Waipara Valley is about 30 minutes' drive north of Christchurch - just the distance for a long weekend visit from this part of the country.
Many producers have "cellar doors", there are a handful of winery and other restaurants, and numerous B&Bs. There's even a farmers' market in Amberley on Saturday mornings.
Vine-growing started in the Waipara area in the early 1980s, about the same time as in Central Otago. Wineyards may not have spread as profusely as those in Central, but there's a more laid-back feel to the area, and the countryside is gentler. It is sheltered from the cold easterlies by the Teviotdale hills, with warm days, cold nights and warm, dry autumns.
Waipara has about 1200 ha of vineyards and 80 producers, including multinationals Pernod Ricard and Constellation, medium-sized ones like Mud House, Sherwood and Pegasus Bay, and a host of small producers, some of whom are producing very smart wine.
We don't see a lot of Waipara wine in the South, loyal as we are to Central Otago wines, and many of the smaller producers sell wine on the internet, but it's worth seeking out some of their stylish pinot noir, gewurztraminer, pinot gris, flavoursome sauvignon blancs and chardonnays, and, above all, beautifully poised and racy riesling.
In fact Waipara is laying claim to riesling as its specialty and recently organised the second "In Praise of Riesling", the only celebration in the country dedicated to riesling.
Held at Pegasus Bay winery, it started with context - a tasting of 18 superb rieslings from Germany, France, Austria and Australia, then another of rieslings from areas around New Zealand.
It went on to discuss the new dry-sweet scale proposed for labels to give consumers more information about the style of wine, showed rieslings from Waipara producers and ended with a dinner designed by Pegasus Bay chef Oliver Jackson to go with various styles of riesling.
Riesling fascinates its admirers for its many facets, from steely dry to intensely sweet, from mineral to tropical fruit and honey flavours, from delicate floral styles to big, mouth-filling wines that develop remarkably with age. But the key to a good riesling is always poise and balance between the acidity that often provides the backbone, and the richness of fruit.
Many of the Waipara winemakers pay a lot of attention to their rieslings, both in the vineyard and in the winery, and this shows in the wines.
Some of the many that stood out at the tasting were:
The first vintage of Mountford Riesling 2008, hinting of fresh apricots and honey, with a rich, steely dry finish; the fragrant, delicate Crater Rim Waipara Riesling 2008 (about $21) with a steely backbone; the textural Dancing Water Oneuku Riesling 2008 (about $32), intense with hints of citrus, grapefruit and mineral; lively, intense Weka River Riesling 2007 (about $23), which is already developing rich hints of buttered toast with lime and tropical marmalade; the charming, poised Fiddler's Green Classic Riesling 2008 (about $23); and the luscious, beautifully balanced Daniel Schuster Hull Family Vineyard Late Harvest Riesling 2006 (about $26 half bottle) with hints of mineral and white peach with bitter skin.
Rieslings will develop with a few years bottle age, and judging by the few older ones I tasted at "In Praise of Riesling", the rich Muddy Water Dry Riesling 2000, and the beautifully balanced Pegasus Bay Riesling 2003, they develop a beautiful hint of buttered toast with honey or lime marmalade.
But Waipara also produces other varieties, the best of which share the same poise and fruit purity as their best rieslings.
Waipara pinot gris is balanced, with good variety character and texture, gewurztraminers fragrant with more of the eau de cologne character and more elegance than blowsy rose petal ones from the north.
Some of the standouts I tasted were: the gorgeously floral, luscious Greystone Gewurztraminer 2008 (about $24); Pegasus Bay Gewurztraminer 2007 (about $35), fragrant with hints of eau-de-cologne mint and spice, with a gorgeous, bright finish; Dancing Water Tauhou Scheurebe 2008 (about $32), an uncommon variety related to riesling, this is luscious with lovely purity of fruit oozing mango and ripe peach, a lovely soft, oily texture and a long, intense, finish; the charming and easy Boundary Vineyard Paper Lane Pinot Gris 2008 (about $23); the mouth-filling, textural Fiddlers Green Pinot Gris 2008 (about $23); the rich, honeyed, textural Terrace Edge Pinot Gris 2008 (about $20); the stylish Weka River Pinot Gris 2008 (about $28), with a hint of nuts and toffee; Bishops Head Pinot Gris 2007 (about $24), poised, textural and slightly nutty.
Chardonnays from Waipara tend to be crisp, fragrant with hints of tropical and stone fruit, and mineral, and sauvignon blancs tend to have a hint of mineral and mint.
At a lunch for wine writers after tasting chardonnays and sauvignons, I noted most of us chose a glass of the lush, complex Pegasus Bay sauvignon blanc semillon - 2006 and 2007 ($28) were the favoured vintages.
While Central Otago and Martinborough have claimed pinot noir, Waipara makes some very fine examples ranging from lighter wines to go with something simple like pasta and a few mushrooms, to richer, more complex ones that call for a rich, gamey dish:
Waipara West Pinot Noir 2006 (about $35) hints of leather, mineral and dark fruits with silky texture; the velvety textured, crisp and poised Greystone Pinot Noir 2007 (about $36); the stylish Mountford Pinot Noir 2006 (about $65), with sweet fruit cushioning a firm structure; and the wonderfully fragrant, complex, structured but charming Daniel Schuster Omihi Selection Pinot Noir 2006 (about $90).
• On the web
For more information visit:
www.waiparawine.co.nz
www.hurunui.com/Information/Waipara
www.inpraiseofriesling.co.nz