What a journey it has been for New Zealand. In the 80s, it was an unknown wine country. They didn’t make much wine and what was available wasn’t fun. Then they discovered the potential for sauvignon blanc in Marlborough. All of a sudden, New Zealand became a trending country.
Today it is one of the world’s highest-ranked wine countries if you look at the prices the wines get for export. And that is well deserved. We have moved far away from “only bloated sauvignon blanc”.
Today, they are elegant, but above all, they make a lot of other things too. Pinot noir, of course, but also lovely fragrant syrah, rosé on pinot gris, full-bodied fiano, classic cabernet in Auckland Bay and more.
It’s also a fantastic and very different country to discover, old-fashioned at times, super-modern at times, European but also Maori…
And if you’re lucky, you might meet a Hobbit.
Wine tour to New Zealand, March 15-30, 2023. Next tour in March 2024!
