Welcome to Gibbston Valley – the wine theme-park of your grown-up dreams! Not only has it got New Zealand’s largest wine cave, it’s giving us a tasting room, a café, restaurant and cheesery, an annual series of summer concerts and a luxury lodge and spa (coming December 2019). Sheesh, it’s a Pinot Palooza all on its own! Established in 1983 by Alan Brady, Gibbston Valley was the first Otago winery to release a commercial vintage and it has been going gangbusters ever since. In 2000, the Gibbston Valley Reserve Pinot Noir won the London International Wine Challenge Gold Medal for Pinot Noir/Burgundy – the first ever non-French wine to win this award, while the original Home Block vineyard (now certified organic) continues to create award-winning vintages. Winemaker Chris Keys says: “Pinot noir is what love is. It teaches you, lifts you, but can also seriously slam you.” If you’re game, flirt with the astonishing School House Pinot Noir, a vivid, super-drinkable example of GV’s wonderfully balanced approach to Otago pinot.
gibbstonvalley.com.au
