Celebration time for Melton Estate
Next week’s Canterbury A&P Show is the perfect opportunity to explore the best the region has to offer, so it makes sense Melton Estate will be there with a full array of its award-winning wine.
The boutique winery and restaurant in West Melton now has eight distinct wines with the recent addition of their first methode traditionelle, the 2015 ‘‘Meltonia’’.
Made in keeping with the methods of Champagne, France, the sparkling drop for special occasions is already shaping up as one of Melton Estate’s most popular offerings, says the winery’s owner, Tracy Caunter.
Continuing to leading the pack is Melton Estate’s signature ‘‘Summer Love’’, a zesty, bubbly wine with a drop of pinot noir adding an appealing strawberry flavour. With just six per cent alcohol content, it well-suited to enjoying on sunny days with friends.
‘‘Meltonia and Summer Love are great wines for celebrating the success of Canterbury, with the races and all the things happening during Show Week,’’ Caunter says.
‘‘People are now looking for more local produce and they want to pair it with local wine.
‘‘We’ve got a large following in the city and the feedback since the Meltonia release has been very good.’’
The Canterbury A&P Show, held next Wednesday through Friday, is an annual event for Melton Estate and will see them serving wines by the glass or bottle in the sun-soaked, festive environment of the ‘‘village green’’.
For a meal prepared specifically with the wine in mind, however, there is no better place that Melton Estate’s own acclaimed restaurant.
Set on the estate’s 12 idyllic acres of vines, the restaurant is open Thursday to Sunday 10am-5pm and serves a seasonally influenced menu that has been carefully designed to complement the handcrafted wines.
Cheese platters, scallops, Akaroa salmon, venison, lamb rump, and a risotto with thyme and truffle oil are currently available, along with an assortment of desserts and children’s dishes.
Corporate and club Christmas events at Melton Estate are always a special time, too, and there remain a few dates this season for groups to enjoy a delectable three-course set menu at lunch or dinner.
❚ Melton Estate is 15 minutes’ drive from Christchurch on Weedons Ross Rd, West Melton. For bookings or details, phone 03 347 4968 or visit them online at meltonestate.co.nz.