We drove up to Arrowtown (just north of Queenstown) in 3 hours of pouring rain, and as if by order, as we arrived at the Settlers Motel, it stopped. It was only about 3pm so we had the afternoon to get ourselves and our clothes clean after 4 days on the trail. A quirky place, the motel was a 5 minute walk into 'town'. While there is very little going on in Arrowtown, it has a chocolate-box high street, lined with historic buildings dating back to the 1800s and thus has a steady stream of tourists, and some very good restaurants;
La Rumbla and Slow Cuts.
We also happened to be in Arrowtown for the official opening of their Farmers Market, the next day. We treated ourselves to breakfast at the Postmasters Restaurant, and supported the still fledgling market by purchasing some lovely local cheese and tasty, but heavy, gluten-free cake.
We couldn't waste too much time though, as we were heading to Wanaka, and the Otago wine region, today, and Duncan had made contact with a couple of wineries which we wanted to visit there. The drive up to Wanaka, situated at the bottom of Lake Wanaka, took us through the Criffel mountain range. Whilst well-maintained, the road is steep and takes you round dozens of tight switchbacks. Gorgeous views over the valley below, and back towards Queenstown and Lake Wakatipu, but I'm much happier when Duncan keeps his eyes on the road in these situations! We stopped once or twice to capture the scenery, but it wasn't long before we were looking ahead, rather than behind, at the glorious views of Lake Wanaka, surrounded by the majestic Southern Alps.
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| The view back down the valley towards Queenstown |
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| Lake Wanaka from Rippon Vineyard |
Our first stop was
Rippon Wines, situated in an incredible location above the shores of Lake Wanaka. A local school choir were practising in Rippon's function room, so we were able to enjoy their very good organic Sauvignon, Reisling and Pinot Noirs, and the world's only bottled wine made with Osteiner grapes, while listening to Pink's "What about us" and Beyonce's "Halo". Certainly gave the tasting a certain je ne sais qois! We headed into Wanaka properly, to locate our lodgings, right in the centre of town and a couple of streets from the lakefront, cafes and restaurants. We'd been told by some that Wanaka is like Queenstown, and certainly it has a similar situation; on a beautiful lake, surrounded by beautiful mountains, and with extortionate house prices, but it's nothing like Queenstown (yet)! Much more laid back and chilled out, we loved it. Apparently there is talk of building an international airport, which will change it completely, but for now, we wish we had more time to spend here. Still, a second vineyard to visit, we walked up to
Maude, a small, family run, vineyard just above the town. We were greeted by Sarah-Kate (who turned out to be the owner and winemaker) and Jac, her somm, who had spend many years in London
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| Lunch and tasting at Maude Vineyard |
and knew more about Shoreditch's hotspots than we ever will! Sarah-Kate took us through the Mt Maude reserves, 5 single vineyard expressions with a few generous extra blends thrown in. Delightfully welcoming, we learnt how these wines are made in really quite limited quantities, but boy are they worth hunting down. Each one of them is really excellent; Reisling, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. Duncan and I had different favourites, so of course we HAD to buy a few bottles to keep us both happy. (And just for the record, if you ever see Mt Maude's EMW Pinot Noir, KIDS Block Pinot Noir or Chardonnay for sale in the UK - buy them!)
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| The view from Maude's tasting terrace :) |
We finally stumbled back down the hill to the Wanaka centre, had a stroll and picked up an excellent burrito off the street food van, to enjoy with one of our many acquired bottles, back at our Airbnb.
There's no peace for the wicked; Duncan had arranged a 9.30am tasting at
Mount Edward Winery, about an hour's drive back through the Criffel range. Dedicated to a fault, we were up and out in good time and knocked on the Mt Edward's cellar door probably earlier than anyone else in history. We were greeted by Duncan Forsyth, who merrily kicked us off with a post-breakfast organic rose, and the story of Mt Edward vineyard and the learning curve they have gone through over the 13 years since buying it. The rose was followed with a flight of whites and reds - all organic and all excellent. Another winemaker who is doing something really good and producing delicious juice. Not only that Duncan F gave us lots of great tips for our last week on NZ's south east coast. A bottle of rose, pinot gris, pinot noir, and a couple of t-shirts in the bag, and we were off again. One more to go. Will I make it to lunchtime?!
Felton Road was a 30 minute drive away, in the same region, but very different terroir - almost desert. They have 32 hectares, and export their wonderful reislings, chardonnays and pinot noirs all over the world. Our tasting was with Ingrid, and 2 other couples (more honeymooners!) and again we were spoiled with 5 excellent bottles that made it very difficult to choose a favourite. We couldn't buy them all, so we settled on one - it seems to me that we have a lot of drinking to do in the next 7 days, as we can't take any of this nectar back to the UK with us! (Thankfully we're going to have some help when we go and stay with Anne on the east coast.)
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| 24 hours and 4 wineries: the best of Otago! |
4 wineries in 24 hours - and all of them top notch. I'd buy any of their wines, any day. In the UK, when you think of New Zealand wines, you generally think of Marlborough. But I'd press you to look for these labels, all from the Otago region. And when you find them, buy them all. :)
Right. Time to leave the Southern Alps. We're spending our last week South and East. And we have a long drive down to Curio Bay. Better get going.
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