… to Gisborne …

… in the heart of New Zealand’s wine country. Gisborne is the eastern-most city in the world, and as such is the first to see the sun rise each morning. Gisborne’s moment of glory came on January 1, 2000; the city was spruced up and new statues erected, anticipating a crush of tourists wanting to be the first to witness the dawn of the new millennium. Even the manhole promoted the city!

 

 

The city is first and foremost a working port; the piers were lined with colorful fishing boats, many sporting bright pink floats. The ship anchored in the bay and we tendered ashore.

 

In wine country it seems only right to do some wine tasting, so we headed off at the improbably early hour of 8:15 am on a bus excursion to two wineries.  Matawhero (mat-ta-FEE-ro, the “wh” is pronounced like an “f”) Winery was our first stop. The charming young owner walked us through a tasting of five wines, and explained how her wines are made. Basically, she grows most of her own grapes; these grapes, along with some others grown in the immediate area, are made into wine at a local wine cooperative a few kilometers down the road. The equipment is deemed too expensive for any but a large winery to own, so each of the local boutique wineries uses the cooperative for the actual wine-making process.

 

Unlike most wineries in other areas, Gisborne wineries don’t irrigate or water their vines. This allows the roots to seek their own water sources, and locals theorize that it intensifies the flavors in the grapes. The soil is very fertile, and receives an adequate amount of rainfall throughout the year.

 

The second winery was Bushmere Estate; a larger organization, they bottle more different wines than Matawhero. We tasted some interesting wines, beginning with a Gewurztraminer; the others were a Pinot Gris, oaked and unoaked Chardonnay, Viognier, Pinot Noir and even a Rose. All were delicious!

 

Chardonnay was the wine the area was first known for; however, in the 1990s it fell out of favor because so much inferior Chardonnay was being produced. Today with the profusion of small, boutique wineries producing limited quantities of high quality wine (almost none of which is exported), Chardonnay is again in demand.

 

We bought a few bottles of Bushmere wine, despite misgivings about lugging it back to the US. The owner explained that wine molecules move clockwise (or was it counter-clockwise?) in the southern hemisphere; when we cross the equator, they begin to move in the opposite direction. This can cause “bottle shock” – so the wine should be allowed to rest for at least 6 weeks after experiencing this trauma. When the wine is first bottled it suffers a similar shock, and should not be opened for at least 6 weeks.

Wine tastings over, it was not yet noon! Very odd to be drinking wine in the morning. We asked the bus driver to drop us in town and slowly made our way back to the ship. While looking for a crafts market, we stumbled across the local library, which was having a “Great Booksby” book sale. Frank restrained me from buying anything …  

 

In our travels in Australia and New Zealand, we were impressed by the large number of independent book stores flourishing in every town. Many towns had two or three bookstores on the main street. Contrary to the sad fate of bookstores in the US, these stores seemed active and vital.