Wine Country

Well, who knew day drinking could be so fun and insightful? Our last two days in Napier have been dedicated to appreciating the local wineries around town and doing some tasting--in the middle of the afternoon.

The day we got back from tramping was a relaxation day and the day after that we ventured over to Hastings, the town right next to us, to inquire about some work with Pick NZ. We registered with their local office and they will text us if any work comes up--hopefully in a few weeks! We then took a short drive up to Te Mata Peak. From the top you could see almost all of Hawkes Bay--it was a beautiful sight!

Yesterday, we decided to do a nice biking wine tour of the area. The company that runs the tour, Bike D'Vine, was owned and operated from the home of a nice Kiwi woman. When we got there she showed us a map and gave us a detailed explanation of where to go and what to expect. We were provided with bikes, a helmet, a basket, water bottles, and a map that would velcro onto a plate right in front of us so we could see where we were going. The route we decided to take was mostly flat, but even so it was a good workout! Our first stop was Church Road winery. An old one, established in the late 1800s, it was very pretty with an old cask room inside. The woman seemed a bit busy so we didn't spend too much time there--sampled about four wines--two white and two red--before heading to our next destination. Though not before taking a picture!

Our next stop was Mission Estate, the oldest winery in New Zealand--established in 1851.

We had a wonderful tasting experience there. The sommelier was nice, talkative, and gave us a good selection of 6 wines to taste. He also gave us a lot more information about the wines than the previous place, and was more about getting to know people as well. I learned about Ice Wine, something I hadn't heard of before. It's where you freeze the grapes to reduce the volume but it also makes them very sweet--making it a nice dessert wine.  We didn't try that one, but their Pinot Gris and Merlot were my personal favorites! After having all that wine, about 10 tastings in total at that point, I was definitely feeling them a bit! Luckily we were on bikes! Clearly the woman who gave us the map understood the best route to take, and that spacing out tastings was key, as she recommended a nice cafe to stop at right around the corner for lunch. It was called the Wild Rose Cafe and it was situated in a beautiful, quaint rose garden. Apparently, each day of the week all the roses are changed to a different color. The day we were there, the roses were a nice pinkish-red color. After a delicious lunch and apple turnovers for desert (on which I burnt my tongue!), as well as some sobering up on my part, we headed to the next stop which was actually a chocolate factory!

Silky Oak is a local chocolate factory right in town--it's a small and humble building housing a delicious treat! The chocolate is quite pricey as it is priced by the gram, so buying a small box of chocolates could cost you $20-30. However, they have a display of nice truffles that you could buy singularly, so we had to each buy one to try!  There were so many good-looking flavors it was hard to pick just one! John had a nice white and milk chocolate swirled piece in the shape on a seashell and I had a Hazelnut and Butterscotch Truffle cup! It was delicious--soft hazelnut and butterscotch flavored chocolate filling in a little milk chocolate cup. It was a nice end to our lunch and we headed off to our next stop!

Here is a little video of a rotary pathway we took on our bike tour:

I am quite proud to say I extracted my camera from it's case, turned it on, put it on video, and recorded that whole bit with one hand while still balancing on my bike. I've got skills. :)

We were supposed to go to two more wineries--Park Estate and Brookfields VIneyards. However, Park Estate was undergoing liquidation, and while they were selling their wine for cheap, there were no longer tastings or a vineyard to explore. So we were told to just skip over that one. When we arrived at Brookfields at 3:30 in the afternoon it was already closed for the day. The Bike D'Vine woman noted that this vineyard was a boutique winery and the couple lived on site, so if they weren't busy they would often close early--as was the case when we got there. So, even though we had biked quite a bit to get to these places, we decided to head on to the next stop: The Filter Room!

This was the last tasting stop on the tour and a good way to end as it was a Brewery and Cidery--brewing their own local beverages on site. It was the only place where you had to pay for a tasting but they had a good deal going: $13.50 to try 6 different drinks. So John and I each picked out three and we ended up getting: a vodka and lemon mix (they also make their own vodka), a hard cider, a nice porter, a summer ale, a ginger beer, and a pear cider. All of which were delicious and a refreshing way to end our tour.

On our way back to the starting point we passed an Old Church (that's it's name). It was, obviously, an old church that has been converted into a nice restaurant and it's situated next to a beautiful vineyard. It had lovely decorations on the inside and still had the original stain glass windows that lined the walls. We took a look at the menu and while it looked amazing, it was quite a pricey place so we just took a quick tour around the grounds before heading back. 

By the end of the trip my legs were sore! But it was a fun day and a nice way to explore the region and enjoy some wine!

Today, we decided to continue our exploration by visiting a vineyard that was on another route of the bike tour, but that we didn't have time to visit. It's called Moana Park and it's a small, boutique vineyard set a little further from the others. They have a small staff, about 5 people full time, and one of them served as our sommelier. He was a very nice guy, gave us 7 wines to taste, and told us a lot about wine making in general and in the region. They had a delicious Chardonnay and I was also able to taste an Ice Wine--it was very sweet and would make a wonderful substitute for a dessert! He also let us try one of their port wines, called a "Tawny", that tasted like caramel and was delicious! Hopefully, once we get some jobs we can send some of the wines back to the states as Christmas gifts--as most of them you can't find in the U.S. 

We decided to stop back by the winery that was closed the day before, as it was on our way back to Napier, and to our delight it was open! 

Though on the way, as luck would have it, we passed through a police checkpoint on our route, stopping cars for roadside BAC tests! Luckily John was driving as he has a much higher tolerance than I do (and I was feeling a bit tipsy from the 7 wines I had tasted at the previous place), and we were able to pass through the checkpoint with no problems--but what were the odds? You wouldn't see something like that, in midday, in the U.S. Apparently the government is very serious about cracking down on drinking and driving and NZ definitely has a drinking culture. Also, with wine tours going on, apparently it's not weird to have mid-day check points since that's when the wineries are open.

But we arrived at Brookfields with no problems.  We stopped in and one of the owners, Sharon, (she and her husband bought it about 30 years ago) came out to give us a tasting. They had a nice Riesling and a nice Cabernet Merlot, but interestingly, we didn't talk about wine with her that much. From the beginning she was very open to conversation, and after learning a little about us, started telling us about herself. She mentioned the struggles that a small vineyard like theirs have been having lately. Mostly due to the fact that New Zealand is also in a bit of a recession, but also because every vineyard is at the mercy of the weather and it can be devastating to a small vineyard to have a bad year. She mentioned how, these days, her husband is constantly stressing about money and monitoring cash flows to make sure they stayed afloat (even after so many years) and she outwardly pondered whether it was worth it as this point in her life. She loved the fact that we were traveling and having fun, as that was something she has been fortunate to do but craved to do more of. She told us a story about how she loved to ride horses, but had given up the hobby for a long time. Then recently, she had a chance to buy her own horse and got back into riding again. She was riding on the beach one day with her husband when she said she heard the sound of laughter. It took her a minute to realize the laughter was coming from her--a spontaneous moment of joy and laughter like she hadn't felt in years. She noted that she and her husband loved making wine, but at this point it was less of a pleasure with all the monetary stresses that were plaguing them, the country, and the world for that matter. She wanted to focus on what mattered, what made her happy and what made her laugh, rather than worrying about money.

It was a lovely story, but it just got me thinking. The world is so interconnected these days and economies are so tied together, the decisions of a few greedy men in the U.S. can create problems for people half-way around the world that they have never heard of. The reprehensible decisions of a few "blue-eyed white men" in the United States (as I believe a Latin American president was quoted as saying recently) could mean hard times for a small family winery in small town New Zealand. The breadth and scope of the fallout from our own economy's fail resonated with me while talking with this woman. When the decisions were being made that would eventually result in our economic collapse, those responsible had no idea, nor probably cared to think of, just how many people they were hurting. And while this may prove for her an opportunity to move on to something different, something in which she has fun again, the reason as to why she would have to move on, why it's no longer fun, saddened and angered me. But it also highlighted the fact that it truly is a small world. New Zealand seemed so far away from home, so exotic and remote. And while it is a bit isolated from the rest of the world, it is still very much a part of it, it was still connected in many ways to my own home. 

Yet the whole time we spent with her she barely talked about any of her wines, let alone tried to sell them. She said she preferred people who actually tried to find the vineyard, who sought them out, who wanted to come and taste her wine rather than plugging themselves through lots of advertising. But instead of then trying to gain business, she took these instances of interaction with strangers as an opportunity for good conversation, to learn about other people, and to engage different people from probably all over the world. It no longer seemed all about the business for her, it was about the pleasures that wine could still bring. I was glad that we decided to stop by after having missed them the day before, as it was one new memorable experience in this country, and one more great conversation with someone whom I had just met. 

We returned from our wine tour, went back to the hostel, and then in the evening walked over to a local spa, called Ocean Spa, right on the beach. For a small entry fee we would have access to all their hot pools, cold pools, saunas, and steam rooms. It was a nice, relaxing way to end the day and it was beautiful right on the ocean. There were a lot of young people there as it was a Friday night, and some families, but it was still a good time. Here is a picture of John and I in one of the jacuzzis:

John and I are in Napier for one more day and after that it's on to Hastings to work on a vineyard/B&B! We are excited for the new opportunity and I will keep everyone posted as things progress!