WINE TASTING WITH NZWINEPRO

**This trip was taken in May 2012**

On a one fine afternoon, Stephanie & I are heading to Auckland Northwestern Wine Region. For a wine tasting experience with NZWINEPRO.

After about 20 minutes drive from Auckland CBD, we arrived in Kumeu Wine Country. This part of Auckland had started its wineries back in 1940s, when families from Croatia arrived & set up wine-making, just like what they had back in their home countries. (Source: Kumeu Wine Country website)

We had our 1st stop at Kumeu River Wines on State Highway 16. John, the owner of NZWINEPRO and our guide for the day, took us around the production areas of the winery. This was to give us a good knowledge about wine-making process.

John explained how wines are made.

These barrels are imported from France

After the walk around & a better understanding about wines, we started our 1st wine tasting of the day with 5 wine varieties produced at Kumeu River Wines; Single Vineyard Chardonnay, Chardonnay, Pinot Gris, Merlot & Pinot Noir. The 2010 Pinot Gris was Steph's & my favourite.

Wine tasting at Kumeu River

Next stop is, Nobilo Winery, a much larger scale production compared to Kumue River. Nobilo also has vineyards in other regions around New Zealand eg. Gisborne in Lower East Coast of North Island & Marlborough at the top of South Island. (Source: Nobilo Winery website)

Entrance to Nobilo Wine Cellar

My favourite at Nobilo was Selaks Gewurztraminer Riesling. Did I mention that this is one of my favourite wine varieties? I know it's a very sweet wine. The reason I like this variety is that, it goes very well with spicy Thai food that I love.

FYI: Nobilo Vintners purchased Selaks Wines which in turn, was purchased by leading global wine company, BRL Hardy of Australia in mid-2000. (Source: Selaks Winery website)

Wine tasting at Nobilo Winery

We have our lunch at BeesOnline Cafe. BeesOnline is an artisan honey producer, famous for its New Zealand monofloral honeys eg. Manuka & Rata, and other culinary honey products.(Source: BeesOnline website)

Lunch at BeesOnline Cafe

(L-R, T-B)

- The front door

-Steph's Lunch: Duck Confit 
- The cafe

- My Lunch: Pan-fried Hapuka

After our stomachs are full with delicious lunch at BeesOnline. We were heading out to Muriwai Beach, one of the famous Auckland West Coast Black sand Beaches.

Muriwai, with its rugged coastline, is one of the popular surfing beaches in this area. It's also a home to a large gannet colony. There were none of gannets to be seen when we were there. As they usually arrive in this area for nesting between August to March. 

The third wine tasting was at Matua Valley Wines in Waimauku, still in Kumeu Wine Country. Here, we have an impressive selection of wines for our wine tasting. There was 1 of Sparkling, 4 of Whites, and 5 of reds to choose from. We could try all 10 or select any from the list we wanted to taste. I went for 3 Whites & 3 Reds. 

After Matua Valley, John suggested that we should visit another stop, which he usually go to when Matua Valley closes for a private function. We were then driven to West Brook Winery, which was a short drive from Matua Valley.

 

We only had a brief stop here as it was an additional stop from our original plan. We tastes a few wines and enjoyed a very beautiful surrounding landscape. West Brook Winery is also a perfect place for family picnic or a barbeque. The area is set like a park so there's always something for everyone here.

 

Our wine tasting trip finished here. It was an amazing way to spend our afternoon. The trip was very informative and John is a man with extensive knowledge about wines, both locally & internationally. You wouldn't want to go on a wine tasting experience with someone who isn't passionate about wines, would you? John's love of wines has translated into a well-planned trip, which gives every aspects of this trip to be a memorable experience.

Cin Cin to John & NZWINEPRO for a great trip!



Posted by

Nancy


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