New Zealand Wines
Created | Updated Oct 20, 2010
<h2>Wonderful wine</h2>
<p>Since living here in London, I've found that people are woefully ignorant of New World wines, and of New Zealand wines in particular. This has become much better in recent years, but I do believe there is room for improvement! I don't pretend to have any real knowledge of wine, but I certainly like practising my tasting skills...</p>
<p><b>As you can see, this is very much under construction...</b></p>
<h2>Wine Regions </h2>
<h3><font color=purple>Auckland</FONT></h3>
<p>Auckland is the largest city in NZ, with a population of 1 million people, in an area about 2/3 that of Greater London - so there's plenty of room for wineries (there would be more room if everyone weren’t determined to have their standard NZ ‘quarter-acre section’). The city is situated on an isthmus, with the Manukau harbour to the west and the Waitemata harbour to the east. Auckland is fairly hilly due to being built over (dormant) volcanoes; the hills aren’t particularly high, but they give the city a pretty distinctive character. North of the Manukau harbour, on the west coast, are the Waitakere ranges, which are high enough to stop a lot of the rain that arrives with the prevailing westerly wind. They’re covered with beautiful regenerating native bush (‘forest’ tends to refer to exotic plantations in NZ-speak) and form a backdrop to some of the more stunning beaches in the Auckland region. If you’re lucky, you might see Xena and Hercules running about in the area – both TV series are filmed around the some of the beaches. The ranges are about a 25-minute drive to downtown Auckland (on a good day). To the south of the city are the Hunua ranges. They are a bit further away, and are correspondingly more ‘wild and woolly’ to tramp about in.</p>
<p>Despite the great setting (overlooking the Waitemata harbour), the central business district is particularly uninspiring. All the more interesting Victorian buildings are in the process of being replaced by generic mirror-glass towers, shopping is nothing to write home about - but there are some pretty good cafes and restaurants. The inner-city suburbs are much more interesting to hang about in – equally good (if not better) cafes and restaurants, more to look at, and more sunshine without mirror-glass towers to block it out! The Auckland suburbs are extremely low-rise, most houses being single-storied wooden bungalows or villas. This is true of most towns in New Zealand, with the exception of Wellington.</p>
<p>Most of the wineries are in West Auckland, with two sub-regions. There are the wineries of the Henderson Valley, on the eastern side of the Waitakere ranges. There is also the Kumeu-Huapai area, which is slightly north of the actual isthmus. The soil is pretty much a clay base, with the addition of a bit of sand, volcanic rock and alluvial deposits, depending on where you are.</p>
<h3><font color=purple>Waiheke</font></h3>
<p>Waiheke is a small island in the Waitemata harbour, about 35-45 minutes' ferry ride from Auckland City. The island is a steep series of hills which rise from the sea. There are some wonderful beaches and inlets, but by the same token, there are plenty of cliffs and steep drops to lose sheep over.</p>
<p>Waiheke has always been a weekend place for generations of Aucklanders, but now the ramshackle 'baches' are being replaced by substantial houses. During the 60s and 70s, there was a sizeable influx of more bohemian types - hippies, artists, writers and gays. They still make up a large proportion of the population, but there is a steady stream of yuppies from the city, who are determined to turn Waiheke into a luxury suburb. They aren't meeting with much success, except in pockets - the established residents like to think the septic tanks are keeping the majority away (Waiheke residents recently voted NOT to have a reticulated sewerage system).</p>
<p>Waiheke's soil isn't particularly fertile - in common with most cleared land in New Zealand (originally, the subtropical rainforest held a thin layer of humus). But the soil is generally friable and drains easily (one advantage of the hills) - it's certainly good enough to grow a few sheep, marijuana, olives and GRAPES. Waiheke has a lot of sunshine hours during growing season as well - the grapes tend to ripen earlier and are harvested bursting with sugars.</p>
<p>The wine industry seems to be one area on Waiheke where yuppie business drive and hippie back-to-the-land ideals seem to work together. Waiheke vineyards produce some of the most premium wines in New Zealand - and the prices tend to reflect it, at least in Kiwi terms. However, a moderately-priced (for Waiheke) $NZ45 bottle is only $US23 or £15 - not much when you consider the price of a GOOD Bordeaux wine. The upper range of price on Waiheke tends to be in the $80-100 range. Also, in New Zealand, half of that price is tax (tax is all very well, but 50%?!)</p>
<p><font color=brown><B>Top Varieties</B></FONT></P>
<P>The most important grape grown on Waiheke is the Cabernet Sauvignon. The wines made from it are rich and luscious, with lots of blackberry, as you'd expect from this variety. The wines tend to handle l o o o o n g cellaring and certainly reward a bit of patience.
<BR/>The main growers on the island are Stonyridge Vineyard and Goldwater Estate.</p>
<p>Stonyridge Vineyard has virtually organic wine production; it also grows fantastic olives and presses its own olive oil. Their wines are Cab Sav blends (the other constituents of the wines are mainly merlot and cabernet franc). The top label wine is the Stonyridge Larose. Stonyridge has its own cafe, where you can sample their 'homemade' produce.</p>
<p>Goldwater Estate grows Merlot, Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc varieties in addition to its Cab Sav. They also blend wines from the Marlborough region. Unusually, for New Zealand, they bottle a unblended Merlot, which has lots of delicious complex plummy flavours. The Sauvignon Blanc has had good reports as well. One of their wines distinguished itself by selling for the highest price ever received for a New Zealand wine - $US3800 for a 6 litre bottle - equivalent to $US475 for a normal size bottle (or $NZ950!!).</p>
<p>Another winery worth mentioning is the Mudbrick Vineyard. The building it's situated in is, oddly enough, constructed of mud bricks (or adobe, if you want to use the technical term). They have a decent restaurant and serve rather pleasant reds and whites - good for quaffing.</p>
<h3><font color=purple>Bay of Plenty</font></h3>
<h3><font color=purple>Hawke's Bay</font></h3>
<h3><font color=purple>Martinborough</font></h3>
<h3><font color=purple>Marlborough</font></h3>
<h3><font color=purple>Nelson</font></h3>
<h3><font color=purple>Canterbury</font></h3>
<h3><font color=purple>Otago</font></h3>
<p>Since living here in London, I've found that people are woefully ignorant of New World wines, and of New Zealand wines in particular. This has become much better in recent years, but I do believe there is room for improvement! I don't pretend to have any real knowledge of wine, but I certainly like practising my tasting skills...</p>
<p><b>As you can see, this is very much under construction...</b></p>
<h2>Wine Regions </h2>
<h3><font color=purple>Auckland</FONT></h3>
<p>Auckland is the largest city in NZ, with a population of 1 million people, in an area about 2/3 that of Greater London - so there's plenty of room for wineries (there would be more room if everyone weren’t determined to have their standard NZ ‘quarter-acre section’). The city is situated on an isthmus, with the Manukau harbour to the west and the Waitemata harbour to the east. Auckland is fairly hilly due to being built over (dormant) volcanoes; the hills aren’t particularly high, but they give the city a pretty distinctive character. North of the Manukau harbour, on the west coast, are the Waitakere ranges, which are high enough to stop a lot of the rain that arrives with the prevailing westerly wind. They’re covered with beautiful regenerating native bush (‘forest’ tends to refer to exotic plantations in NZ-speak) and form a backdrop to some of the more stunning beaches in the Auckland region. If you’re lucky, you might see Xena and Hercules running about in the area – both TV series are filmed around the some of the beaches. The ranges are about a 25-minute drive to downtown Auckland (on a good day). To the south of the city are the Hunua ranges. They are a bit further away, and are correspondingly more ‘wild and woolly’ to tramp about in.</p>
<p>Despite the great setting (overlooking the Waitemata harbour), the central business district is particularly uninspiring. All the more interesting Victorian buildings are in the process of being replaced by generic mirror-glass towers, shopping is nothing to write home about - but there are some pretty good cafes and restaurants. The inner-city suburbs are much more interesting to hang about in – equally good (if not better) cafes and restaurants, more to look at, and more sunshine without mirror-glass towers to block it out! The Auckland suburbs are extremely low-rise, most houses being single-storied wooden bungalows or villas. This is true of most towns in New Zealand, with the exception of Wellington.</p>
<p>Most of the wineries are in West Auckland, with two sub-regions. There are the wineries of the Henderson Valley, on the eastern side of the Waitakere ranges. There is also the Kumeu-Huapai area, which is slightly north of the actual isthmus. The soil is pretty much a clay base, with the addition of a bit of sand, volcanic rock and alluvial deposits, depending on where you are.</p>
<h3><font color=purple>Waiheke</font></h3>
<p>Waiheke is a small island in the Waitemata harbour, about 35-45 minutes' ferry ride from Auckland City. The island is a steep series of hills which rise from the sea. There are some wonderful beaches and inlets, but by the same token, there are plenty of cliffs and steep drops to lose sheep over.</p>
<p>Waiheke has always been a weekend place for generations of Aucklanders, but now the ramshackle 'baches' are being replaced by substantial houses. During the 60s and 70s, there was a sizeable influx of more bohemian types - hippies, artists, writers and gays. They still make up a large proportion of the population, but there is a steady stream of yuppies from the city, who are determined to turn Waiheke into a luxury suburb. They aren't meeting with much success, except in pockets - the established residents like to think the septic tanks are keeping the majority away (Waiheke residents recently voted NOT to have a reticulated sewerage system).</p>
<p>Waiheke's soil isn't particularly fertile - in common with most cleared land in New Zealand (originally, the subtropical rainforest held a thin layer of humus). But the soil is generally friable and drains easily (one advantage of the hills) - it's certainly good enough to grow a few sheep, marijuana, olives and GRAPES. Waiheke has a lot of sunshine hours during growing season as well - the grapes tend to ripen earlier and are harvested bursting with sugars.</p>
<p>The wine industry seems to be one area on Waiheke where yuppie business drive and hippie back-to-the-land ideals seem to work together. Waiheke vineyards produce some of the most premium wines in New Zealand - and the prices tend to reflect it, at least in Kiwi terms. However, a moderately-priced (for Waiheke) $NZ45 bottle is only $US23 or £15 - not much when you consider the price of a GOOD Bordeaux wine. The upper range of price on Waiheke tends to be in the $80-100 range. Also, in New Zealand, half of that price is tax (tax is all very well, but 50%?!)</p>
<p><font color=brown><B>Top Varieties</B></FONT></P>
<P>The most important grape grown on Waiheke is the Cabernet Sauvignon. The wines made from it are rich and luscious, with lots of blackberry, as you'd expect from this variety. The wines tend to handle l o o o o n g cellaring and certainly reward a bit of patience.
<BR/>The main growers on the island are Stonyridge Vineyard and Goldwater Estate.</p>
<p>Stonyridge Vineyard has virtually organic wine production; it also grows fantastic olives and presses its own olive oil. Their wines are Cab Sav blends (the other constituents of the wines are mainly merlot and cabernet franc). The top label wine is the Stonyridge Larose. Stonyridge has its own cafe, where you can sample their 'homemade' produce.</p>
<p>Goldwater Estate grows Merlot, Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc varieties in addition to its Cab Sav. They also blend wines from the Marlborough region. Unusually, for New Zealand, they bottle a unblended Merlot, which has lots of delicious complex plummy flavours. The Sauvignon Blanc has had good reports as well. One of their wines distinguished itself by selling for the highest price ever received for a New Zealand wine - $US3800 for a 6 litre bottle - equivalent to $US475 for a normal size bottle (or $NZ950!!).</p>
<p>Another winery worth mentioning is the Mudbrick Vineyard. The building it's situated in is, oddly enough, constructed of mud bricks (or adobe, if you want to use the technical term). They have a decent restaurant and serve rather pleasant reds and whites - good for quaffing.</p>
<h3><font color=purple>Bay of Plenty</font></h3>
<h3><font color=purple>Hawke's Bay</font></h3>
<h3><font color=purple>Martinborough</font></h3>
<h3><font color=purple>Marlborough</font></h3>
<h3><font color=purple>Nelson</font></h3>
<h3><font color=purple>Canterbury</font></h3>
<h3><font color=purple>Otago</font></h3>
