We boarded a ferry at the very sane hour of 11:00 am to head to Waiheke Island, about 40 minutes east of Auckland in the Hauraki Gulf. The guide for the “Taste of Waiheke” tour was there to meet the four of us, as well as 32 other people.
The island is approximately 36 square miles and about 12 miles long. The population is around 9200, except during tourist season when it increases dramatically, especially since an international magazine ranked Waiheke Island as the third most beautiful island in the world. But to make it even better, there are 26 vineyards on the island. We visited 3 of them, as well as an olive orchard. In addition, there are beautiful beaches, and in the lowlands, cattle and sheep stations.
Back to our tour -- The first place we stopped was the Stonyridge Vineyard. Our guide was from France, and he showed us the vines and how they are covered to keep the birds away. They are quite close to harvest when the birds particularly love the juicy grapes. What was quite worrisome was that a storm is coming tomorrow and the next day, and one of the growers actually said that by Saturday, it could be cyclone strength. This is the worst possible time for excess water because grapes absorb the water and the wine tastes watery. Oh dear. He also showed us the trenches that were recently dug along the edges of the rows so that the water would soak down outside of the tree rows and not within the rows. Lastly, there is a rose bush at the end of each row of trees, and they check the leaves every morning. If any of them appear sickly, they have a "canary in the coal mine" situation, and they know that something is amiss with the soil. Another interesting tidbit is that they have to pay $2.50 for each cork which they purchase from France. They tried growing their own cork trees, but the cork was too dry to actually be useful as a wine cork. They still have the trees, however, and the “bark” on the trunk feels just like cork. We tasted the wines here, and then had a nice lunch.
The trenches dug into the earth to help the water drain away from the grape bushes.
The bushes were to the right of this picture.
Note the rose bushes at the end of each row
Cork tree
The second stop was at the olive orchard –Rangihoua Estate. Our guide there talked us through the entire process of making the olive oil, from combing the olives off the trees so that the olives would land in a soft parachute, to squashing them, and to processing them. In the past, the squashing was done by stone wheels pulled by donkeys, but about 15 years ago, the estate bought an automated press from Italy. We tasted the various oils, and Julie and Deborah both bought some bottles.
the old press pulled by donkeys
the new press -- all automated
learning about olives and olive oil
Our third stop was another vineyard – Casita Miro, owned by a former physician who became a wine connoisseur and decided to plant some grape vines. They, too, were very concerned about the pending storm. This place was nicely set up for tastings, and they included tapas with the tasting.
our wine flight -- waiting for us as we sat down.
Our last stop was the Mudbrick Vineyard and Restaurant (actually two restaurants). Both restaurants are highly ranked (two different chefs), and the place also boasts a large event venue which hosts about 165 weddings a year. It was a big operation. We tasted here too, and yesterday and the day before, they got their Pinot Gris grapes off the vines because of the storm. All the places were beautiful, but this one, in particular, had spectacular views of the bay, the shoreline, the grape trees, and beautiful grassy areas.
The original mudbrick house
Wedding venue
The Pinot Gris grapes taken off in the past two days
Hoping the storm won't make the grapes watery
We got back on the ferry to head back to Auckland, and we arrived there about 5:45 pm. Fun day. We stopped at the restaurant Euro for another top-notch meal (not as good as last night’s though), picked up some breakfast goodies, and then went back to our hot apartment.
[A follow-up note: hard to find info, but from what we could find, the storm and the amount of rain was not as bad as expected.]
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