is 12 different wines too many to taste?
For our last day in New Zealad, Sarah and I wanted to explore the Waipara Valley for some wine tasting and touring. We had an idea of a few places we wanted to see, based on recommendations from people down there and some research we had done before the trip. The Valley is only about 50km north of where we were staying, so it was a very easy drive. Once we got there we realized how close all of the vineyards really were! One after another all off of the main road. So per the recommendation of several people, our first stop at 11am was the Mud House. This was a fantastic building that had a gift shop, wine tasting room, dining areas and offered a tour of the vineyard and the winery. We had missed the 11am tour, so we booked ourselves on the 2pm tour and headed up the road. Our next stop was Waipara Springs Winery where we had a reservation for lunch.
This was recommended as a great place to have lunch, but we were dissapointed by the overall experience of the visit. The eating area was mostly outside and our table was nestled amongst the trees, set off from the road, however that was about all there was to enjoy. They offered no vineyard or winery tours, as the facility and acreage were both quite small. Instead we started drinking!
There was a family with two girls tasting when we arrived and it was pretty obvious where they were from . Jersey. Not Jersey Shore, but definitely looked like a Jersey crowd. They moved along and we started tasting as many as possible. The area is known for Whites, especially Rieslings so we tasted a Riesling, Chardonnay, Pinot Gris and a Pinot Noir.
Izel came up with baby Daniel to join us for lunch which was actually quite yummy. It was after lunch that we found out that in New Zealand, you don't tip. wait what? you don't tip?!
Apparently GST and gratuity are included in the menu price of the item, so if you order $24 worth of food, the bill is $24 and thats all you leave! When Izel told us this, as we took our tip off of the table I thought back to the other meals we have had since being in this country...(dream sequence begin)
Queenstown pub lunch and dinner: The menu said 'order at bar' and we had to pick up drinks at the bar. All the wait staff did was deliver the meal when it was ready.
Lake Tekapo dinner - I paid with a credit card and there was no room for gratuity on the receipt
So, in reality we did not lose too much money tipping, but when Sarah and I got back into the car, I immediately reached for my guide book and flipped to the "getting around New Zealand" section. Sure enough there is a sentence or two on tipping and it says in more words, tipping is not customary, unless it is exceptional service and in such a case, 10% is more than sufficient.
Our next stop was back to the Mud House where Sarah and I began our tasting before the tour. This was a very strategic and well planned move, because we had been pretty tipsy after Waipara Springs, so lunch sobered us up, and we justified the Mud House tasting with the 45 minute tour afterwards that should do the trick! The wine was very good, and we tasted everything from Riesling to Chardonnay to Pinot Noir and Merlot. We tasted several of the Mud House wines, but also Waipara Valley wines which are made elsewhere in the region.
After tasting we went into the Vineyards for what ended up being a private tour. We saw the grape vines and then moved into the winery. It was my second trip to a winery, with the first and only being at Mont Redon in the Chateau-Neuf-du Pape region in southern France. In memory of the Mud House I purchased a set of 5 X 7 post cards from original watercolors that a local artist painted depicting the Mud House. They are paintings of pigs going through the wine making process from harvesting to pressing to tasting! So cute!! Ill have to find a good place to display the series of 6 post cards.
We drove back into Christchurch to return our car and then took Izel, Russell and Daniel out for an early dinner (so baby could join). We posed in front of the Art Center with Daniel for some photos while he was still smiling and awake! For my last dinner in New Zealand I chose lamb shank and lamb chops and a local beer. The lamb chops were really good, but the shank was a little too lamby for me. After dinner Russell drove Sarah and I to the beach for a good view, and then we got ice cream on the way home. Quite night in was just the way to spend the last night. Oh, and of course I asked for a glass of Amarula. damn that stuff is goooood!!
No comments:
Post a Comment