Gisborne, which lays claim to being the chardonnay capital of New Zealand, has a lot going for it as a wine region...

	Millton Vineyard wine bottles
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The notable feature of Gisborne chardonnay is that it is delicious young. Because the region is so warm and sunny, the grapes ripen to high sugar levels with low levels of acidity, producing a full-bodied, soft wine style. Gisborne chardonnay can knock your socks off when it is only six months old, although the best examples will also mature well for several years.

It is here you will find the country's biggest-selling chardonnay - Montana Gisborne Chardonnay.

Clean, green vineyards

Gisborne's top winery, The Millton Vineyard, is famous for being the first vineyard in New Zealand to be certified organic. It uses no herbicides, insecticides, systematic chemicals or artificial fertilisers.

Organic spraying at Millton Vineyard.
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Tucked away in an isolated but beautiful corner of New Zealand, Gisborne is truly worth the effort to visit. Down in the wharf area there are clusters of very good restaurants, including The Works café, housed in a brick freezing works built in 1906 and now transformed into a popular restaurant and cellar door for the Longbush winery.

Chardonnay Challenge

A number of wine and food events are staged in Gisborne, including the annual Wine and Food Festival in October and Taste Gisborne, held in January, which offers local wines and music in a spectacular amphitheatre above Waiohika Estate Vineyard, overlooking the bay.

Perhaps the best known event on the local calendar is the International Chardonnay Challenge, which attracts several hundred entries from New Zealand, Australia and further afield. After the wines have been judged, you have the chance to taste the cream of the crop.