In Taupo, I hired a bike for an afternoon to ride around the lake front, and another day I hiked for 4.5 hours past Huka Falls and back. For the first three-plus weeks of travelling, I have been very restrained on restaurant spending, but in Taupo I enjoyed my first nice dinner out ($30NZD lamb dish and ½ bottle of Secret Stone Pinot Noir) with a fellow traveller at the Waterside Restaurant & Bar. It was relaxing to be in one place for three nights and I had a very comfortable and clean room in a hostel with an ensuite bathroom (with hairdryer!) and only 2 bunks.
Annette and I at Waterside Restaurant, Taupo
Huka Falls, TaupoMy bus to Napier on Friday night was 90 minutes late, but I still got to Napier just before dark (around 9pm here) and found my hostel. This weekend, I splurged on a private room for three nights. I still have a shared bathroom down the hall, but for only $10USD more than a bunk in a dorm, I have a private room with a twin bed, a sink/mirror, closet, and plenty of space to spread out my pack. The hostel also has a really nice free breakfast with fruit, muesli, coffee and tea. When travelling on a budget, it’s these little things that make a difference!
Napier is a funky little down right on the beach. The predominant architecture here is Art Deco because the town was levelled in an early 30s earthquake, and all the replacement buildings were designed in the Art Deco style. It has the most Art Deco architecture after Miami (I think that’s right; I am not a Florida buff, so I could be getting my Art Deco Florida city mixed up). The waterfront drive is called Marine Parade, with the beach and Pacific Ocean on one side, and the town and Napier houses on the other. It stretches for a few miles and is lined with pine trees (not palm trees). Random, but very New Zealand. It has been very hot here all weekend (above 30C/80F) but does cool down to a tolerable temperature at night. Because of the heat, the region grows not only wine, but many fruits like peaches, plums and apricots.
But moving on to the main attraction…I made this side trip to Napier specifically for the Hawke’s Bay Wine Festival. Thirty five of the over 50 wineries in the area participated, opening their cellar doors on Saturday and Sunday with free tastings (you just had to purchase a $15NZD ticket/glass for the weekend). Most wineries offered lunch options for purchase, live music, and areas to picnic and relax. Hawke’s Bay is known for their Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon/Merlot Blends. There is a specific terroir here called Gimblett Road gravels that is ideal for the Bordeaux style reds and famous within the wine world. It is the second biggest wine producing area in New Zealand, after Marlborough.
On Saturday, wine buses were available to cart all of us drunkards (I mean connoisseurs) from winery to winery, but because of the distances and the numerous wineries, it wasn’t possible to visit even a third of participants in one day. I made a good effort though! Wine tasting notebook in hand and backpack on with 1.5L of water, camera and sunblock, I started off on the coastal route down towards Cape Kidnappers.
Kim Crawford Winery, Cape Kidnappers, Hawke's BayThe bus left Napier at 9am, but after transferring at Vidal, I wasn’t actually tasting wine at Kim Crawford until 10am. I asked for a spittoon and they were bemused but obliged (it really isn’t that weird to ask for one is it?). At 10:30am at Elephant Hill winery (a new winery just open to the public this year), when I used the spittoon, they said I was the first one to use it so far. What can I say? I am diligent and I had a lot of wines to get through….so many in fact that I ended up tasting 45 wines across 9 wineries on Saturday alone.
Ngatarawa WineryNot surprisingly, I also made some friends along the way. I had met one Kiwi guy, Matt, during breakfast at the hostel and I actually ran into him again around 2pm at a wine bus stop. I ended up joining his group, and even went out to dinner with him and his friends (two English friends from the Northern UK living in NZ) on Saturday night in the harbour.
Sunset, Napier HarbourOn Sunday, the wineries were open again, but no transportation was provided. I had planned to stay for Sunday, hoping that I would make friends and catch a ride, or maybe just take a taxi to a few wineries that were closer to the town centre (I strategically avoided them on Saturday). Luck was on my side, and I joined Matt and his friends on Sunday to visit a few wineries and a brewery. He even gave me a ride back to Napier, which saved me a lot of money and hassle. I tasted 28 wines across 5 wineries, and 12 beers at the brewery.
The Filter Room Ale and Cider HouseFor lack of space and my readers’ lack of interest, I won’t list every wine I tried or winery I visited, but I have summarised below the wines that I gave an excellent rating on a “good - very good - excellent” scale. I won’t list prices here because they would be in New Zealand Dollars (NZD) and if you do manage to find any of these in the US or UK, you just don’t want to know how much cheaper they are here. J
Hawke’s Bay Top Picks, alphabetically by producer
- Alpha Domus 2002 Aviator (Bordeaux blend)
- Alpha Domus 2004 Navigator (Bordeaux blend)
- Alpha Domus 2007 Semillon late harvest (dessert wine)
- Brookfields 2007 Marshall Bank Chardonnay
- Brookfields 2006 Cabernet Merlot (excellent Bordeaux blend)
- Kim Crawford 2005 Merlot (just released; very earthy)
- Maimai Creek 2008 Sauvignon Blanc
- Maimai Creek 2007 Syrah (very northern Rhone style with white pepper)
- Matariki 2006 Pinot Noir
- Tukipo River 2007 Viognier
- Vidal 2008 Sauvignon Blanc
- Vidal 2007 Pinot Noir
I found that the aromatic wines (Pinot Gris through Gewurtraminer) are just too rounded for my taste from the hot climate. Some Sauvignon Blancs were better than expected, and even the Pinots fared quite well. I also tried a Feijoa wine at Park Estate Vineyard. Feijoa is a fruit with a very distinctive taste (love it or hate it). I love it, and I enjoyed a Feijoa vodka last night, mixed with apple juice and a splash of sprite. Yum!
Sadly, all good things must come to an end. After a morning at the beach tomorrow, I head back to Taupo and say goodbye to Hawke’s Bay. The region and the town of Napier were much better than I expected, and I am so glad I came out here for the wine festival. I would love to come back another year! The only thing that would have made this weekend better was if some of my friends were here with me!
This week I am doing the Tongariro Crossing hike all day on Tuesday, wine tasting in Martinborough on Thursday and Friday, and I am at the Marlborough Wine Festival this coming weekend. It should be an excellent week!
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