Napier and Hastings

4-4-2014

     Wine Country. If you ask anyone in New Zealand where to go for wine tasting, they will answer, "Napier and Hastings." There are at least 50 wineries in the area, probably more. The i-site in Napier hands out color coded maps of the clusters of wineries, each with its own micro-climate and all with different growing conditions. Some grapes are grown on hillsides, others in gravel riverbed, others in flat-land soil, and blah blah blah. Point is, each little area produces different flavors just with the grapes' growing conditions, not to mention differences in the way each winery decides to make the wine. There are a lot of options. 

     We studied our map and eventually picked the southwest region because it had a winery that also brewed beer, and that sounded good too. That winery was Abbey Cellars, and they had some seriously delicious wine. They also had a delicious craft beer, the first true craft brew we've managed to find, despite all the talk that New Zealand has a wonderful selection of craft beers and small breweries. Abbey Cellars has been the only place we've found who makes their own beer and isn't owned by a bigger company who's owned by a corporation in Asia. This was true craft beer. They named it Fat Monk, and it was gooooood. Hats off to them. Beer and wine, both delicious. They had the first Rose wine that I've ever liked, and a really nice Chardonnay that was both buttery and fruity. Delicious. 

      I could have happily bought at least three bottles of wine there, but I resisted. It was the first of many wineries, and I didn't want to end up buying three bottles at each place! We moved on down the road, literally, about a quarter mile. The next place was pretty good too. Not as good as Abbey Cellars, but still good. We used the free-wine-tasting slips that we'd picked up at the i-site and didn't end up buying any wine there, but we did buy a few small chocolates. They looked good and tasted better. 

     We left there and went down a different road toward a handful of other wineries. The first one we came to was closed, for some unknown reason. The second one was also closed, but they were only open on weekends. The third one was open, so we stopped there. It was a very small place with sub-par wine. Their niche was organic wine, but it all tasted flat and dull to me. We didn't buy any wine there either. We quickly moved on to the next place.

     The next place was Silvare Estate, just down the road. There was a restored classic car in the small parking area in front of the big, open barn, and an old yellow lab napping in the shade of the building. We walked up to the counter and saw a large platter of cheeses, salamis, crackers, breads, and a dozen different kinds of spreads. They also had a selection of olive oils on display for tasting, as well as a half dozen bottles of wine for tasting. We started with the wine, but we were really hungry and pairing wine and food is always tasty, so we got a platter too. It was all delicious. There was something called dukkah, a middle eastern dish consisting of nuts and spices all ground together, which you dipped olive-oil soaked bread into and ate with your fingers. Very good. So was the apricot chutney, and the yellow mustard that had a strong, but not overwhelming, taste of horseradish to it. So good. But the best thing on the plate was the garlic and herb, soft, white cheddar cheese. I could eat that by itself, all day long.

     Still, the best part was the wine. They had a pretty good Chardonnay too, but they had the best Merlot. It was fruity, with hints of plum, but it wasn't too sweet or heavy. It wasn't full of tannins like most Merlots, either, because it didn't leave my teeth all fuzzy. I know this for sure because we tried the Merlot before even eating, so I know the food didn't change anything. It was quite good.

     We finished off the evening tasting the olive oils. Some were good, some were just okay. The best were the vinaigrettes made with the olive oil. The balsamic vinaigrette was amazing, so was the red wine vinaigrette, and even the chardonnay mustard vinaigrette. So good! They all were. 

     We bought a few things there and called it a day. For one thing, everyone was closing or closed. For another, we didn't want to drive if we drank any more, so we quit. 

     We drove to the coast, to Hastings, which is like a sister town to Napier. They're so close they almost overlap. We thought about finding a hostel or holiday park to stay in so we could shower, but they were all way overpriced for their crappy accommodations with few amenities. It seemed like finding a shower was a hopeless goal, until Luke had a stroke of genius and pointed out that the hot pools along the ocean front would likely have showers. The only question was wether or not they were still open. Almost all of New Zealand closes at 5:00, and it was just past 7:00. Lucky for us, they were still open. We donned our bathing suits and headed for the pools. Hot pools (in this case the term meant heated pools), some as hot as a hot-tub, and with a view of the ocean. 

     It was pretty nice. I managed to ignore the idea of how gross public pools are because there wasn't an overwhelming smell of chlorine, and everything looked clean. Even when an entire pro rugby team showed up and invaded every pool (and no, they didn't shower ahead of time) I still managed to ignore the thoughts about sitting in human grossness. It was still fun. I was even entertained, watching girls giggle stupidly as they asked for pictures with the rugby team. I have no idea who they were, but they must have been somebody. Just not the all blacks, since they were in all orange. They were all really nice, and they made better company than the stupid gigglers and mohawked boneheads that were the only other people there. One guy even had "never back down" tattooed in large calligraphy across his chest. Yes, I'm judging. But to be fair, you sir are the one who marked yourself permanently with an attention grabber like that large black stamp of stupidity. I'm not against all tattoos, just the stupid ones. Some really are art. That one was not. 

     Anyhow, enough with my rant. The pools were nice. A wonderful idea. We got a nicer shower for a lot cheaper than we could have gotten anywhere else in town, and a better experience, I'm sure. It was brilliant. 

     We left town after that and headed toward Tongariro National Park, home to Mount Ngauruhoe, known to the rest of the world as Mount Doom. We would have had a great head start if I hadn't left my swimsuit at the pool, but as it was, we had to turn around and get it. Even so, we have arrived at our destination well ahead of time. We didn't have to be here until tomorrow morning, but we're here now. We lazed about in the sun and worked on our tans. They're sadly lacking since the bugs are so bad on the South Island we hardly ever dared to wear anything but long sleeves and long pants, especially if we were standing still. Here it's no so bad, so I put on my swimsuit and laid out in the sun with my book. I have a handful of bug bites now, but over a couple hours time, that's not bad. 

      Now the rain has moved in, so we've settled into the van for the night. The rain is pattering on the roof but it's not so loud that I can't still hear the wind in the scrubby trees and the water lapping against the shore of Lake Rotoaira, ten feet away. Behind the bushes the sun is setting and all the colors are trapped beneath the clouds and turning the whole sky orange, pink, and purple. It's strange and beautiful. Like the mountain itself. I'm looking forward to hiking around it tomorrow.