Today the activity of the day was a Wine Cave Tour of New Zealand’s largest and most innovative wine cave. So this meant that again we had to set our alarm clocks for an early start as by 9 am we were out of our hotel and were walking down the hill to Queenstown town centre where we were going to be picked up – but first coffee and toast at Starbucks! We were picked up punctually at 10.am and were off for a half hour drive to the Gibbston Valley Road situated between two ranges of mountains. On the way a commentary by our knowledgeable chauffeur.
We were being driven to the site: Gibbston and Bendigo sub regions which have a semi continental climate with temperatures rising to 30 degrees centigrade during daytime and 5 degrees at night. Apparently these are perfect conditions for the vines. Alan Brady – an ex TV presentation in New Zealand started his vineyards back in 1983 when New Zealand had no wine history and grew his winery to being one of the finest and largest in NZ.
On arrival we were met by our guide, Jolande, a very pleasant and knowledgeable Asian young lady, who took us first to the oldest vineyard – Home Block. She explained that fruit from this historic Home Block Vineyard produced the Central Otago’s first commercial vintage in 1987 and was recently certified organic by BioGro New Zealand. Gibbston Valley’s 2014 vintage is their first to be certified organic. Home Block’s high-quality fruit is used in several of single vineyard varietals including Le Dulcinée Gewürztraminer, Le Fou Riesling and Le Maître Pinot Noir. Interesting to know that one vine in that block produces initially some 18 bunches of grapes but these are trimmed down to 8 in January so that the vine can concentrate on putting all its energy to those bunches of grapes – and to produce one bottle of Pinot Noir! The vineyard in this block has some 16.000 vines which means an annual production of 16.000 bottles of Pinot Noir! No wonder the New Zealand wine is so expensive!!!!
Our next stop was wine tasting in the wine cave! Apparently the wine cave is manmade as dynamite was used to explode in the mountain and create a cave which is some 30 meters deep and 4 meters wide. As soon as we went in there, we could breath in the wine fumes which we quickly got used to! There the wine tasting began – we had four different wines starting with a Sauvignon Blanc, followed by Riesling ( which I did not really like as it was somewhat sweet) and then a Rose’ which was very pleasant and finally the Pinot Noir. It’s a good thing we had breakfast as I would have been quite drunk – mind you Gerry helped me with the drinking as I was continually emptying my glass into his.
It was a good thing that after the wine tasting we were having lunch, as we had worked up quite a good appetite. Our lunch was also paired with a glass of wine that would go with the choice of our meals. While I went for a starter and a main, Gerry, Eve and Ralph went for a starter and a desert.It was very pleasant sitting outdoors for our lunch and the food was exquisite of taste and fine in presentation – actually a work of art!! Our choice was as follows:
- Roast vegetables, hummus, Ras el Hanout, labne – my starter
- BBQ lamb rump, smoked eggplant, heirloom tomato, feta, coriander – Gerry’s main dish
- Market fish Cioppino, mussels, clams, rouille, sourdough – my main dish
- Free range chicken, charred witlof, caraway, capers, mustard, nasturtium – main dish for Eve and Ralph
- Dark chocolate tart, salted caramel ice cream, espresso mousse, hazelnut praline – dessert for Eve, Ralph and Gerry ( and I had a wee taste of the salted caramel ice cream!)
Just before lunch, I had enough time to visit the Cheesery and after tasting different sorts of cheese which compliment various wines – and beers – I bought a few samples to take back to the hotel as Gerry and I were planning to have Eve and Ralph come over to our suite and enjoy a few beers and cider for the ladies and enjoy all this on our balcony!
Back in Queenstown, we asked our chauffeur to drop us close to the gardens – after that food and wine we needed a good walk – not only to get rid of the calories but also to sober up a bit……
These gardens are sited on a small peninsula on the shoreline of Lake Wakatipu. It is considered one of the finest locations imaginable for a public garden. … The Gardens have strong associations with the history of Queenstown, having been established in 1887 by members of the town’s first Borough Council The first two trees planted at the garden were English oaks in 1866 by the first Mayor of Queenstown to commemorate the incorporation of the borough, but it wasn’t until 1867 that the gardens were officially opened and the major planting began.
Back at the hotel, we took time to freshen up before Ralph and Eve came over to visit – it was the last evening together and it was good that we could just relax on our balcony with the sun fading away. Friendships have made and renewed on this trip and we are truly grateful to both Eve and Ralph for showing us around and certainly for Gerry to go down memory lane together with Ralph – and Eve! Thank you and Au Revoir where ever on this globe!
