Visit to the South Island of New Zealand

First stop was Queenstown, and three days of snow-boarding! Our time was split between The Remarkables and Coronet Peak, and with a poor snow season we soon found out why Coronet Peak is referred to as “CONCRETE PEAK”! By day we boarded, and by night we investigated the bars and restaurants. The highlights were:

For dining: The Bunker, Cow Lane, Queenstown (see www.thebunker.co.nz) where bookings are essential for this tiny intimate restaurant with a roaring fire and attentive staff.

For sipping wine: Wine Tastes, 14 Beach Street, Oueenstown (see www.winetastes.com). This venue is an up-market retail / bar, in which 80 wines are on tasting at any one time. We spent the first night there sampling our way through a number of 2005 vintage Pinot Noir from Central Otago, including the Wild Earth Pinot Noir 2005. Chris and the team were very helpful over the duration of our stay in Queenstown, and ensured we never left empty handed!

Central Otago

Next stop was Central Otago, and time with Quintin Quider, owner of Wild Earth Wines. We arranged to meet at ‘The Big Picture’ in Cromwell, which is a multifaceted wine centre run by Phil Parker (a winemaker himself). There is a great aroma room, along with a theatre experience where you can experience flying around the Central Otago region, stopping off at six wineries to meet the winemaker and try the wine. Wineries currently included; Amisfield, Two Paddocks, Rockburn, Pisa Moorings, Drumsara and Wild Earth! The Big Picture is definitely worth a visit (see www.bigpicturewine.com)

On our first day with Quintin we spent time in Bannockburn, at one of the two Wild Earth vineyards. The vineyard is situated at the end of Felton Road, past Mt Difficulty, Felton Road Winery, Olssens & Desert Heart. The vineyards run almost down to the Kawarau River, where we spent some time fishing (to no avail).

The evening was spent at Amisfield winery (Wild Earth consultant winemaker Michelle Richardson makes the Wild Earth wines here), where Quintin lit up his barrel ‘smoker’ and proceeded to cook some Pearl Perch and Blue Fin Tuna, that he had caught himself before meeting us. We were lucky enough to sample the 2007 vintage of Riesling, Pinot Gris and Pinot Noir, in tank and barrel……….looking good at this early stage!

The second day was spent in the Lowburn sub-region, right on Wanaka Road. I remember driving through this region in 2004 and noting all the new plantings of vines. The Wild Earth vineyard had been planted several years earlier than this and was one of the first in the region. Many more vines have been planted since.

A common theme of wine and food evolved over the two days we were in Central Otago. This theme will be extended to Melbourne in October, when Quintin will bring some food from the sea (he is a commercial diver by trade) to pair with his wine at a tasting event not to be missed!

En-route North

A decision was made to head north via the West Coast, so that we could take in the glacier experience. We spent a night near Fox Glacier, and made the trek out to the glacier the following morning. We made a quick stop at Franz Josef Glacier, which was very busy, so we took in the vista but kept moving. Just as well because the remainder of the journey north was undertaken with horizontal rain, hail and sleet! Our destination was Nelson, and we arrived late in the evening.

The following day was spent in the Nelson region, driving around and of course trying some local wines. It is an interesting region with clear sub-regions within. Late in the afternoon we set off again, heading for Marlborough.

Marlborough

It has been almost twelve months since Selador Wines first took on the Domaine Georges Michel wines from Marlborough. Several visits have been made by Swan Michel (Winemaker) and Heidi Bulfin (Export Manager) to Melbourne, so this visit was well overdue. We spent two great days with Georges Michel, Heidi, Swan and Voo Doo (Swan’s dog, a gorgeous Rhodesian Ridgeback). The vineyards were toured and we gained a visual understanding of the ‘Golden Mile’ which is a strip of vineyards in a highly valuable part of the wine region, in which Domaine Georges Michel are located (hence their range Golden Mile).

Our two days were spent at the winery, sampling from tank and barrel. We had a delicious lunch at the winery restaurant, ‘La Veranda’ and spent the afternoon in the vineyards. We were able to sample the new vintages of Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir and are just as excited about these as the current vintages.

With great interest we were also shown the Reserve range, consisting of Sauvignon Blanc 2005, Chardonnay 2003 and Pinot Noir 2004. Georges Michel will visit Melbourne at the end of September to launch the Reserve range for on-premise only, and we anticipate the wines will be well received.

The winery is small but innovative, in which hand-picking still takes place. The common theme is wine and food, in which elegance and restraint remains clear across the whole product range. For the duration of our visit the sun was shining, wine was flowing and conversation was easy……….if only we could have extended our stay!

Mention should be made of our accommodation whilst in Marlborough. St Leonards Vineyard Cottages in Blenheim is 10 minutes from Domaine Georges Michel. Paul and Daphne Radmall are the owners and have recently taken over this colonial homestead (relocating from Devon, England) which offers converted and fully self contained former farm buildings (see www.stleonards.co.nz). A great place to unwind after a busy day in the winery!

Wellington

From Marlborough we travelled to Picton where we caught the ferry through the Marlborough Sounds. The evening was spent in Wellington and the following morning we explored the city by foot.

By pure chance we sniffed out a fantastic independent wine retailer, Wine Seeker (see www.wineseeker.co.nz) with a great selection of wine from around the world. There were several South African, Chilean and French labels I recognized from my wine days in London, and as conversation evolved with one of the staff Paul, we unraveled a mutual link (as so often happens in the wine industry). Paul was a former customer of a great wine store in London (called The Winery, in Maida Vale for those of you who know London well), that I happened to work at on weekends just for fun. The atmosphere inside both stores is very similar, a great selection of local & international wines from small boutique wineries. I strongly recommend a visit to Wine Seeker if you find yourself in Wellington and in need of a bottle of wine or two!

Thus ends our journey to New Zealand. Please enjoy the selection of photos taken on the trip by clicking here.

Cheers Sarah