New Zealand, Hamilton
hosted by Warwick Sluce

Introduction

I live in Hamilton which is about one and a half hour's drive south of Auckland, our largest city. Hamilton has a population of about 100,000. It is in the Waikato district which is mainly a dairy farming area. There are a few vineyards in the Waikato, but nothing startling. In fact one of them, which shall remain nameless, produces "wines" which are completely undrinkable! The area is certainly better at producing milk and milk products. We have a warm, humid summer and winters usually bring a lot of frosts and fogs.

Local Notes

I actually come from Christchurch in the South Island so look upon that as the "mainland". It certainly produces marvellous wines, especially in the Marlborough area at the top of the Island. Other wine growing areas are Nelson, Canterbury and Central Otago but Marlborough is by far the biggest. The Marlborough whites are truly magnificent, try a Sauvignon Blanc sometime!

New Zealand is not so good at producing reds although there are some notable exceptions and the Martinborough area (east coast of the North Island towards the southern end) has some excellent Pinot Noir. Also, Hawkes Bay (further up the east coast) produces some very fine Cabernets. And Waiheke Island (off Auckland) also has excellent Cabernets.

Other major wine growing areas in the North Island are Gisborne (very good Chardonnays and Gewurztraminer) and Auckland.

Contact Details

Please give me a call if you are in my part of the country. Would love to meet fellow wine enthusiasts.

eMailwarwicks@wave.co.nz
Phone+64 (7) 834 8500