When we woke up, our hosts asked us if the helicopters had woken us up. I had not woken up but Lorna said that she had heard them at some point in the night, wondering what the sound was. Evidently, farmers in the area pay for helicopters to buzz the fields when the temperature drops to dangerous levels. The downwash from the rotors keeps frost from forming. Being spring in New Zealand, now is the time that buds are forming on the vines. The huge cost of hiring helicopters to save the buds outweighs the potential loss from the frost.

For fields that are more frequently at risk from frost damage, some farmers install giant wind machines. We saw a few of these during our travels.

After breakfast, we headed out to visit some of the places in the Napier/Hawke Bay area.

We started out visit at Sileni Estates. We met with a wonderfully vivacious Kiwi named Anne, who had evidently been everywhere and done everything that there is to do in New Zealand. After describing our trip thus far, she offered suggestions for places, vineyards, activities, and other experiences that we should make time for the next time we visit New Zealand. She was still coming down from her excitement of having won a regional wine award when she also mentioned that her father had passed away the previous weekend and that she was recovering from the flu. Despite the highs and lows, she was surprisingly upbeat and a pleasure to spend time with.

Wine tasting for Lorna presented a problem because she had made the mistake of brushing her teeth with mint toothpaste, which persisted and overwhelmed everything that she tried to taste. I was not similarly sullied so the exceptional evaluation was up to me.

Of the wines that we tried, only the 2013 Sileni “Cut Cane” Merlot met our exceptional threshold. Even with Lorna’s tainted palate, she concurred with my assessment.

The tasting room at Sileni also hosted a gift shop where I found a “cocksure” rooster sculpture that I had to have. We also found a book about the wine regions of the world, which is sure to shape our forthcoming wine holidays. Win.

We then set out to find Te Awa Vineyard, which was highly recommended by our server at Vidal the night before. Unfortunately, none of the wines at Te Awa reached our lofty plateau of wine quality standards. They made a nice rosé but everything else was ordinary.

Various sources recommended two tasting rooms that were just about on the water in Hawke Bay. Upon reaching the ocean, we were stunned at the color of the water. It was a teal to light green color, mostly because of the shallow water from the shore to about a half kilometer out. I am used to the deep blue color on the California coast that immediately turns dark because of the sharp drop in depth off the shore.

Our first recommended visit was to Clearview Vineyards. They had an interesting approach to Sauvignon Gris, Syrah, and a blend that they call Enigma. Although they didn’t quite reach our exceptional rating, we still left with a bottle of a blush that they called Black Reef of which we may end up ordering more.

Next door to Clearview was Elephant Hill. The tasting bar was manned by an American who had multiple residencies, the current of which was in New Zealand. Of the wines available, we found several that were outstanding but only three that met our exceptional rating.

• 2013 Elephant Hill Sauvignon Blanc (grapefruit and zing!)
• 2014 Elephant Hill Le Phant Blanc (interesting white blend of pinot gris, viognier, and gewürztraminer)
• 2013 Elephant Hill Le Phant Rouge (interesting red blend of merlot, cabernet sauvignon, and malbec)

It was getting close to lunchtime so we motored south to Hastings where Craggy Range was located. We had gotten recommendations to have lunch at Craggy Range because of Terroir, their award-winning restaurant.

When we arrived, a bus was parked out front and a tasting room was packed shoulder-to-shoulder with tourists. The restaurant was empty so we had lunch first. We had delicious wood-grilled chicken and fish fillet. I don’t even know what kind of fish it was: something I had never heard but I was feeling adventurous. We finished lunch at the perfect time as the tour group belched thunderously from the tasting room.

We found most of Craggy Range’s wines to be outstanding, four of which met our exceptional rating.

• 2015 Te Muna Road Vineyard, Martinborough Pinot Gris
• 2015 Te Muna Road Vineyard, Martinborough Pinot Noir
• 2013 Gimblett Gravels Vineyard, Hawkes Bay Syrah
• 2013 Merlot, Gimblett Gravels Vineyard, Hawkes Bay

We only had time for one more visit before tasting rooms closed for the day so we went to Te Mata Vineyard, which was next door to Craggy Range. Short story: everything was far below exceptional. Fail.

Because of the late lunch, we headed back to the B&B with little intention of needing to find a place for supper. Paul and Debbie met us with a wonderful cheese plate, which pretty much ruled out the possibility of subsequent meals. We opened up the bottle of Clearview Rose that we had purchased earlier in the day and used that to wash the cheese down. It was a wonderful way to end the day.

Day 14: Drive to Rotorua
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