The little Bannockburn church, its pews sitting neatly in rows outside, was bustling on a cold winter's evening recently.
It housed a wine tasting for the annual E'Sensual event at which wine buyers and wine writers, both from New Zealand and overseas, gather for a familiarisation tour and sneak preview of the new pinot noir vintage.
However, this was not a tasting of pinot noir, the red wine Central Otago is famous for.
The little church was hosting a tasting of 42 white wines.
It seems that having more or less got to grips with the fickle pinot noir, winemakers are getting excited about the whites, and the discussion that followed the tasting was lively as winemakers and commentators argued the pros and cons of each variety.
The focus was on riesling and pinot gris, and certainly there was an exciting line-up of both varieties - intense, minerally, lively rieslings with fruit that danced in the mouth, and fragrant, mouth-filling pinot gris.
Dean Shaw, who makes several wine brands at Central Otago Wine Company, firmly supports riesling - it can reflect the characteristics of the vineyard more than pinot gris, which is a big bore, he says.
Now all the pinot noir is planted they are looking for great sites for riesling.
Rudi Bauer, winemaker at Quartz Reef, on the other hand, loves the depth and weight of pinot gris, and says it does not deserve to be bagged.
It goes well with a wide range of food.
Simon Tam, who imports wine into China, says the answer to pinot gris is Chinese food.
Friendly wines with pure fruit are hard to come by and China will happily drink it all, he said enthusiastically.
Pinot gris is certainly a food-friendly wine and becoming more popular, but riesling seems to appeal particularly to wine buffs, perhaps because it can reflect the characteristics of the vineyard more than many varieties.
We love its variations - sweeter, drier, floral, mineral, honey, lime, kerosene, buttered toast and marmalade characters when young, and the way an intense young riesling that dances on the tongue can change into a rich, complex wine after several years.
Riesling is a niche market, but then the whole of New Zealand is a niche producer.
