Much like the ancient astrolabe steered mariners and explorers through uncharted waters, so the palate of Simon Waghorn guides the winemaking at Marlborough’s Astrolabe Winery. We had the distinct pleasure of joining Simon, his wife Jane Forrest, and his general manager Jason Yank, in the cosy confines of their loungeroom for a personal journey through

Our second day in Central Otago, or “Central” in the local vernacular, proved to be just as rewarding as Day One!! On the recommendation of Matt and Andrew from Akarua, we made our way over to Wooing Tree Winery, just on the northern edge of the town of Cromwell. Sandy Anderson led us through a

After enjoying the fruits of the north end of the south island, we struck out for the two-day (we are taking it leisurely, after all) drive down to Central Otago, the hottest new wine area in New Zealand. Our first stop was at Northburn Station, a newer property just north of Cromwell. At their cellar

After our great wine experiences in Blenheim, we thought we’d relax a bit with some beach time in Nelson. However, the gale-force winds made any outdoor activities somewhat less than appealing. So, we just had to substitute cellar doors for surf and sand. On Kevin Judd’s suggestion, we made our way to Neudorf in the

Marlborough This New Zealand wine adventure has been very interesting and great fun but when we hit Blenheim, a pleasant little city in the heart of the Marlborough, the largest and most acclaimed wine region in the country, it got even better. We arrived mid-afternoon and since we had received directions to get to Kevin

Waiheke Island Wineries Our final adventure on the North Island was a day trip to Waiheke Island. I must confess that I knew virtually nothing about this island until recently, and largely dismissed it as just a tourist spot with no serious wines. Boy was I wrong! We elected to ride the train to Auckland

KUMEU As we continued our journey back toward Auckland, we decided to spend a day and night sampling the wines of the Kumeu region. This is the area off the west coast only 45 minutes north of Auckland. It was the first area in New Zealand to be developed as a wine region. Today other

Matakana Wine Trail Well, we changed our plans. Instead of heading back to Auckland and then on to Hawke’s Bay, we opted to stay in the north and check out the dozen or so properties that make up the Matakana Wine Trail. The northern wine makers have just done too fine a job. After a

NORTHLAND WINE TRAIL After heading north to Whangaria and using our friend’s delightful hobby farm as a base, we’ve spent parts of three days exploring then many small wineries that make up the Northland Wine Trail. We managed to visit more than half of the cellar doors and thanks to the wine and food tent

Our great New Zealand wine adventure has had a fine start. Departing Vancouver at 8:00 pm and landing at 6:00 am wasn’t a tough adjustment for our body clocks. We just had to get our heads around the fact that it was Sunday, not Saturday. We only had time for a coffee and a short