on the road: central otago wineries

Anyone who knows me at all knows that I love wine. Love to read about it, write about it, learn about it, talk about it, and drink it. Before travelling to New Zealand in 2014, all I really knew about New Zealand wines was Marlborough Savs. Fast forward to September of that year. I spent a week in Queenstown, and I discovered the Central Otago wineries. A few months ago, I wrote a broad piece on New Zealand wine regions. Now, I want to share with you more about Central Otago wines and the wineries there.

Central Otago is on the South Island, in the Southern Alps. The soil is rich in minerals and the climate is considered extreme: there are cold winters and hot summers. The main towns in Central Otago are Queenstown and Wanaka. Nearby Cromwell and Alexandra are two towns with a main fruit producing industry – which means ciders and fruit wines as well as wine.

Central Otago Wineries

Why should you learn about CO wines? They are fairly new. Most Central Otago wineries are only twenty to twenty-five years old, which in the old wine world is still infantile. They are quickly becoming more well-known on the international wine stage, but it’s still hard to find them in much of the US and Europe. If you visit a specialty wine shop, they can likely source them for you.

What do Central Otago wineries produce? Mainly Pinot Noir, but you can find Sauvignon Blanc, Riesling, Chardonnay, and Pinot Gris in addition to obscure Tempranillo, Syrah, and Cabernet.

Some of the more well-known wineries in Central Otago are Chard Farm, Gibbston Valley, Amisfield, Mt. Difficulty, Brennan, and Mt. Michael.

Chard Farm

Chard Farm produces the phenomenal Rabbit Ranch label in addition to their Chard Farm label. To get to Chard Farm, turn off the state highway just past the Kawarau Bridge and AJ Hackett Bungy Centre, and wind along the gorge on a very, very narrow gravel road. There’s actually a lot of history behind the Chard Road – read it here if you are interested.

The story behind Chard Farm is almost as good as the road itself, actually. Chard Farm is one of the early pioneers in Central Otago wineries, having planted the grapes in the late 1980s, working day and night to produce some of the best Chardonnay and Pinot Noir in the region.

Taste: Chard Farm Pinot Noir and Rabbit Ranch Chardonnay

Gibbston Valley

Gibbston Valley is the name of the lush valley in the Kawarau Gorge; it’s also the name of another pioneering winery in Central Otago, Gibbston Valley Wines. Gibbston Valley is one of the few wineries to have multiple vineyards in different sub-regions (most wineries are located in one sub-region): they have two vineyards in Gibbston and five in Bendigo. Between the two, Gibbston produces phenomenal Pinot Noirs – in fact, you can do an entire tasting of only Gibbston Valley Pinots at their cellar door – and each one is subtly different, thanks to the different elevations of the sub-regions.

Taste: Schoolhouse Pinot Noir, China Terrace Pinot Noir, and Le Fou Riesling Bendigo

Amisfield

One of the biggest players in Central Otago wines is Amisfield, right at the turnoff for Arrowtown, across from Lake Hayes. The first vines were planted here in the late 1990s and like the rest of the region, get cold winters, hot summers, and ample sunshine – which create the perfect cocktail for grape growing. There are a few organic wineries around, but Amisfield is currently working with BioGro to attain full organic certification. They are also sustainable in their bistro and in the architecture and building materials.

I’m partial to their cellar door, because I had an excellent tasting here in late 2014 and because Amisfield not only has incredible wines, they have impeccable service. Their bistro serves fantastic food and wine, and also is a nice place to sit in front of the fire with a glass of wine on one of those cold Central Otago days.

Taste: Amisfield Pinot Noir or Amisfield Pinot Gris

Brennan

My parents and I stumbled on Brennan Winery one day after returning to Queenstown from Milford Sound. My dad really wanted to visit a Central Otago winery, so before we checked into our hotel, we drove out into Gibbston Valley and went a little off the beaten path on Gibbston Back Road. Two things I adore about Brennan: they have a Tempranillo, and they are relatively unknown outside of Central Otago. I want to change that; I literally tell everyone I meet that Brennan wines are amazing, and I even made a special trip to buy myself a bottle for my birthday before heading to Wanaka.

Even in Otago wine terms, Brennan is new, having been officially opened only in 2006. The grapes, however, were planted in the mid-1990s by Sean Brennan’s father, back when planting grapes in Central Otago was a new thing. The grapes were sold to Peregrine Winery up until Sean took over with his own winemaking.

Taste: Brennan Tempranillo

Mt. Difficulty

Mt. Difficulty Wines, located in Bannockburn, near Cromwell, might be best known for its Roaring Meg and Target Gully labels, but they have quite a few others as well. I was first introduced to the Roaring Meg Pinot Noir in local restaurants; ask almost any Otago or Southland restaurant for a glass of it and they’ll have it. The Bannockburn region is one of the best in the world for growing Pinot Noir grapes – hence why there are so many amazing Pinots in the region – and Mt. Difficulty does it well.

Mt. Difficulty started in the mid-1990s as a merger of five small Central Otago wineries agreeing to produce under one label. In 2004, the five vineyards finally became one and its known as Mt Difficulty Wines Ltd. Now, the vines are among the oldest in the area and produce complex grapes in the mineral-rich soil.

Taste: Roaring Meg Pinot Noir or Target Gully Riesling

Mt. Michael

Mount Michael is one of Central Otago’s boutique wineries. By that I mean, they don’t even have a cellar door and they produce only 3,000 cases of wine annually.

I’ve been curious about Mount Michael ever since I came across them on Instagram and asked about a cellar door. It turns out their tastings are by appointment only, and you get to do them by helicopter on top of Mount Michael itself. How cool is that?!

So, when the opportunity to taste their wine at the local Winery in Queenstown’s town centre, I took it. A tasting of a MM wine at the Wine Shop is $15 but it was worth it. Mount Michael’s Bessie’s Block Pinot Noir consistently wins gold and silver awards at international wine competitions, and I can attest that it is excellent.

Taste: Bessie’s Block Pinot Noir

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I hope this post has broadened your wine horizons just a bit. Next time you’re at your local wine shop, ask the staff to bring in a few wines from any of the above wineries. I can promise that you will fall in love like I did.

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