Buyer Sam heads off on a whirlwind trip round the wine regions of New Zealand

An invitation by the New Zealand Winegrowers to fly to Wellington to deliver a presentation on Laithwaites for their biennial exporter’s forum along with an all-expenses paid buying trip around the country, was simply too good an opportunity to turn down – despite a hatred of public speaking!

So, a 24 hour plane ride saw me land in Auckland before flying to Christchurch to visit the wine region of Waipara, Canterbury. Although not as well known as the regions of Marlborough or Hawke’s Bay, Waipara is slowly carving out a reputation for itself as a region for Rieslings along with some interesting Sauvignon Blancs with a touch of barrel ageing – creating a slightly lighter Te Koko style of wine. Lunch at Pegasus Bay was swiftly followed by a tasting at Sherwood Estate, Torlesse and a meeting at Mud House. Stand out wines included a Riesling 06 at Torlesse and an interesting ‘Cassis’ – one at 14% abv and the other at 18%. Pure blackcurrant, organic and utterly delicious - ideal for kir royals! A final flight of the day in a 19-seater plane took me up to Blenheim and the comfortable Villa Maria Lodge.

Waking up in the vineyards of Marlborough isn’t a bad way to start a sunny if chilly day and the first visit was to Wairau River – home to our Plane Tree brand, with Lindsay Parkinson – or Parky. While 2007 is a good vintage, cool weather at flowering has seen yield badly affected and they were 20% down. Along with many NZ wineries, they are attempting to become carbon neutral (Grove Mill is currently the only NZ winery that is actually accredited as being carbon neutral) and an interesting tour round the winery showed how they were hoping to achieve this (eg irrigating the plane trees with waste water, recycling etc). They believe that food miles is going to become big news. From Wairau River to lunch at Hunter’s with Jane Hunter and Peter Mac and as ever, a very strong tasting. The winemaker – Dave Knappstein – at Forrest Estate then took me through the wines there and we worked on the 2007 blend for the Sauvignon, which he repeated is going to be a very good year. From there to Sowman Estate and a drive around the vineyards with Terry and Lynley Sowman and their son Nigel who had just won the Viticulturalist of the Year award. The 2007 Sauvignon was looking terrific – very zesty and the final visit of the day was to Mt Olympus for dinner and a tasting with Judy and Neal Ibbotson. We looked at a number of blends for the Mt Olympus 2007 Sauvignon which are being re-sampled now – but a very strong line up of wines by a very passionate man!

From Marlborough to Nelson and a generic tasting there followed by lunch with the Seifrieds – home of our Split Rock brand. Such a lovely family and good to spend time with them over anit Gary and Valley Neale and look around their small, quality-focused winery. Their wines as ever were most impressive and this year they are adding another level to their wines – the Lord Rutherford Range, which is their reserve range, named after the Kiwi scientist who was born in Brightwater and split the atom! The final visit of the day was to Te Mania – home of our Muritai brand with Jon, winemaker Tania and Lars. I snapped up their 500 cases of the 2007 Muritai Sauvignon and then straight onto a plane bound for Christchurch, for an early morning flight to Queenstown the next morning.

Central Otago is the epitome of NZ winemaking – crafted, quality wines, family-owned, small production and all surrounded by breathtaking scenery. A definite trip highlight with the day starting at Gibbston Highgate Estate with the eccentric Jaques Pociecha and his wife Swava – a middle aged Polish couple and winemaker Chris Carson – a Canadian. The Pinot 2006 ‘Soultaker’ was terrific and has just been awarded a GOLD medal. From there I went up the road to Waitiri Creek – again, no UK agent and their wines are delicious with the 2006 Pinot impressing – no stock left of the 2005 but it won heaps of medals so hoping the 06 will do the same. We had lunch in an old church and tasted their impressive range. Delicious and a wine I am very, very happy with! From there to Felton Rd for a wonderful tasting, where I met Jancis the cat, saw Oz the goat and Gareth King the biodynamic viticulturalist who drove me all round the vineyards and was obviously a soil obsessive but weirdly interesting too! We then drove from Felton to Lake Wanaka for a 9 course dinner with Central Otago Rieslings extravaganza. The clothes are getting tigher.

Saturday morning saw a 60 wine Sneak Preview Pinot Noir tasting with a few wines coming out of that that I am interested in – namely Freefall Pinot Noir 2006. Owner Henry Van Asch is the cousin of a friend of mine and set up Bungy jumping with mate A J Hackett – hence the name. A Canadian delegate for the exporter’s forum who was also in Queenstown couldn’t resist the lure of the bungy and did a quick jump on his way to a tasting in his suit – I gave it a miss! Lunch at Carrick winery followed for a debate on Pinot Noir and then a flight to Wellington and a much needed night to myself! Sunday was spent driving to Martinborough (a rather hairy drive over the mountains in the rain!) for a generic tasting where I was hugely impressed by a couple of wines – again, both exclusive. First up is Pond Paddock Single Vineyard Pinot 06 – sample due in next week but VERY good along with Julicher. Lunch at Wharekauhau Lodge with Schubert and Martinborough Vineyards finished the wine tasting extravaganza before a drizzly drive back to Wellington and 2 solid days at the conference- and yes, I did us proud with a comprehensive presentation on Laithwaites and heaps of business cards afterwards!

After 2 days of facts and figures it was good to get back to tasting and after a rather nasty, bumpy early morning flight we landed in Napier where I had a tasting of Hawke’s Bay wines and came across the wines of Mission Estate – FAB story, the oldest winery in NZ, set up by monks for their sacramental wines, and hosts of the famous Mission concerts with singers such as Tina Turner and Eric Clapton. Another stand out wine was Te Awa (who hosted the tasting) and their Chardonnay – a real Burgundy look-a-like and the northern island of New Zealand really showing an affinity for this grape variety. The Te Awa Boundry was also good and has picked up a trophy at Decanter - a 2002 Bordeaux blend. A quick drive into Napier followed (which bizarrely has the most art deco buildings in the world following a large earthquake in the 1930’s, when the town was rebuilt) and a tasting at Ager Sectus and then a tasting at Sacred Hill – very good, varietal wines with the or’s wife also showing me her range of Ti Point wines which she has created with her mother and grandmother. From Sacred Hill back to the airport, a quick flight to Auckland and dinner with Rex and Maria Sunde of Artisan wines. Very good wines indeed with the highlight being their Syrah Reserve 2005.

My last day in NZ saw a sunny ferry ride to Waiheke Island and a visit to Neill Culley and Cable Bay and his new winery, cellar door and restaurant. Super impressive and very beautiful with lots of art, sculptures and some good olive oil! The Sauvignon was great and I was also very impressed by a Waiheke Island Chardonnay 2006 – only 85 cases available and their very good Five Hills 05 Merlot, Cabernet, Malbec, also from Waiheke Island with 250 cases. The tasting was followed by an amazing lunch where I saw the biggest truffle ever – and then back on the ferry and a visit to Babich where I met the whole clan, had a comprehensive tasting and then the whole company stopped for tea – as they do every day at 10am and 3pm! The last visit of the trip was to Villa Maria where I met the legendary George Fistonich and tasted through some very good wines with winemaker Alastair Maling MW – including the 2007 Esk Valley Sauvignon Blanc. The other highlights included the Hawke’s Bay Cabernet Malbec Reserve 2004 and the single vineyard Chardonnay – samples of which are both coming in.

So, a whirlwind trip around this beautiful country and I have returned with a wish list of LOTS of very delicious wines to buy, so watch this space!