Starting at the top...
Auckland offers two world-class winery days out within a half hour of the CBD. One involves hopping aboard a boat and travelling out to the Hauraki Gulf Island of Waiheke, but the other is an easy drive west of the city into a region rich in winemaking heritage. This is a beautfiful semi-rural area – albeit increasingly encroached by suburban housing sprawl – but more on that later.
There are several winemaking places to visit, and some are open every day, some only by appointment, or at weekends in summer. The day WineFolio spent travelling through, it was a pretty straightforward and linear journey, but you could easily backtrack and meander you way through – or spend time having lunch at one of the establishment with food on offer, and just concentrate on one cluster. We wanted to keep moving and then settled in a bit at the end as we ran out of puff!
So, starting early, we drove up the hill, then round a bit, then followed a sign to keep driving a little further up the hill. To be fair some comments began to flow along the lines ‘Oh come on.. what could possibly be all the way up here’.
Not having visited Westbrook Winery before – and to be honest not having done too much research, WineFolio was pretty pleased see a bit more than just a shed as we turned left at the Westbrook sign! We needn’t have worried – this looked like a full-scale operation, with a decent sized car park, and already spectacular views obvious from our arrival. Around the corner we strolled and there was an even better view over a lily pond – and, although this was midwinter, you almost wanted to toddle down for a picnic right there and then amongst grassy terraces and rows of vines. There’s sculpture, a petanque court… an oversized chess set! The cellar door is a substantial rustic wooden building with an enormous covered deck extending out the back of it, and then more open deck liberally strewn with chairs and barrels. It fits its situation perfectly.
The range of wines on offer is quite extensive, from wines made from fruit in the adjacent Waimauku vineyard, like Malbec, Chardonnay and Pinot Gris; through to a range made from a single vineyard site in Marlborough.
On the day we started tasting with a range of white wines, and opted to match them with cheese from the Grinning Gecko range that Westbrook stock, but you can also custom-make platters with salamis, pesto, crackers and olives. Or, just go with the obvious choices on offer – difficult to resist an “Aromatics Platter” – and I hear they often have fresh Mahurangi Oysters on offer on public holidays. Anyway, distractions from delicious food aside, we were actually here to try the wines!
As I said, we arrived without much background info, so were happy to be guided by the cellar door towards a range of tastings. The only thing I was insistant that I had to try was the Waimauku Chardonnay – otherwise bring it on…
A local Pinot Gris was delicate and floral, opening up some quite spicey, musky notes as we dived in. Pear and tangerine also, but with some mineral underpinning – the clay soils would have something to do with that. Very varietal – not a bland flabby summer white that you might expect from a supermarket PG. The weirdest thing also happened with the cheese match – pop the Havarti into your mouth and take a tiny sip of the wine – it transformed into a mouthful of Russian fudge. Not something I’ve encountered before, and definitely an odd one. Not bad, just strange.
Sticking with aromatics, we opted for a Riesling. Being the only person in Auckland who loves Riesling (yes, I know..) this just had to be. It’s a Marlborough wine, filled with tropical fruit and citrus blossom notes. Lovely acidity and super-ripe fruit with hints of musky spice and, again, I was getting some stoney mineral-saline influence in the back end. Matched with a chilli-flecked cheese, this was a real treat – and I had to pick up a twin-pack of two aged wines for what I consider a bargain price of $40 for this superb Riesling.
Ok, so what was the Chardonnay like? No hiding my love of Kumeu wineries Chardonnays – I’ve been known (in a fit of fever, maybe) to declare Matés Chardonnay as my favourite wine. Not my favourite Chardonnay – not my favourite white wine. My favourite wine, period. The 2016 Westbrook wine we tried has won many awards including a top ten in the Cuisine Chardonnay tasting (a tasting that I have always rated). So, here we go. I nodded as I heard the stories of hand-picking the grapes, the clay soil, and the reflection of terroir. Sounds right. The wine was glorious green-gold colour in the glass, and a symphony of toasted nuts, grilled peaches with créme brulee and butterscotch through a taut acidity in the palate.. It’s a real showstopper – right up there with the other well-known wines from the region.
We also cracked through a deep, dark Malbec from Kumeu and a cherry-scented 2014 Pinot Noir showing some good bottle age and richness. I wouldn’t normally pick a brie cheese to go with any wine, but this matched pretty well with the Pinot Noir. On our way out, keen to keep our pace up for the day, despite this already looking like a great spot to settle in for a session, I was waylaid by the offer of a Heritage Port. Any wine made in tribute to the original founders is usually worthy of consideration, and this doesn’t fail to fit the bill here. Super rich and caramelly with obvious dried fruit notes, but also showing a strong tannic backbone – a serious wine.
