nic_taylor

So, yesterday four friends and I went wine tasting in the Waipara (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waipara) region, just north of Christchurch. (http://maps.google.co.nz/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=waipara&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Waipara,+Canterbury&ll=-43.057851,172.772026&spn=0.097331,0.219383&t=h&z=12) I say four of us, but it was really three as we'd managed to enlist someone to drive!

Dave and I had been meaning to go wine tasting for a while, but Dan (the guy whose 21st I went to last week) was in Christchurch so we had our motivation to go!

The first winery we visited was Pegasus Bay, (http://www.pegasusbay.com/) quite a famous producer. We tried around eight or so wines both red and white - some were really nice including a late picked Riesling called Aria. The lady leading the tasting was quite informed and it was a really nice set up all round.



Just outside the gates:



After Pegasus Bay we tried to visit Fiddler's Green (http://www.fiddlersgreen.co.nz/) but they weren't doing tasting during the week. We then went to Mud House winery (http://www.mudhouse.co.nz/) - quite a big establishment and sadly we had to pay $5 for the taste session, but we tried around a dozen or so nice wines.



We then drove to Torlesse Wines (http://www.torlesse.co.nz/) which was a much smaller vineyard in comparison to the previous two. As Dave and Dan were fans of Port, we decided to visit this one as they stocked a fortified wine - apparently not up to much after tasting! They had some nice wines including one which had blackcurrants added to it.

Sadly the wine muddled my thoughts and I didn't take any photos of the wineries from here on. :(

Post Torlesse Wines, we went to Terrace Edge Vineyard (http://www.terraceedge.co.nz/) which produces both wine and olive oil. This was the smallest tasting session as again it was a smaller place, but as Andy knew the owner we were given a nice portion of samples and were taking on a quick tour of their land. I sampled their olive oil as well which was fairly good.

Sadly, we had to leave for Christchurch at this point as our driver had to go to work. It was a good experience however and I would recommend people to do it. I'm not big on my red wines, but it was useful to taste a variety in one day to see and compare the differences between grapes. I think I would like to go again and sample the places we missed as well as perhaps going for lunch as it felt we were rushed slightly, but it was definitely good fun!



That night I went out for a friend’s birthday at Dux de Lux (http://www.thedux.co.nz/) which was pretty nice but I was fairy wine tired so I didn't try their guest beer.

Anyway, I hope everyone is well - looks like you might be having snow over Christmas?!