Michael Cooper - Wine Expert

You will fall in love with the dramatic, mountainous landscape and the region's enticingly scented and supple pinot noirs.

	Pinot Noir grapes thrive in Central Otago.
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Wine in their veins

Central Otago's first wines were produced in the 19 th century and sold to gold miners, but the early industry did not survive. The modern era began in the late 1970s and early 1980s, around Lake Wanaka and Queenstown, when Rolfe Mills of Rippon Vineyard, Alan Brady of Gibbston Valley Wines and others experimented with grapes.

Today Gibbston Valley is New Zealand's most visited winery, each year attracting 80,000 tourists. A 20-minute drive from Queenstown - the 'adventure capital of the world' - Gibbston Valley is an adventure itself. Burrowed 50 metres into the cliffside is a tunnel used to store barrels of maturing pinot noir and chardonnay - it's a highly romantic spot for tastings. If you're claustrophobic, stay outside and enjoy a great lunch in the winery restaurant. If you're feeling especially courageous, you can bungy jump off a nearby bridge that spans the Kawarau River.

The pinots

Central Otago's cold winters contribute to its wine making success.
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The majority of the vines are pinot noir. Nowhere else in New Zealand is there the same emphasis on a single variety.

When I was in America last year, people wanted to talk about Central Otago's pinot noir. It is irresistibly fragrant, rich and rounded. It doesn't challenge the palate - it's so fruity and supple that it's highly seductive when it's only about a year old.

The pinot gris are also very fresh and vibrant.

Famous vineyards

The most prestigious vineyard in Central Otago is Felton Road, which since its first vintage in 1997 has carved out an international reputation for its mouthfilling, complex pinot noir and finely scented rieslings.

Many overseas visitors demand to taste the pinot noir made by international movie star, Sam Neill, who produces his Two Paddocks wine from vineyards at Gibbston and Alexandra. Neill is deeply involved in the Central Otago wine industry, and he's now making one of the better wines in the region. His friend, Hollywood director Roger Donaldson, owns a vineyard next door at Gibbston, making wines under the Sleeping Dogs label.

Festivals

One of the best things about Central Otago is its annual wine and food festival, staged in February. It's set in Queenstown Gardens, on the edge of spectacularly beautiful Lake Wakitipu. With its free-flowing wine, jazz, plentiful space and shade, it's the most civilised wine festival I've attended.