January 8, 2024
Today we are docked in Hawk’s Bay near the city of Napier, New Zealand. Hawk’s Bay is the leading wine producing region in New Zealand so of course I am going wine tasting .
We drove along the coast on the way to our first winery. Surfing is really popular here along with wind surfing. They have a centennial sculpture that reflects the sun that was built to welcome in the new century since this area welcomes the sun first in the world. According to the guide lots of people celebrated around the sculpture as the sun rose on the new century. Yes, even though many thought the world would end because all of the computers would crash the sun did rise on the new century!!
Arriving at the first winery Brookfield there were fields of vines that are just a few weeks away from being harvested. As we walked into the tasting room we were greeted by the winery dog Pinot.
David one of the owners guided us through 7 different wines. He provided lots of information on how to find a wine that was right for us. Of course my favorite was a Cabernet Merlot that sells for $250 a bottle. No,ow I did not buy a case but we did buy a bottle that we plan to share on deck tonight after dinner. They only bottled 172 cases of this wine and it is not exported to the US so I will savor our bottle!!!
Back in the van we headed to the next winery. At the Abby we got to sit outside while we tasted 8 different wines. Not a fan of their wine or maybe once you have had the best nothing else compares. Dang does that mean I will never drink again????
We headed back to the ship for our early departure and filled the rest of the day with onboard actives and a spectacular dinner on deck that included participating in a flash mob to the song Flashdance!!! Those line dancing classes finally paid off!!
Tomorrow we are in Wellington.
Weather looks great