The Auswine Forum

Hi all

I'm at the start of a week long trip to Auckland to visit in-laws. I'd ideally like to take a trip out to a few wineries while here (limited as the offering is). I'm keen to visit Kumeu River, but would be grateful for recommendations of any other quality cellar doors to visit (particularly any which offer lunch).

Secondly, I'm looking to pick up half a dozen bottles of NZ wine while here, and would be interested in people's thoughts as to whether it's worth buying any particularly good NZ drops over here, money wise, rather than back in Australia?

Cheers

Was just there last week. Waiheke Island is a great day trip, although to do it justice you will need to have access to a car. Some great wineries on the island and you are visiting at a good time as 2010, 2013, 2014 have been kind vintages to the island which most wineries are tasting at the moment. However, the wines I feel are a bit over-priced for what you get in most cases. Recommendations include:

StoneyRidge - Nice place to have lunch and their wines are pretty good too! The current vintage of the Pilgrim is a very good release.
Te Whau - great view and wine bar. Their Bordeaux blend "The Point" (2010) is a pretty good wine.
Te Motu - next door to StoneyRidge. I used to like the Bordeaux blends but the last trip releases just did not do it for me.
Jurassic Ridge - believe it or not but a very good Montepulciano, but a bit overpriced.
Man O’ War - On the far East(?) side of the island. Lovely setting right on the water and I did like their Ironclad Bordeaux blend.

There are also some wineries West(?) of Auckland, Kumeu River as you mention a highlight.

Here's some help:

http://www.waihekevintagefestival.co.nz/

You may not be here for the festival, but some leads to waiheke island wines on this site..
I will be going over for a least one day of the festival targeting these;
Mudbrick, Obsidian, Stonyridge, Te Whau, Passage Rock. I have wines from all of these in the cellar.
Also, I've not been there myself, but Wild on Waikeke ( next door to Stonyridge ) has a range of activities to offer.

http://www.matakanawine.com/summary.html
http://www.westauckland.net.nz/Kumeu-Hu ... -Beach.htm
http://www.westauckland.net.nz/Vineyards.htm

These are ( some of) the wineries to the west and north of the city centre.
Matakana (the north) seems to do well with italian grape varieties. Also some good bordeaux types but mostly these
are from the higher priced boutique places, and not so good from the run of the mill offerings.
I like the quality/price ratio from Brick Bay." Pharos", top drop esp. if u like some Malbec with your bordeaux varieties.
Also a nice merlot!

Kumeu - Huapai - Waimauku is west Auckland ( closer to city center ).
Everyone goes to Kumeu river; icon chardies.
Many of the wineries in this area source grapes from out of the region ( the original local vineyards are covered
in houses. So Hawkes Bay reds and Marlborough SB at most.
Good value HB red can be found at Coopers Creek, Matua and others.

Enjoy. Don't drink and drive please.

Edit: Dang, forgot to mention. Top auckland vintages are 2008, 2010 and 2013. Target those where possible. 2014 said to
be good, but if offered them think about the fact they are very early release wines. What are the chances they're from
the top drawer??

No idea if any good or not, but my wife spotted the Villa Maria cafe near Auckland airport, so we're heading there for a pre-flight long lunch on an upcoming visit... http://www.villamaria.co.nz/cafe-and-ce ... eyard-cafe Looks a bit 'touristy' perhaps? But VM do a wide range of consistently well made wines, although for me maybe a touch too clean/pure/technically overcorrect? But food probably good, so worth thinking about.

I'm sure there are many others, but Glengarry wines in the AKL CBD are pretty good if you're looking to buy some good stuff while over there. Prices generally better in NZ, but certainly not always the case, other than beer!

I do agree, most Waiheke wines are overpriced for what they are. Tourism, small volumes and local demand drives the prices up.

Keep an eye out for 2013 Hawkes bay reds, Coleraine etc look very impressive.

The Villa Maria cellar door (with cafe/restaurant) is literally next door to the airport in a long extinct volcanic crater if I recall correctly. It's where their Gewürztraminer is grown. The top Villa Maria wines are very, very good in my opinion. Single vineyard releases are pretty darn good. Single vineyard chardies like "Keltern Vineyard" can be awesome. The single vineyard gewurz was on the money when I tried that, too.

Cheers for the update Tom, not tasted much VM for a few years, hoping/assuming they've reined in the oak on the chardies and the Pinots a bit more complex. Agree the Keltern and Ilhumatao vineyards have some great fruit. VM Wines have always been well made, looking forward to trying the range even more now! Do like some of the kiwi Gewurtz, but for me they often need a lick of acid to stop them being too cloying.

I didn't want to risk misspelling Ilhumatao, but I'm 90% sure that's the vineyard inside the volcanic crater next to the Auckland airport.