Discoveries from The Fine Wine Tour of New Zealand: Part 1

Last month, The New Zealand Fine Wine Producers and Atelier Nash curated The Fine Wine Tour of New Zealand for a group of globally renowned wine experts, allowing them to discover and delve deeper into some of the country’s most exceptional wineries. Following years of challenges with travel, this was a brilliant opportunity for some incredible wineries to show the experts their latest vintages in person. Richard Brendon was delighted to support as the official glassware partner for the trip, allowing The Jancis Robinson Wine Glass to showcase some of New Zealand’s best wines to their full potential.

With a Jancis Robinson Wine Glass in hand, join us to explore these wineries on the other side of the world creating an exceptional level of wine.

Guests on the tour included Jancis Robinson OBE MW, Andrea Pritzker MW, and Cameron Douglas MS, hosted by Atelier Nash throughout. All guests gathered at The Lodge Bar, Auckland, where Douglas curates an expansive wine list with New Zealand wines at the heart.

Arriving in style, one of the first stops on the tour was to Man O’War. With some of the most picturesque locations in the country, Man O’War boasts one of the only wine tasting rooms on Waiheke Island with a beachfront setting, providing a truly unique tasting experience. The ‘Tulia’ Blanc de Blanc provided the perfect aperitif, with notes on the nose of ripe stone fruit and citrus against a backbone of natural acidity and tannin, all beautifully presented in the Jancis Robinson Wine Glass, of course…

As part of the Martinborough part of the tour, the group visited the small yet mighty Ata Rangi. The family-owned organic winery has an exceptional reputation for Pinot Noir, which is today crafted by Helen Masters, who has helped bring the wine to be one of the world’s most respected producers. Masters is famously already a fan of our Jancis Robinson Wine Glass, as shown in Ata Rangi’s episode of Word From The Winemaker.

Next week, we’ll be sharing the wineries from the second half of the tour… stay tuned!