by Mark Hazell » Mon Feb 04, 2008 7:51 pm
There are a couple of very good wineries on Waiheke Island (about 30 minutes by ferry from Auckland) -- otherwise she should head south -- one of my favorite towns is Martinborough, in the Wairarapa valley near Wellington -- they are making some lovely, but not cheap, pinot noir there -- it reminds me of the Sonoma valley back in the 60's, just gorgeous. With a lot of time Central Otago is worth visiting -- splendid Pinot Gris and Reisling, and some very good Pinot Noir as well. And of course the top of the south island -- Marlborough, Nelson, Blenheim -- great Sauvignon Blanc. Also, the Hawkes Bay region on the north island is only a day away from Auckland and there is lots of great wine and food available there. Actually, it's hard to go wrong in NZ -- my wife says that if Northern California and Hawaii got married and had a child it would be NZ, and I think that's a pretty fair description.