My dad, Jon Porter, recently spent a week in New Zealand. I asked him to write about his day trip on Waiheke Island off the coast of Auckland.
Time changes all things, but some things get better over time. Children grow up, global events can be placed into perspective and wine improves, especially wine producers. Nearly 30 years ago, I took my first trip down under to what the native Maori’s called Aotearoa, “the land of the long white clouds,” now known as New Zealand. This incredibly beautiful nation of some 4.2 million people, 40 million sheep and 10 million dairy cattle, is also now famous for its wines. This was not the case 30 years ago on my first visit. The only wine worth drinking was something called MacWilliam’s Cabernet, which was overly juicy and tannic, but for the price, not bad. New Zealand is also the first place I encountered that had wines in a box. The white wines of the country were overly sweet and best used as paint thinner.
We spent a week in the largest city, Auckland, home of nearly one third of New Zealand’s people and found much had changed. Two America’s Cup wins had propelled the city to greater international stature and the investments made to show off the best of the “city of sails” paid off handsomely. Even though they lost the cup to the Swiss, the city still has a new international quality which shines like the sun on the Hauraki Gulf.
Not wanting to travel too far afield, I inquired about day trips to the wine regions and quickly discovered the immense nature of the wine business in the country. I knew about the wine regions in the South Island (Nelson, Marlborough) and some of the wineries in the southern part of the North Island (Hawkes Bay, Gisborne) but I had no idea about the wineries within a stone’s throw of my hotel.
The wonderful people who habit (not Hobbits, which are located to the south for you Peter Jackson fans) the Tourist Information center near the America’s Cup harbor were full of information about the wine industry and provided us numerous options for wine tours of the area. There are currently over 100 wineries in the greater Auckland area. The tour we chose involved a boat ride, which I immediately snapped up. The wine tour would be on Waiheke Island (Waiheke Island Wine Growers Association), which is located some 35 minutes away via high speed ferry among the many islands found in the Hauriki Gulf. After taking the 10 AM ferry from the downtown terminal, I arrived at the island and was met by Chris our guide from Ananda Tours. This 10 year old company provides wine and gourmet tours of the island and have many options to choose from.
Over the next 6 hours we toured the island with tastings at four wineries and a gourmet luncheon being served at the last winery. The wines were mostly good with a few being exceptional. This area is known for Pinot Noirs and the first winery, Kennedy Point, had just been awarded the gold medal for their 2007 Syrah at the London International Wine Challenge. We tasted their 2008 which was very good plus some of their whites which are produced in the Nelson area. We also were treated to oysters and fresh bread with two different olive oils also grown on the winery. Their production is less than 4000 cases and will probably remain at this level.
The second winery was Goldwater Estate which is the oldest winery on the island starting in 1977. I was not overly enthusiastic about their wines and their Pinot Noir was not nearly as good as Kennedy Point.
The third winery won our top prize and our money. This was a very small winery called Jurassic Ridge. The name comes not from the movie but from the owner who is an English geologist. He likes to discuss the age of the rock upon which the island sits on and how it was formed. This unusual terroir immediately conjures up images of large dinosaurs but he tells me that nothing lived at this time except small invertebrates. His wife is an Italian urologist who is very involved in the business when not checking out other liquids. They also grow olives and have their own olive press, which creates a wonderful olive oil, now proudly conveyed back to the USA to be consumed by friends and family.
The wines were the best I tasted on the island with the winner being a Montepulciano, which is not grown anywhere else on Waiheke. The tasting was impressive and took me back to Italy and the hands of the Italian wife were definitely involved in creating this wonderful robust red.
The last winery and lunch were held next door to Jurassic Ridge at Mudbrick Vineyard. The restaurant is high on a hill overlooking incredible vistas of small bays, islands and vineyards. The food was amazing including venison, local fish, lamb and beef. Wine pairings were offered and a wonderful Bordeaux style blend won our affection.
Truly this was an amazing day and compared to a similar outing in Napa or Sonoma, it was a steal. If you can get past the price of the plane ticket, the New Zealand dollar is currently worth about 75 cents US, thus making a $95 NZ all day tour, very affordable. Wine tastings at these wineries (included in the tour price) averaged no more than $3 to $5 NZ with at least 3 to 5 wines included in the price. Wine prices on Waiheke ranged anywhere from $8 NZ to $25NZ but of course the catch for fellow US citizens is getting it back. Wine packages were available but the cost of shipping quickly ran upwards of $200 NZ per case making this an expensive option.
If you find yourself wanting to experience something different and you have been to Europe and crave beauty, adventure and good wine, try New Zealand and find out what the Maouri’s discovered beneath the long white cloud.
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