Wines of the week

I have always been in love with Central Otago. My father and grandfather were born there, and I spent most of my holidays, summer and winter, there as a child.

Nicki likewise. She is also an Otagoite and spent a lot of her youth in this wonderful part of the world

What is it about Central Otago? The jaw-dropping year-round beauty? The great skiing? The long hot, humidity-free summers? The fantastic trout fishing, hunting, and hiking? The wonderful, relaxed people? Yes, yes, yes. All of those.

As a couple we travelled the world for 16 years, returning to New Zealand in 2005. While living in Asia, Central Otago was our “NZ home”, our refuge from the crowds and steamy heat of Asia. We have a little holiday home in Wanaka, 30 minutes drive from the vineyard. Wanaka is an outdoors person’s nirvana. It has always been a popular destination for South Islanders, but in the last decade has been “discovered” and is firmly on the tourist trail. Great restaurants include Relishes, Missy’s Kitchen, Botswana Butchery and The Cow – many of whom stock our Pinot Noir!

In summer we walk (there are hikes for all levels of ability) ride bikes, fish (we have plenty of brown and rainbow in the rivers and lakes, plus landlocked salmon in the lakes), waterski and play on Lake Wanaka – a wonderful lake, but REALLY deep and cold! Best fishing rivers are the mighty Clutha River and the Hunter and Dingle rivers (pre Christmas) which both run into Lake Hawea. Plenty of great fly fishing, plus options for those who prefer to threadline. There are plenty of guides and even one who conducts terrific drift fishing trips down the Clutha River. The guys at Wanaka Sports shop are very helpful and can supply all the equipment and, importantly, give the tourist some tips on where to fish (yes, we are very generous in Otago!)

In summer it stays light until around 10.30 p.m. The best weather is from New year to Easter. It’s fantastic BBQ country. There are millions of rabbits (big pest) so BBQ rabbit is usually on, subject to straight shooting.

Autumn (fall) is the most beautiful time of year – around Easter. The colours of the trees are magnificent golden tones, and the weather is usually really settled. For the aviation enthusiast, every second Easter Wanaka hosts the Warbirds over Wanaka airshow, showcasing military aircraft from WWI to the present day. It will next be held at Easter 2010.

Wanaka is a winter playground with 2 excellent (downhill) skifields within 20 mins. Cardrona Alpine resort is perfect fro families and intermediate skiers whereas Treble Cone has more challenging terrain – both have unbelievable scenery. There’s also a  really good cross country/terrain park, called the Snow Park, directly opposite Cardrona skifield. The ski season goes from late June to mid October. The heki skiing in the nearby Buchanan range and Harris mountains this year at the end of August was magic.

Nicki and I have both long been great fans of Pinot Noir. So when the chance came up to combine our great love of Central Otago with our love of Pinot Noir, we jumped at it.

As you can see from the website (www.25steps.co.nz) we have carved our terraces out of the hillside. Why? Well, our vineyard is on the 45th southern parallel – about as far south as you can grow grapes. The huge difference between night and day temperatures (so helpful for growing Pinot Noir) can also translate into frosts at the most inopportune time of year. The slope of our vineyard means the frost just slides off it (so far!)

The site is 17ha, but after terracing, the effective hectarage is around 9 ha. The terraces are quite a novelty here in NZ, but of course have been used for centuries in Europe. It’s hard to imagine better views from any vineyard than those from our vineyard – beautiful mountains on 3 sides and a wonderful lake adjacent.

Our vineyard is planted only in Pinot Noir. There’s 2 reasons for that – it’s what we do best in Central Otago, and making great Pinot is the whole reason for embarking on this adventure in the first place.

The word “boutique” is overused, but in our case it is an accurate description. We are fully planted and our maximum production is around 3,000 – 4,000 dozen (depending on mother nature). We crop low and we pick by hand. We don’t release the wine until it tells us it is ready. This is true single vineyard wine.

We are delighted with our first vintage (2006) and 2007 is shaping up even better. 2008 is still in very expensive oak barrels, but we have high hopes for it.

This year, 2008, we have made a small amount of delicious Pinot Noir Rosé which is proving extremely popular. It is off dry in style with strawberry and watermelon flavours coming through. It’s not Pinot Noir, but it is as near to branching out as we are likely to go!

Taste: The wine has aromas and flavours of dark fruit with herbal, leather and savoury notes. Tannins are well integrated and the wine has good length.

Food match: 25 Steps Pinot Noir is a good match for venison, lamb, duck and even salmon dishes.