At the end of the day, it is always about the wine, no?

New Zealand is justly famous for its white wines, Sav Blanc, Reisling, Chardonnay, and the sweet Germans in particular. And indeed, they are damn good and worthy of your attention (apparently NZ wine only has 0.5 % of the US market). But I am a big red kinda guy. I like my wines dark enough to stain a Cardinal's cassock and big enough to chew on. My personal favorite, Zin, is not much grown down in these cold regions but the locals have discovered to their delight the they grow some of the world's best Pinot Noir, consistently taking global best-of-shows for the past several years. Only the past several, since most of these vines are only 25 years old.

So how to explore wines on a student budget without breaking my toddler-sized bank or losing my license while weaving to the next winery? Let the Uni do it for me, like every other damn thing in my life these days. The school put together a trip for 11 of us, costing roughly $80 USD each and including 9 winery stops over two days, all meals, and a hotel room in Queenstown. My kind of education. Here are some highlights.

Black Rock is the oldest commercial winery in the Central Otago region and pioneered many of the methods used here. Definitely funky, with a handmade feel and a mix of rugged rock slopes and beautiful vines just starting to change colors (the nets are to protect the grapes from birds). Black Rock makes great wine, they had the only whites I bought (a Reisling and a late-harvest Gwertz!) since nothing else I tried beat them, and very solid Pinot Noir. They also had the only Cab Sav I saw the whole trip, and likely the only one in production here, which was much better than passable. Not Rutherford, but a damn sight better than most. Black Rock was the only winery we visited that had not switched entirely to screw-top, as the prop. believes that wine for the cellar benefits from the cork. Most of his product is screw-top, but there is still a bit of bark being used. He was also the first to tell us what many wine-makers bemoaned, that 99% of wine in NZ is drunk within 24 hours of purchase.

Mt. Difficulty was our third stop for the day, and is perhaps the most famous of NZ's big red manufacturers. Beautiful spot and very nice tasting room, but extremely busy and unable to spend much time with us. I will need to return on a weekday and really spend some time with their product. We also stopped in at the Big Picture, which is a tres cool 'wine tourism experience' kinda place with an aroma room, a theatre, and a multi-winery flight after a great platter lunch. No pictures allowed, but worth your time if you swing through.

After the fifth wine tasting of the day we stumble into the justly renowned Queenstown for the night. There is lots written about this place already, so may I just leave you with my impression? Park City crossed with Atlantic City and dumped at the base camp for Everest.

We arrived in time to watch a mob of ducks eat a small child. Neat!

The next morning, a bit under the weather from all the wine, I sought a brief constitutional at the Kawarau bridge.

Then off to Gibbston Valley Wines. The best Pinot Noir of the trip, though it had some strong competition. The folks were very cool, and we finagled a tour of the only wine cave in the district. For the Pinot Junkie this is heaven. Just watch out for the Taiwanese film crews in the cheesery. They seem to have been there quite a while.

Peregrine wines, with a very cool facility, great staff, and damn good reds.

Their yard wasn't too shabby either.

A final stop at Carrick wines, another close competitor for best product and an incredible lunch. After which the exhausted crew passed out on the lawn outside the restaurant window for an hour and recovered. I have nothing but love for a high-end winery with a world class reputation that has a big box of toys in the middle of their dining room for kids to play with at their leisure. And who leave a bunch of bedraggled students on their lawn unmolested. Good show.