A vine romance

Hurtling down pristine ski slopes, diving out of perfectly good aeroplanes or blasting down impossibly narrow waterways in a jet boat – Queenstown’s reputation as the adrenaline capital of the world is well known and well deserved. But if your tastes run to the more sedate but no less immersive, then the Queenstown region can deliver on that too, with a touring experience based around the region’s wonderful wines that’s also big on scenery and culinary pleasures.

Drive out of town on a wine route through sumptuous alpine scenery where you can choose to take a walk, enjoy a wonderful lunch and the only risk is choosing the wrong wine to match your meal. You won’t find drama, but you’ll enjoy a civilised day or two and if you really have the urge to bungie-jump, you can do that as well.

The drive takes you into Central Otago wine region. Grapes have been grown here since nineteenth-century gold-rush days, but the first commercial vintage was produced in 1987, with no looking back since. This is New Zealand’s fastest-growing wine region, with several international award-winners among its fifty-something wineries.

Many vineyards are centred around Pisa, Lowburn and Cairnmuir, but for visitors wanting to combine wine-tasting with other holiday pleasures the wine route between Queenstown and Wanaka is where you want to be. The scenery is wonderful, as you’ll discover as you drive out of Queenstown into the Gibbston Valley through rolling hills with stands of poplar trees, and with distant views of lakes and snow peaks.

Amisfield Estate provides a mighty overture to the extravagant opera of alpine landscapes – it has one of the best views of any cellar door and a fortune was spent on the rustic-looking, copper-roofed building with its Italianate terrace. A country-style bistro offers organic produce fit to accompany a stylish sparkling wine from the estate’s Arcadia range.

Of course you’d best not indulge if you’re going to bungy-jump off the bridge just up the road. You could always have lunch at Gibbston Valley Winery afterwards instead, where you can sit in a flowery courtyard and tuck into an excellent antipasto plate of bread, crackers, locally smoked salmon, olives and pickled cherries. A good match is the winery’s Blanc de Pinot Noir, a delicate rosé made with high-quality grapes whose flavour is reminiscent of peach or watermelon – perfect served chilled on a hot summer day. 

Gibbston Valley Winery is New Zealand’s most-visited cellar door. It was a pioneer of Central Otago wines and its reserve Pinot Noir – deeply-coloured and fruity with a distinct berry aroma – is a classic New Zealand wine. The vineyard also makes good Riesling and Gewürztraminer. Join a tour and you’ll be taken into the cellars among oak barrels for a tasting.

Small but very successful Peregrine Estate makes another interesting stop. Ultra-modern in design, the semi-underground building is topped by a silvered, aerodynamic roof modelled on a peregrine’s wing. Inside, the tasting area looks like a city bar. Its informative hosts invite visitors to guess what they’re drinking by thinking about their palate. Flavours reminiscent of lychee? That’s a Gewürztraminer. Strong flavour hinting of cherries? Pinot Noir.

The scenery is glorious as you drive further up the valley between rows of neatly pegged vines to Cromwell, where you have quite the choice of cellar doors. Among them is Felton Road Wines, which makes some of New Zealand’s best Pinot Noirs, and Te Kano Estate whose tasting area, which has a chic 1960s feel, sits inside reimagined shipping containers cantilevered off the hillside with views to the glacial-blue Kawarau River.

Carrick Winery also ogles the Kawarau River and backdrop of snow-dusted mountains. If you haven’t been tempted by other restaurants so far, settle at a table on the lawn and tuck into lamb rump or risotto. Helpful menu notes suggest matching wines, or on the other hand, if you want to focus on wine only, stop at Quartz Reef’s no-frills cellar door where, amid barrels and production areas, you’ll get a talk on how its wine is produced. Take the opportunity to sample Grüner Veltliner, an Austrian white varietal with peppery, lemony notes.

From here the road snakes along Lake Dunstan and through rolling sheep country to Wanaka, where thrill seekers climb ladders up waterfalls or hit the mountain-biking trails. The tourist town, set on an alpine lake, has plenty of distractions, but wine enthusiasts shouldn’t miss Rippon Vineyard, which doesn’t only have good organic Rieslings and Pinot Noirs but interesting German varietals such as Osteiner and Breidecker. You could however visit just for the view over Lake Wanaka and the Buchanan Mountains, which feels like gazing over heaven.

The alternative route back to Queenstown is a little over an hour’s drive, but you should take your time – Crown Range Road is stunning and viewpoints beckon. Pause at suave Cardrona Distillery if you want to swap wine for gin and vodka.

Stop too at Arrowtown, 20 minutes before you get back to Queenstown. The former gold-rush village, whose streets are lined with warped heritage houses and shops, is one of New Zealand’s more picturesque and especially magical in autumn, when trees explode in orange and yellow. You might want to time your day for cocktails in a winged leather armchair by the fire at speakeasy-style Blue Door Bar, followed by duck breast and dark chocolate torta at nearby Aosta.   It’s a route compact enough to be done in a day or one to linger over as you take your time to enjoy the offerings of multiple wineries and restaurants over a couple of days. At the very least, it provides the perfect counterpoint to the frenetic pace and extreme nature of so much of what’s on offer I Queenstown – when everyone else is hurtling through this region in the fast lane, sometimes it pays to slow down.