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What's Katie Doing?

Gin Travel Food

October 16, 2017

Wine tasting in Central Otago, New Zealand

Part of my New Zealand trip was dedicated to tasting all the great wines. I did the sauvignon blanc of the Marlborough region last time, so this time the focus was the pinot noir in Central Otago!

*Disclosure: please note that this post contains affiliate links – these help keep me in pinot noir via commission when you click on them, I’ll never link to something I don’t rate!*

Wine tasting in Central Otago, New Zealand

We based ourselves at Kinross Cottages in the Gibbston valley when we were in Otago. This meant that we were perfectly situated to check out the wineries in Bannockburn, so that’s where we started.

Wine tasting in Central Otago, New Zealand on What's Katie Doing? blog

Bannockburn wineries:

Mount Difficulty

With great views over Bannockburn Mount Difficulty was very popular on the Saturday of Easter weekend! The restaurant was fully booked, but they were still doing cellar door tastings for $1/2. Very good value for money when you think about how much a bottle of Mount Difficulty costs (c$40 in the supermarket) .

Wine tasting in Central Otago, New Zealand on What's Katie Doing? blog

We started by trying their Roaring Meg range and obviously we were here for the pinot noir! The Roaring Meg is a lower price point and made for drinking now, rather than cellaring. The pinot had a earthy dry mouth feel and I could certainly drink this, however it was the amazing full bodied complex pinots that I was here to try.

Wine tasting in Central Otago, New Zealand on What's Katie Doing? blog

The Mount Difficulty pinot noir – the reason we were in Otago to taste wine! This had more depth and complexity, a smooth wine with an earthy nose. You could keep this for up to 10 years (if you can not drink it that long!). We also tasted a glass of the reserve pinot and it was beautiful. The grapes for this were from the Pack Spur area of their vineyards. It was at once floral, fruity with depth and complexity and silky tannins.

Wine tasting in Central Otago, New Zealand on What's Katie Doing? blog

The Rose made from Mount Difficulty Pinot Noir grapes was pleasantly dry. A pinot lovers rose for sure. To get this colour the wine was left in contact with the grape skins for 7 days. It was also barrel aged for 4 months, which is more unusual with a rose. They also make a sauvignon blanc and a riesling for those white wine lovers out there. The sauvignon style is a bit different to the classic Marlborough – less acidic and less grassy. The riesling is a grape that is commonly being grown in Otago – the one we tried was the medium sweet. I found this to be well balanced, they recommend to serve with spicy dishes or as a less sweet dessert wine.

Domain Road

Literally next door is Domain Road. I had first tasted their pinot noir with dinner at the Postmaster’s Residence restaurant in Arrowtown the previous evening, and wow that pinot makes an impression!

Wine tasting in Central Otago, New Zealand on What's Katie Doing? blog

Domain Road is a very newly opened tasting room, cantilevered over the hillside and with great views of the vineyards and valley

We started by trying the white wines. The sauvignon blanc was a fairly typical style and the chardonnay was light and summery despite oaking for 10 month. We also tried their dry riesling – The Water Race – beautiful acidity, this one was definitely dry and I could imagine enjoying this with fish or seafood quite easily.

Wine tasting in Central Otago, New Zealand on What's Katie Doing? blog

Domain Road was a free tasting of anything on the menu

The pinot noir was the 2013 just released. In the restaurant I think I had tried the 2012. They age their pinot for 3 years in the bottle and the tannins are not so pronouced. Their is a caramel/marshmellow scent on the nose and it has a soft mouth feel, dry but not too tannic. I thought the 2013 lacked the fruitiness of the 2012, but it was still a lovely pinot noir.

The Paradise pinot was barrel aged for an additional 4 months and then blended, bottled and aged for 3 years. This one was more dominant in the leather and tobacco notes than the regular pinot noir.

Wine tasting in Central Otago, New Zealand on What's Katie Doing? blog

What a view!! Central Otago is beautiful to visit in the Autumn as the vines and the trees change colour, I could sit and stare at this view all day.

 

The Gibbston valley wineries were up next as we headed back towards where we were staying…

 

Gibbston valley wineries:

Kinross

We stayed at the Kinross cottages, so on Good Friday we were able to taste the wine, as long as we ate there (licensing hours over Easter weekend are very strict!).

Wine tasting in Central Otago, New Zealand on What's Katie Doing? blog

Our beautiful cottage at Kinross

Wine tasting in Central Otago, New Zealand on What's Katie Doing? blog

Great view from the hot tub too!

Wine tasting in Central Otago, New Zealand on What's Katie Doing? blog

Well I had to show you the hot tub. Tucked up on the side of the hill it had great views across the valley and vineyards.

Wine tasting in Central Otago, New Zealand on What's Katie Doing? blog

You can see the leaves were just starting to change colour – all these trees are imported, native trees are all evergreen.

Wine tasting in Central Otago, New Zealand on What's Katie Doing? blog

The wine tasting flights at Kinross

We did our wine tasting outside next to the roaring log fire. For $15 you get to choose 5 wines from what they have open. As you can see they stock a selection of different brands. From these wines I didn’t have any that I was passionate about though. The Coal Pit sauvignon blanc was average, the Hawkshead Riesling not really for me.

Wine tasting in Central Otago, New Zealand on What's Katie Doing? blog

Look at that fire!! Kinross is where the locals come to hang out on a Friday night

With the pinots the Coal Pit I found quite thin – we spotted someone having this served chilled later that weekend and actually that’s not a bad call on how to serve this lighter style of pinot noir. Neither the Hawkshead or Domaine Thomson pinots screamed ‘I’m yummy’ to me – but we had been spoilt that day with the Mount Edward, with beautiful fruits, with our lunch.

Gibbston valley

The most famous of the Gibbston valley vineyards is obviously the one named after it!

Wine tasting in Central Otago, New Zealand on What's Katie Doing? blog

Gorgeous interior of the tasting room at Gibbston valley – another fire as it is autumn!

Wine tasting in Central Otago, New Zealand on What's Katie Doing? blog

Great views of the gardens with our wine tasting

Wine tasting in Central Otago, New Zealand on What's Katie Doing? blog

We decided to do the cheese and wine matching at Gibbston as we needed to eat something

The winner out of the Gibbston valley selection was the pinot blanc. I’d never tasted this variety before – its a mutation of the pinot noir grapes and was very easy to drink. I enjoyed matching the pinot with the blue cheese and the rose with the stronger flavoured cheese. I would have liked to have tried more of the reserve pinots here, but we needed to eat more than cheese!

Wine tasting in Central Otago, New Zealand on What's Katie Doing? blog

#toomuchfun (aka too much wine – time for something more filling)

The Gibbston Tavern is a good choice for decent filling grub!

Wine tasting in Central Otago, New Zealand on What's Katie Doing? blog

The local tavern where we headed for a filling lunch

Peregrine

After lunch we didn’t have much room for any more wines, but persevered with Peregrine as we liked the look of the building!

Wine tasting in Central Otago, New Zealand on What's Katie Doing? blog

The building that the cellar is housed in is designed to look like the wing of a falcon in flight (a Peregrine is a type of falcon)

Wine tasting in Central Otago, New Zealand on What's Katie Doing? blog

You get to see where they keep the barrels

The tasting at Peregrine was free. We started our tasting with the dry riesling, which was ok. We then tried their Saddleback range – this is meant for everyday drinking, no need to cellar. The pinot has vanilla and strawberry on the nose from the old oak it was aged in. This was an easy drinking soft and dry pinot.

The Peregrine 2014 pinot noir was fuller but still smooth. Lots of red fruits and not too dry with a lovely mouth feel, again easy to drink!

Wine tasting in Central Otago, New Zealand on What's Katie Doing? blog

The aged 2011 pinot noir was still quite light, however it had more of a tannic earthy style.

Wine tasting in Central Otago, New Zealand on What's Katie Doing? blog

As I hadn’t tried any dessert wines yet I also sampled the late harvest riesling. This was lovely and sweet – they leave the grapes on the vines for longer to concentrate the sugars before they make it, hence late harvest.

A great day wine tasting in Central Otago. I couldn’t bring back wine to the UK, so I’m just going to hope that someone imports it and I can order it when out in London.

What’s your favourite wine region?

Wine tasting in Central Otago, New Zealand on What's Katie Doing? blog

Pin me to plan later!

 

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Filed Under: New Zealand, travel Tagged With: Central Otago, pinot noir, wine, wine tasting

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Samantha says

    April 22, 2017 at 10:54 pm

    Awesome Post! I am in need of good wine now. Luckily for me I am currently residing in Alexandra, Central Otago. I’ve been to Gibbston but not the others mentioned. This has to change. Also.. I now want cheese.

    Love your blog! Will pin this entry to my NZ must do: South Island Pinterest board.

    Reply
    • Katie Hughes says

      April 22, 2017 at 11:00 pm

      Thanks Samantha! The selection of wineries to choose from is quite astounding – if I lived there I would be constantly exploring!

      Reply
  2. Anisa says

    April 22, 2017 at 11:01 pm

    I love white wines from New Zealand so would love to spend a day like this. Pinning so that I will have the info when I do finally make it to New Zealand!

    Reply
    • Katie Hughes says

      April 22, 2017 at 11:03 pm

      Thanks Anisa – I loved trying all the wines, from the white to rose and the red.

      Reply
  3. Justine Alonzo | The Iridescent Wings says

    April 26, 2017 at 8:34 pm

    Awesome post! I’m not a wine drinker but I loved reading your details on how it taste and the process of how certain wines were made. The pictures are pretty too!

    Reply
    • Katie Hughes says

      April 27, 2017 at 5:56 am

      Thanks for your comments Justine – the countryside is so pretty in Autumn, it’s definitely worth visiting even if you don’t taste the wine.

      Reply
  4. Laura says

    April 26, 2017 at 8:42 pm

    Looks like so much fun! I love how wine tasting can take you anywhere! I need to do some here in australia!

    Reply
  5. Laura says

    April 26, 2017 at 8:42 pm

    Looks like so much fun! I love how wine tasting can take you anywhere! I need to do some here in australia!

    Reply
    • Katie Hughes says

      April 27, 2017 at 5:56 am

      I’d love to taste Australian wines Laura – please let me know how you get on!

      Reply
  6. Kelly says

    April 26, 2017 at 8:51 pm

    I am not a drinker and had no idea that wine tasting was big in New Zealand. But some of these views look amazing. I would love to check out the food at some of these places or visit Mt. Difficulty. Looks super cool

    Reply
    • Katie Hughes says

      April 27, 2017 at 5:57 am

      Thanks Kelly – the food and views make it worth visiting for sure!

      Reply
  7. Jasmin Charlotte says

    April 26, 2017 at 8:55 pm

    You know, I lived in New Zealand for 15 years and I only started liking wine when I moved to London – how typical is that!! I can’t wait to go back and do a proper wine tasting tour!

    Reply
    • Katie Hughes says

      April 27, 2017 at 5:57 am

      Haha Jasmin – a great excuse to go back!

      Reply
  8. Christine says

    April 26, 2017 at 11:52 pm

    Omg this looks amazing! I’ve never been to New Zealand, but I need to visit soon!

    Reply
    • Katie Hughes says

      April 27, 2017 at 6:01 am

      It’s definitely worth a visit Christine!

      Reply
  9. Alex Peters says

    April 27, 2017 at 12:04 am

    When two of my favorite things come hand in hand – wine and travel – you know it’s going to be good! Pinned to I can read again whenever I make it out to New Zealand 🙂

    Reply
    • Katie Hughes says

      April 27, 2017 at 6:01 am

      Thanks Alex!

      Reply
  10. Elizabeth says

    April 27, 2017 at 6:07 am

    My husband and I are checking out New Zealand in October. Pinning this for our trip! Can’t wait to hit up all the amazing wineries and be wowed away by the beautiful scenery.

    Reply
    • Katie Hughes says

      April 27, 2017 at 7:01 am

      It’s so beautiful – you should try and get to Milford Sound whilst you are there too Elizabeth.

      Reply
  11. Sandra says

    April 27, 2017 at 6:08 am

    Finally, a blog post about New Zealand that’s not about LOTR or Hobbitown 😀 I had no idea NZ produced wine, thank you for opening up the world a bit more for me. $40 for a bottle at a supermarket sounds expensive, though. Just to think we get great wine in Portugal for half that price at supermarkets. Then again wine tasting with THAT scenery is totally worth it!

    Reply
    • Katie Hughes says

      April 27, 2017 at 7:02 am

      Thanks for your comment Sandra – yes they have expensive wine, but it’s very special, you can still get bargains in the supermarket!

      Reply
  12. Carly Wayward Heyward says

    April 27, 2017 at 4:30 pm

    This really got my tastebuds going! So glad to see that they have a Rose… I’m partial to them. Mt. Difficulty… what a funny name!

    Reply
    • Katie Hughes says

      April 27, 2017 at 5:13 pm

      Yes I’m not sure where the name came from Carly!

      Reply
  13. Danie says

    April 28, 2017 at 2:15 am

    So many beautiful wineries! I wish my palette had such exposure… new Zealand wines are supposed to be heavenly! Katie- Which was your favorite?

    Reply
    • Katie Hughes says

      April 28, 2017 at 6:31 am

      That’s such a difficult question Danie – I think the Domaine Road was the best for me!

      Reply
  14. Catherine - Red Door Ponderings says

    May 4, 2017 at 8:01 am

    Great overview of some fabulous wines! Love it. Like the look of that flight at Kinross.

    Reply
    • Katie Hughes says

      May 5, 2017 at 2:08 pm

      Thanks Catherine, Kinross had a whole heap of wines you could try!

      Reply
  15. Lew says

    July 7, 2017 at 12:35 am

    Be there next March. Thanks

    Reply
    • Katie Hughes says

      July 7, 2017 at 3:12 pm

      I hope you enjoy it as much as I did Lew

      Reply

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