'Just a recent American Phenomenon' I would have expected a comment like this perhaps twenty years ago, maybe even ten, but with the technology we have these days there is no excuse for a leading wine writer not to know what is happening in other wine drinking countries. Not that I expect him to know the history, but at least the current state of play. Here in New Zealand, wine tourism is big business and the tasting room is an integral part of that business. After all, there wouldn't be any point in touring if all you could see was grapevines and wineries. You have to taste the product. But it is hardly a recent phenomenon and nor was it copied from the Americans. The fact is that, here in New Zealand, the tasting room has been around just about forever. Looking back at the history of the New Zealand Liquor Laws, the wineries were granted the right to sell their products from their wineries in 1881 - as long as the wine was taken away. How would the customer know what they wanted to buy from the range on sale? In order to make their decision, they would be given a taste. The tradition never died. My own experiences are almost 100 years more recent. I grew up in Auckland and back then, when Marlborough grape growing was just a twinkle in someone's eye, Auckland was the centre of the New Zealand wine industry. It used to be one of the great highlights of the year to have a trip to the West Auckland wineries where we would taste as many wines as we could. The producers would be keen to show us their wines, sherries and ports in the hope we would like something and buy the wine on its merits. Or perhaps, having tasted so much, we would buy something we regretted later. Over the years, as wineries stopped putting water into wine, ridded themselves of the hybrids and started producing good sound wines from the classical grape varieties, the wines were tasted and were indeed bought on their merit. The change was not only in the wine. The space that had been reserved in the corner of the winery, the adjacent garage or the old tin shed where the wine was sold from, started being replaced by surroundings more conducive to tasting fine wine. Now the tasting room may range from a specially converted water tank or cow shed to the latest architectural award winning designed winery and tasting facility with restaurant attached and perhaps a viewing area of the tanks and barrels in the winery itself. Many of the bigger wineries may sell other products including vinous paraphernalia, gourmet food items, artwork and souvenirs. Charging for wine tastings, however, is a relatively new phenomenon. My first recollection of a charge being applied was at Merlen Wines in Marlborough. Almuth Lorenz, a German-born winemaker, developed a 'weingarten' and in doing so obtained a wine bar license, which allowed purchased wine to be consumed on the premises. Hence, from the summer of 1990, there was a charge of $5.00 for a 'tasting set' of six wines. She did it well and the tasting tray idea has been copied many times since. While other producers didn't have wine bar licenses, they too wanted to charge for their wines and found ways to bend the law. On a trip to Auckland's Waiheke Island in the early 1990's, we found out how. We were charged a fee to 'visit' the property - an admission fee, if you like. The fee included a tasting and winery tour. The explanation was the wines were very expensive to produce, the production was small and there were far too many summer holidaymakers' visiting the island wineries and wanting only to taste, not buy. New Zealanders are lucky. Whenever wine is produced and for sale at the cellar door, there is a tasting room. Whether or not you are charged for the tasting depends on the producer, but they should have a license to sell you the wine they put in the glass.
Mostly you can be assured of a pleasurable time. And the people in the tasting rooms that don't automatically supply spittoons are gradually realising that I'm not crazy when I ask for one - I'm just a responsible taster.
Here are some Internet wine guides for wineries in New Zealand:
Auckland You could also check out http://www.nz-wine.co.nz/auckland/index.html, which has some information of Auckland and Henderson, including wine trail maps. The Waiheke Winegrowers Association website http://www.waihekewine.co.nz has a map of the locations of the Waiheke wineries and links to wineries with websites.
Gisborne
Hawkes Bay http://www.hb.co.nz/leisure/wineries.htm also provides a list of the wineries in the region with their address and for some a very brief comment as well. It is not a complete list but another page on this site links to some of the tour operators in the area.
Wairarapa This expanding area of Wairarapa now includes the area to the north of Martinborough. http://wairarapa.co.nz/tourism/trails.html has additional information on the wine trails over the whole Wairarapa region, however some notable wineries that are open to the public, are missing.
Marlborough
Nelson
Canterbury http://www.canterburyvindepays.co.nz/ is a wine tour company that offers specialised tours for a minimum of two people and includes wine trail maps on their site.
Central Otago Sue Courtney, June 2001
Visit Sue's Wine of the Week Website
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