Woven Threads: New Zealand's Vineyard, Antill Estate

We finally made it to New Zealand! We flew in to Christchurch and into a cold, rainy and windy day. Our mission was to get to the museum at the center of town where our first wwoof Host was meeting us. On the way there we could see a large amount of construction and renovation taking place all over the city in the wake of the earthquake that devastated their area last year.

Antill Estate Pinot Noir Grapes (Adriana Weil)

Adrian, me, Adriana, Janice, Julian, and Roald

Our host drove us about an hour North of Christchurch to the Weka Pass and to their vineyard/winery called Antill Estate. Here they produce a small amount each year but some of the best Pinot Noir wine. They are focused on quality and have an intimate knowledge of the land and the grapes that they grow off of it. Janice, Julian and Adrian are some of the best wwoof hosts one could have. They are all friendly, intelligent, conversational and take a genuine interest in the people that cometo work with them. They work alongside their wwoofers and give them the utmost respect. On top of all that they keep us well fed and of course delicious wine is never in short supply.

Antill Estate Vineyard (Adriana Weil)

The Vineyard is not the largest nor the fanciest. Around 1800 bottles a year come from this vineyard and all of the Pinot Noir variety. At the moment they do not have a distributor abroad but they are looking and interested in selling to anyone with an interest. If anyone would like to get in contact with these people or get ahold of a bottle of their wine just shoot me an email or leave me a comment with some contact info. Keen to share their wine and their knowledge freely with the people they meet, The owners of Antill Estate Winery would be happy to talk with you on any subject even tangentially related to wine. From our first night here we have had some of the most detailed, engaging, knowledgeable and worldly conversations I have ever taken part in.