Beautiful photos. Thanks for sharing your experiences. Awesome trip!
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Rudi at Quartz Reef collaborated with French winemaker Clotilde Chauvet (daughter of Champagne producer Marc Chauvet) to develop their traditional method sparkling wine in 1998. When we visited in 2003, they were selling Chauvet at the cellar door and we bought and drank it there. I still have a magnum of the inaugural 2001 Bendigo Estate pinot noir from that visit. He only made 150 magnums of that wine (all bottled in magnum), IIRC. It sounds like you’ve moved on from Otago by now, but I second recommendations to visit Chard Farm and Mt. Edward (conveniently proximate to one another by the bungee-jumping bridge).
Cheers to your trip making some memories, even if the script had to be flipped,
fred
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Pfff, come on Warren, I see the picture, it’s not a subcompact when it’s got a ladder on its roof.
That Hokitika Gorge water color is unreal!
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Lakes Tekapo and Pukaki have similar colored water at massive scale. It’s unreal.
Pukaki with Mt Cook in the background
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It is caused by rock flour, which is a a fine grained sediment created by glaciers grinding on hard rocks. The rock flour is so fine that it stays in suspension a lot longer which gives the water the acquamarine colour on a sunny day
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Wow, I’ve fallen more than a week behind in posting.
From Haast we headed to the very fun town of Wānaka. Much more polished than the other small towns we’d visited, though clearly still a tourist destination. The entire town was booked solid, peak South Island summer combined with their annual triathlon weekend. We ended up renting a five bedroom luxury home through Sotheby’s Realty. Far more space than we needed, but after several rustic stops, it felt wonderful to spread out a bit.
Our first night we had a terrific dinner at Kika. I paired it with NV Maude Méthode Traditionnelle, pleasant, clean and enjoyable, though not especially memorable.
Later we stopped at Verve for a nightcap, a lively local wine bar. Marybeth had a glass of Laurent Perrier La Cuvée, and I ordered the 2021 Burn Cottage Pinot Noir Sauvage Vineyard. A beautiful wine, elegant and layered with black raspberry, blackberry, black cherry and florals. Broad shouldered but balanced, with real presence. Excellent on its own. There was also an excellent orange wine in the first photo, but I don’t recall what it was.
Addendum: It was Valli Pinot Gris The Real McCoy Orange Wine; aromatic, delicious, fruity (stone fruit mostly) but dry. This would be great with a generous fish or fowl dish.
The following evening we dined at Bistro Gentil, where Marybeth’s lamb was one of the culinary highlights of the trip. I paired dinner with André Clouet Brut. I’ve enjoyed many Clouets over the years, especially Un Jour de 1911, but had never tried their basic Brut. It was a solid showing. After sampling a number of New Zealand sparklers, we were reminded again that we’ve either trained our palates to prefer Champagne, or it is simply difficult for New Zealand sparklers to reach the level of even a well made entry Champagne. This would make an easy house pour.
Next stop: Mt Cook Village.
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Warren,
WOW, and also BRAVO. You’ve salvaged a bit of heaven from an opening disaster.
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Definitely. Even before the Covid start, the planning had already gone sideways.
We booked the flights first, simply grabbing business class seats from the West Coast using expiring Qantas miles. That routed us San Francisco to Auckland via Nadi. Easy enough, we thought. We’d just fly Seattle to San Francisco a couple of days early and visit friends.
What we failed to consider, when booking almost a year in advance, was that our departure weekend was Super Bowl Sunday in San Francisco. When I went to book hotels and restaurants and found absolutely nothing available, I thought, how is that possible? Then it dawned on me.
The tour was planned later, after we’d already locked in flights. Unfortunately, it departed from Christchurch on the South Island, not Auckland where we were landing. No problem, I thought. We’ll spend a day in Auckland, recover from the long haul, then fly down and join the group. It was a lucky coincidence it left the day after our arrival, or so I thought.
What I had not fully accounted for was the time change. We departed on a Sunday and landed two days later. My planning had assumed we would arrive only one day later. That miscalculation meant squeezing in yet another flight. What began as Seattle to San Francisco to Nadi to Auckland became Seattle to San Francisco to Nadi to Auckland to Christchurch.
We were in trouble before Covid ever joined the trip.
All is well now.
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From Wañaka, we drove to Mt Cook Village, which should be on everyone’s bucket list.
We had a wonderful stay at Aoraki Court Motel at the base of the small village within the national park. Here’s the view that was from our back door.
We hiked several miles every day, and spent part of one day on a boat ride to the terminal face of the Tasmin Glacier.
Nothing fancy to eat or drink in the village. The Hermitage Hotel had a decent buffet. I drank this wine mostly because I have friends with the same name.
While I’ve enjoyed the refreshing nature of some fermented alcoholic ginger beers while in New Zealand, this wasn’t one of them. To me, it tasted like grain alcohol added to ginger juice then carbonated. Turns out, it was vodka not grain alcohol, so I was close.
With our buffet dinner, I bought this Church Road Chardonnay McDonald Series Hawke’s Bay. Tasted like a passable inexpensive chardonnay, which is exactly what it was. Nothing complex, but fine to accompany a buffet dinner.
Next stop: Gibbston/Queenstown
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Mr. And Mrs. Brut NV? From the Reims Brut NV? Lovely family.
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Look at you grabbing my bucket list item! We went to Mt. Cook as well, but we unfortunately weren’t able to go on any hikes as our schedule and other circumstances didn’t allow for it. That looks amazing.
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One of the most scenic places. Great pictures and travelogue. Many thanks.
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On to the Queenstown area, where we chose to stay in Gibbston rather than in town. I had not done much research and assumed it was closer to Queenstown than it actually is, but in the end we were very happy with the decision. We rented another large house, this one on a vineyard up a dirt road overlooking the valley. It was a beautiful setting, quiet and expansive. We ended up loving Gibbston and Arrowtown, probably more than Queenstown itself.
The oysters this summer in New Zealand have been fantastic. None of the heat-induced creaminess that makes me shy away from oysters during the warmer months back home.
The Oyster Bay sparking rosé I tried with Oysters for lunch in Queenstown was nice, not memorable.
In Queenstown we had a very good dinner at Sherwood. Marybeth ordered gurnard, which was beautifully prepared, and I had a shellfish pasta. We chose a local Riesling that was simple but perfect with the meal. A natural wine that showed well without any of the flaws that sometimes accompany that category.
Arrowtown was the real standout. I had what was probably the best meal of the trip so far, and honestly one of my top meals in years. One of those rare meals where everything feels perfectly calibrated: flavors, temperature, texture, acidity, spice, balance.
Aosta describes itself as inspired by the shared heritage of Italy’s Aosta Valley and Central Otago, blending Northern Italian traditions, subtle French influence, and local ingredients. I did not expect it to be as good as it was. I ordered their signature dish, pappardelle with paua, egg yolk, crispy leek, and purple shiso. It was sublime. Worth a trip to the South Island just for that plate.
We paired it with a 2023 Felton Road Block 2 Chardonnay, one of, if not the best, New Zealand white of the trip.
The only winery we visited on the entire trip was Peregrine, mostly because it was right down the hill from our rental home. We tasted a very nice sparkler, an exceptional New Zealand Pinot Noir, and a well-made Chardonnay that showed restraint with the oak, though still a bit too much for my wood-averse wife.
We then flew to Auckland, picked up another rental car, this one mercifully more reasonably priced than the last, and began the four or five hour drive to Russell. (which turned out to be longer)
Another small misadventure.
What we failed to appreciate on Google Maps was that the final leg involved a car ferry. Our flight arrived late, the rental pickup took longer than expected, and heavy road construction slowed us down further. We would have missed the last ferry by hours.
By chance, at one of the construction stops, I checked my email, something I rarely do while driving. The owner of the house had written that if we were arriving after 10 pm, we should call him. I did. He calmly explained that we would need to take the back road, which he described as one “you don’t really want to take.”
He wasn’t exaggerating. It was nearly an hour of rough dirt road, winding, narrow, and hilly. Cell service came and went. Remarkably, he stayed on WhatsApp with us for the final fifteen minutes when we had intermittent reception, guiding us through the last series of turns and hills until we reached the house.
It was not the most relaxing arrival, but it made finally pulling into the driveway that much more satisfying.
We’re now just outside Russell, in a beautiful house perched on the beach off a steep hill beyond town. More photos to follow.
And tonight, I’ll be ordering Champagne I spied on the wine list instead of a local wine. I can’t help myself.
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Wonderful reports - thanks very much.
I was completely unaware that NZ (or indeed anywhere) still tested for Covid on arrival. I shall bear that in mind for future planning.
I open this thread with my heart in my throat these days, Warren…
Loved that show.
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They don’t, at least not routinely. I was there two weeks ago, no testing.
They don’t. As my wife was sick when we landed, we chose to test ourselves to make sure we weren’t bringing an unwanted viral guest to join the six other couples we were about to spend nearly three weeks with in close quarters.
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Last night we had a wonderful dinner at the Duke of Marlborough in Russell. The restaurant is part of the hotel that has welcomed guests since the early 1800s, and hanging on the wall is the first liquor license issued in New Zealand, dated 1840.
We sat out on the porch right over the water.
I ordered the whole flounder, Marybeth the whole snapper. Both were impeccably fresh and prepared simply, with the quality of the fish being the star of the show.
When we stopped in for lunch a couple of days ago, I noticed they had 2012 Pol Roger Sir Winston Churchill on the list. We have mostly been drinking local wines and sparklers, but I decided this was the moment for a splurge and asked them to hold a bottle for us. They actually had two.
The last time I opened this cuvée was a 2009 from my cellar. It was impressive for its density and sheer power, but almost too much for my palate. In a warm, generous vintage like 2009, this already generous wine can feel over the top. Marybeth was understandably skeptical when I asked them to open the 2012.
Her concerns did not materialize. The 2012 was still generous, but beautiful. Intense and complex, dominated by Pinot scents and flavors, with layers of stone fruit, citrus, white flowers, and warm bread. Concentrated without being heavy. I loved it.
Her concerns, while warranted, didn’t pan out. This wine, while generous, was spectacutar. A study in intensity and complexity, lots of stone fruit, citrus, white flowers and warm bread. I loved it.
Here’s last night’s full moon from our rental house and deck.
Today we set out on a four and a half hour cruise to some of the surrounding islands, with a couple of great hikes along the way, and passed through Hole in the Rock. Photos to come.
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