Submitted by Glenda Neil

Central Otago Trip part two Wine

In the 4 years since I last visited Central and the wine industries growth there has been phenomenal.
From the initial plantings in the Gibbston Valley the majority of new planting has been further to the east beyond the confines of the Kawarau Gorge.

Expect to hear more about wines produced from fruit grown in Bendigo, Lowburn and Bannockburn. For these are the regions where many new vineyards have sprung up. Down the road in Clyde and Alexandra new wineries are popping up at regular intervals with seven now based there giving the region its own wine trail.

For many years the Rippon Vineyard has been the sole-producing vineyard in Wanaka. But now Mount Maude, owned by Terry and Dawn Wilson, have been joined by their daughter Sarah-Kate and her husband Dan Dineen. Both are winemakers and have been working in Australia for some time. A new winery has been built and Sarah-Kate and Dan will be producing their own label Maude alongside the Mount Maude wines. Their first Pinot Noir under the Maude label will be released later this year.

Amisfield have their restaurant and tasting facility just near Lake Hayes but their grapes are grown near their new winery on the shores of Lake Dunstan. The winery includes a custom built recycled waste plant and adjacent wetland. Winery waste is sent to the wetland system, which is in turn used to irrigate the vineyard. Look for Amisfield Pinot Noir and Pinot Gris both are stunningly good wines. Find out more about Amisfield at http://www.amisfield.co.nz

Everyone who has an interest in Cental Otago wines and especially Pinot Noir will know Felton Road. When we were there they were just bottling their Pinot Noir, which will be released later this year. Felton Road concentrates on only 3 wines Riesling, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir all are exceptionally good. Although Pinot Noir is the star at Felton Road they also produce two beautiful Riesling one dry and one medium both are worth some cellar time. It is worth joining the Felton Road mailing list as there wines can by hard to find go to http://www.feltonroad.com

Even if you don?t have the time or inclination to visit the many cellar doors in the region there are plenty of other options to get a taste of Central.

Just out of Cromwell on the Corner of Sandflat Road and SH6 is ?The Big Picture?. This looks like a caf? and wine shop, which it is, but it is so much more than that. For $20 you can experience the aroma room where you can take in over 200 different wine aromas. You then move on to the auditorium where you embark on a 25-minute virtual flight across the vineyards of Central Otago. At the same time you taste 6 wines, and the respective winemakers talk about their wine as you land at their vineyard. The wine shop has an excellent range of Central Otago wines including naturally the ones you have tasted. This is a great experience, which I thoroughly enjoyed and reccomend. For more on The Big Picture go to http://www.bigpicturewine.com

In the heart of Queenstown at 14 Beach St you will find WineTastes. Here you can taste over 80 different wines from not just Central Otago but all New Zealand regions and even some Aussie wines. Each wine taste is priced and you simply buy a card to any value and then select the wines you wish to taste. The system allows you to insert your wine card then press a button to serve the wine into your glass. All wines are available to purchase along with an extensive selection of wine related items, glassware, and deli items. They also will ship wine anywhere in the world. Go to http://www.winetaste.com for more info.