HAWKE'S BAY WINERY TOUR
TWO TOURS :OCTOBER 8-11 (Full) & 15-18
A Reward For Taking the Lockdown Seriously
Our next wonderful winery tour to Hawkes Bay, has had such a great response, that we will be doing it twice, on both 8-11 October (now fully booked) and 15-18 October.
Travel with us through the verdant countryside & treat your palate to that voluptuous Red you have never savoured before, a classy White, a wine style you didn't know existed.
Time to cater to your Epicurean self again & to live "La Vie en Rose". (Maybe that needs an accent.)
DAY ONE
After early pick-ups we will leave Tauranga by 7.00am, stopping in Taupo for a brief comfort stop/morning tea. We will travel on to our first winery Linden Estate, for a tasting & lunch.
The current winery facility was built in 1991. The vineyard underwent a carefully-planned planting program using classic grape varieties. Their Chardonnay achieved their first medal, and was selected for first and business class services on Air NZ flights. Much of the wine was exported - to the UK, the US, Denmark, the Netherlands, Canada and Taiwan.
The present owners took over in 2006. Their goal was to re-establish the brand as a producer of quality wines.
“ Our hard work and attention to detail is key to growing exceptional fruit using environmentally conscious practices and, as a result, our wine achieves depth, richness and complexity with intense fruit flavours.” (lindenestatewinery.co.nz)
Our next visit will be to the quirky Crab Farm Winery, a boutique family owned and operated winery located just out of Napier in Bay View. Before the Napier earthquake, the area was at sea-level & covered in crabs – hence the name.
Chris Pask established the first plantings in the Gimblett Gravels region in 1981, after flying above the area in his top dressing plane & realising its potential. In 1985, the first vintage was produced and the Pask brand family label was established.
DAY TWO
The prestigious Craggy Range will be our first tasting venue for the day. The wines here have a proven international track record & the venue itself is impressive. We will have a tour of the facility, including the two fermentation rooms & the underground cellar & a tasting of 6 wines (including Sophia).
Lunch & a tasting will follow at Black Barn. a boutique vineyard just five minutes from the village of Havelock North. Here, the elevated north-facing site on the lower slopes of the Te Mata hills has a warm, sheltered micro-climate ideal for grape growing.Black Barn's focus is on premium Bordeaux styled red varieties such as Merlot and Cabernet Franc & their award winning whites include Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc. All wines are Estate grown and the fruit is selectively picked. This is a boutique vineyard of just over 25 acres.
Bob Campbell enthused recently in The Real Review about our next venue, Paritua Winery.
"They’re making good wine now but the future looks even more interesting.
Their greatest strength is in Bordeaux-style red wines from their Bridge Pa Triangle vineyard. With the help of a high-tech digital sorting machine that photographs every berry, rejecting those with imperfections, Paritua seems to be able to make good wines in even slightly challenging vintages such as 2018 and 2016, although good viticulture and the watchful eye of the winemaker, Jason Stent, probably play an even more important role.
It’s worth visiting this stylish, modern winery’s recently-opened cellar door and to add your name to the mailing list. They’re making good wine now but the future looks even more interesting."
DAY THREE
"We are conducting a one-year pilot trial funded by MPI's Food & Fibre Futures Fund to test the viability of native plants and cover-crop mixes in the area under vines, as an alternative to herbicides....Having a cover crop under the vines that eliminates weed growth but won't compete with the vine is almost like the nirvana of a growing system where we can actually do less to the vineyard but have better fruit qualiy and growing outcomes." (Viila Maria research viticulturist, Raquel Kallas, BOP Times, 26/03/20)
A recent TripAdvisor review stated:
"Very warm and friendly welcome in the tasting room, very individual service and competent guidance through the wine. Nice environment and beautifully decorated tasting room with view to a part of the barrels. Wines are interesting, good and even a little “experimental”.......".
We will move on for a tasting & lunch at De la Terre, Hawke's Bay's only earth brick winery. The name refers to both the vineyard soils & the earth-brick construction of the winery & cellar door. Prepare your palate for a treat!
" We produce small volumes of high quality wines with the emphasis on elegance, texture and balance. We have a quirky mix of grape varieties which allows us to create a full range of wine styles from Methode Traditionnelle Blanc de Blancs, simple and complex white wines, a selection of lesser known (in New Zealand) red grape varieties, through to a Sauternes-style Noble Viognier." (sales@delaterre)
We will finish the day by having a tasting at Moana Park:
"Our whole story & methodology is based on making healthy, low-allergen wines which are better for the environment, better for our staff, and better for our customers."
DAY FOUR
"Grown and vinted on the Estate, inspired by the terroir of Te Awamga, Hawke's Bay, our grapes are predominantly hand harvested and bunch pressed. Reserve whites and reds are infused with the complexity of barrel ferments and French oak influence. Complexities are achieved from skin contact for our whites, extended maceration for our reds, lees contact & stirring, malolactic fermentation and super ripe fruit." (clearviewestate.co.nz)
Next, we enjoy a tasting at Elephant Hill. Acquiring wineries in the Gimblett Gravels & Bridge Pa Triangle enabled Elephant Hill to concentrate on its aromatic whites on the coast & Bordeaux varieties & syrah inland. Cuisine has stated that the vineyard;s wines are impressive wines of uncompromising quality.
"The technology associated with winemaking is always improving, as is the knowledge and understanding of the science of wine. Important as these factors are, to preserve the varietal integrity of the fruit from our vineyard is key. In the winery we ferment our grapes in many small, separate batches. This allows for the nuances and character of each separate fermentation to come to the fore and be considered when blending for our Estate, Reserve or Icon wines." (elephant hill.co.nz)
Our treat to finish the tour, will be a tasting and lunch at the excellent Church Road.
One of NZ's oldest wineries, Church Road was made famous by the charismatic Tom McDonald, who began working there as a teenager & later bought the winery.
"The vineyards of Church Road Winery were the first to craft exceptional quality Bordeaux-style red wine in Hawke’s Bay. It took a focused attitude to make wines that could hold their own against the world’s best. Since then, we have continued to create highly acclaimed, award-winning wines by using outstanding fruit from vineyards across Hawke’s Bay, and a combination of traditional and modern wine-making techniques. These are techniques we have been continuously refining and improving ever since." (churchroad.co.nz)
BE QUICK TO RESERVE! ONLY 16 CLIENTS WILL BE TAKEN.
Cost: $1720.00 pp. ($1425.00 pp. Twin share)
$150.00pp. deposit to be paid by July 9; remainder by 8 September. Deposits are non-refundable, but can be transferable. Should the tour, for some reason, not proceed, all monies paid will be refunded.
Before payment please contact us to tell us on which date you wish to travel.
Includes: Door-to-door transport, accommodation (Beachfront Motel), tastings, lunch.
Account for payment: 01 0322 0214423 00
Does not include breakfast or dinner. Our accommodation has cooking facilities in its rooms and is within walking distance to restaurants.
CONTACT: LYN OR PAUL MARSTON
TAURANGA TASTING TOURS & CHARTERS
PH:(07) 5441383 or 0275224607