Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Vineyards have popped up the length
and breadth of the country, on both the
North Island and South Island, including
wine regions with exotic Maori names such
as Wairarapa, Aawatere, and Otago. The
cool maritime climate with plentiful sun
means the country can produce both reds
and whites with lots of flavor and punch.
Stony Ridge is located on Waiheke
Island, a tiny green collection of hillocks 40
minutes by ferry from the country's big-
gest city, Auckland. Sailboats sit on mirror-
like waters, as gentle green hills roll
upward toward a lonely tree or a patch of
the white netting that protects vines from
birds. The island used to be a hippy haunt,
full of individuals seeking an alternative
lifestyle from the modern bustle of the
city. Now it is a popular weekend retreat
with 20-odd wineries to visit, excellent
restaurants with great seafood, and lovely
beach walks to help visitors digest that
same food.
Stony Ridge evokes the Mediterranean
with its faded pink walls and sky blue win-
dow frames. The giant silver tank along
the side betrays the main pastime here.
Out back, a charming, rickety veranda of
green fencing and roof eaves holds a
sunny terrace restaurant that overlooks
the undulating vineyards. The Mediterra-
nean cuisine is ideal to accompany Stony
Ridge's deeply delicious reds—like the
stranger said, that's golden, mate.
Stony Ridge,
80 Onetangi Rd.,
Waiheke Island (
&
64/9/372-8822;
www.
stonyridge.co.nz).
(
Auckland Airport (55km/34 miles).
L
$$
Villa Pacifica,
Half Moon Bay,
Waiheke Island (
&
64/9/372-6326;
www.
villapacifica.co.nz). $$
Waiheke Midway
Motel,
1 Whakarite Rd., Ostend, Waiheke
Island (
&
64/9/372-8023;
www.waiheke
motel.co.nz).
Southern Hemisphere
372
Craggy Range Winery
Where the World Is Your Oyster
Hawkes Bay, New Zealand
Steve Smith is obsessed with dirt. He is
particularly concerned with the dark clay
that nourishes his Hawkes Bay vineyard.
He is annoyed that it is not a bit more like
the famous clay of Bordeaux, which is pep-
pered with light-colored stones that reflect
the heat upwards. Smith even considered
putting reflective fabric along the ground
to get the same effect, but in the end he
settled for something much more practi-
cal: crushed oyster shells from the nearby
sea. They now act as fertilizer and heat
reflector, bathing the canopy with sunlight
and producing a more velvety wine.
Smith is a single-minded winemaker in
a winery that produces single-vineyard
wines. Craggy Range has been waking the
world up to the fact that this far-off corner
of the wine world is making not just great
Sauvignon Blanc, but superb reds too.
Smith´s meticulous attention to detail is
creating Pinot Noir, Merlot, and Bordeaux-
style blends that outpunch their Australian
neighbors and far-off rivals in Europe.
The winery complex—named the Giant's
Winery, after a local Maori legend—is just
as ambitious. Its stark design is Bordeaux-
medieval meets New Zealand-barn house,
held up with good old-fashioned steel and
glass. This sprawling lakeshore complex of
tall warehouse-style buildings ends in an
imposing limestone roundhouse, site of the
winery's restaurant, Terroir; in the distant
vineyards there is a luxury lodge for guests.
Suffice to say, it is impressive. In the dis-
tance lies a rocky line of mountains, the
