintage. Napier is usually my favourite region, but no one winery really stood out this time. Craggy Range was as solid as always and the Te Mata wines were too (the gamay was interesting).
Marlborough was a fun visit, as always, and was probably my favorite visit this time. A few 2013s were available in this region, and this was a great vintage everywhere in NZ, maybe the best ever. But I didn't taste enough to get an idea of how good it will be. I tried to get into Riverby Estate, as I loved the rieslings I tried from them, but couldn’t arrange a visit. Nautilus wines seem to be firing on all cylinders right now, from their sparkling to their savvie, chardonnay and pinots. The range of wines at Seresin were also very impressive. My favourite basic sparkler from NZ, the Deutz Marlborough Brut, was an outstanding, world class value (about 20 NZD) and I went through many of them. The Morton Estate BdB 2004 was tasty too, as were Quartz Reef sparklers. Isabel was a lovely cellar door experience, and great olive oil too! Villa Maria had a solid line up available, with their Malbec 2009 being one of the top wines of the trip. A person at Framingham noticed my love for Rieslings and let me taste through all their Rieslings (about 7), which was a real treat.
Speaking of Rieslings, Sue Courtney’s website alerted me to the wines of Auburn, a Riesling specialist in Central Otago, and the two wines I tried were excellent. Other impressive wineries in the Bannockburn subregion of Central Otago – such a beautiful wine region! – included Quartz Reef, where winemaker Rudi Bauer went above and beyond the call of duty in terms of the hospitality he provided us. Amazing wines too: I even enjoyed the pinot gris here (I’m not a fan of NZ pinot gris normally, with vapid, insipid wines being the norm) and his sparklers and pinots were outstanding. Rockburn had a great line up too, and Felton Road, Mt Difficulty, Akarua and Carrick also were great visits.
Speaking of Sue Courtney, she kindly responded to a late private message I sent and took me to the wonderful Muriwai gannet colony, which I had never seen before, and we managed to hit a couple of wineries along the way as well, including the always lovely Kumeu River. Thanks so much Sue, it was great to meet you! Speaking of birds, one Auckland area recommendation I have is to visit Tiritiri Matangi, an island bird sanctuary just north of Auckland - they have done an amazing job killing rats and re-introducing very rare native birds here. You can get up close and personal with some really endangered birds here.
I always hit a few places in the Waipara region when I’m in the Christchurch area. Pegasus Bay is the main draw, but Greystone has very impressive wines. I had just tried a Terrace Edge Riesling and had to visit them, as I was so impressed. Their whole lineup was really excellent, and I learned that the Greystone winemaker makes these wine too, which explained a lot. Both Greystone and Terrace Edge have great QPR wines. Great olive oil at Terrace Edge too. The Liquid Geography riesling is particularly excellent as well.
My wife came to join me, and then we did two weeks of hiking around the South Island, which is always a favourite thing of ours to do – such an incredibly beautiful part of the world. Had some great hikes, mainly on the West Coast and Arthur’s Pass regions. Of course, we had to drink a fair bit of wine each night to parch our thirst. The native, old growth forests on the West Coast of the South Island are still some of the most beautiful I have ever seen.
If you are into the outdoors at all – obviously you are into wine if you are on the WineLovers board – then you owe it to yourself to go to NZ at least once. What an amazing combination of great people, physical beauty, outdoor recreation facilities and of course great wines!
