Wine, sun & festival fun
Labour Weekend marks the official start of the wine season and it kicks off with a bang, Diana Dobson writes.
They call Gisborne and the East Coast the front porch of New Zealand. It’s where you can sit back and relax ... enjoy the sights, sounds, and flavours of the region, and soak up the rays in the city where the sun rises first each day.
Those who live here like the seclusion. Those who visit probably appreciate it even more. This is old-school New Zealand, where the hospitality is heartfelt. When you call into a business you’re probably dealing with the owner.
There’s an energy here that’s hard to describe but easy to feel when you breathe the air on the coast, and dig your toes into the sand and soil. It’s a region with so much to offer – surf, beaches, walkways, food, wine, and more.
Labour Weekend is the official start of the wine season and it kicks off with a bang. The cellar doors will all be open and there is plenty of supporting entertainment, and lots of activities.
The Gisborne Wine and Food Weekend celebrates its 20th anniversary on Sunday, October 23. With three venues including a shared location, organiser Prue Younger says it will be a brilliant day. Buses will ferry festival-goers between venues.
Millton Vineyards and Winery
It’s tough to start anywhere other than the Millton Vineyards and Winery (millton.co.nz), which is a destination in itself for many travellers. Established by James and Annie Millton, it was the first biodynamic wine estate in the Southern Hemisphere and continues to be run with those philosophies in mind. Their wines are enjoyed on tables the world over, in countries that James says they are happy and keen to visit. He’s as passionate about what he does as the region itself.
‘‘These are not corporate wineries,’’ he says, ‘‘but people who put their heart and soul into what they do.’’
Everything the Millton Vineyards produce is done on-site – grown, made, bottled, labelled, and distributed by their small team, some of whom have been drawn the region by the beaches, the surf, the people, and that energy.
The Millton range covers the five tastes from the four seasons. Much of their international acclaim is for the chenin blanc – arguably one of the finest produced outside of the Loire Valley.
Everything at the vineyards has been placed with purpose – from the flow form running through the garden, to the olive trees in the grove. The gardens are as much a destination – lovingly planted by Annie over the years.
‘‘We aren’t standing on dirt, but the rooftop of another kingdom,’’ says James, ‘‘where the soil meets the sky."
The Bridge Estate Vineyard
Snowie, a funny little west highland white terrier greets visitors to the vineyard. He’s followed closely by his equally quirky owner, Klaus Sorenson, who loves to produce Bordeauxstyle red wines.
The blackboard menu Klaus says is ‘‘traditional cellar door fare’’. However, it seems it is more traditional to France than New Zealand with tasty pate, terrine, and other goodies on the menu du jour.
When he bought the vineyard from the iconic Denis Irwin, Klaus says he could have gone for something mainstream, but instead opted for a 120-year-old converted stable he found sinking in the mud a few kilometres away. It was shifted to its current site in three pieces, and now provides no end of stories for its visitors.
‘‘It would have been criminal to upgrade it,’’ he says. ‘‘There’s not a straight board in the place.’’
And it is all fitted out with an eclectic collection of everything – from art to furniture and more.
‘‘We live on a remote coast, and do things a little differently here.’’
There’s even accommodation on site – The Van, a revamped old caravan complete with solar power and a chemical toilet, at the far end of the six-acre vineyard that is solidly booked through summer.
‘‘It is glamping at its best,’’ says Klaus.
Matawhero Wines
Co-owner Kirsten Searle says that while other regions get larger and more commercial, Gisborne remains boutique, small, personal, and unique.
‘‘You come here and you meet the owners and winemakers – it’s still relatively raw and untouched,’’ says Kirsten who, with husband Richard, revived one of New Zealand’s historic labels in Matawhero Wines (matawhero.co.nz).
‘‘We are a winery that thinks outside the square, trying to carry