Out and about here and there
Wanaka is the last stop before Queenstown and sits on the southern end of Lake Wanaka. Like all the southern islands glacial lakes it is big, deep and cold. It is 42km long (26 miles) and at its widest point is 10km across. Its average depth is around 300m. It is one big lake! Photographs can’t really do it justice but here are two to try.
If there were an award for most beautiful vineyard location in the world Rippon would be right up there with the contenders. Situated on the shores of Lake Wanaka, the views from the tasting room over the lake are simply stunning.
The land has been in the hands of the Mills family for over one hundred years but serious grape growing only began in 1982 with wines first sold commercially in 1989. There has always been a strong commitment to organic farming practices and Rippon has been operationally biodynamic since 2002 and received certification in 2016.
THE WINES
Rippon Osteiner 2017. A cross between Riesling and Sylvaner, Osteiner is a wine that comes in at a relatively low, by todays standards, 10.8% alcohol. This makes it an ideal wine for quaffing on a sunny afternoon. Crisp and dry with aromas of apricot and a nice texture. A very drinkable wine. The only wine sold under screwscrewcapcap.
Rippon Sauvignon Blanc 2016. Aromas of lime and gooseberry, this wine has a flinty minerality. The use of neutral oak for fermentation of 40% of the grapes has produced a Sauvignon with good texture. Well balanced with a nice limey finish.
Rippon “Rippon” Mature Vine Pinot Noir 2013. This wine has spent two years in barrel and one in bottle before release. Nose is dark cherry, raspberry, strawberry and a hint of coffee. Palate is lovely cherry fruit with a nice savoury finish.
Rippon “Rippon” Mature Vine Riesling 2016. Fermented with stainless steel tank on its side to give greater contact and has spent 100 days on lees. Lemon and lime citrus, slightly floral. Nice weight, well balance and really nice finish.
Rippon Gewurztraminer 2017. Nose is floral, citrus, pear. This is a well made wine that is food friendly and has a long finish of pears with a small touch of honey. Well balanced
Sadly there were no Emma’s Block or Tinker’s Field Pinot Noirs available for tasting
Visit their website here
You wait ages for a glacier and then two come along together. Glacier country, on the route to Queensland down the western side of the South Island, gives you two easy reachable glaciers within 22km of each other. These are the Franz Josef Glacier and the Fox Glacier.
The Franz Josef Glacier is about 5km from the township of Franz Josef which has largely grown to service tourism of the glaciers and the surrounding area. There is ample free parking and then a 45 minute walk to the closest viewing point which is at 750m. This does vary with local conditions, the walk to view the glacier involves crossing two streams as you walk through a largely dry river bed. If these streams are carrying a large volume of water they obviously can not be crossed safely.
The glacier is approximately 12km in length and the snowfield that feeds it covers 29 square kilometres and gets 16m of snow per year. The glacier flows at a rate of 1.5m per day. Thats a fast moving river of ice! Â In actual fact the glacier itself has been in retreat since 2008 and this has been at a relatively fast rate and is attributed to global warming.
The melt water from the glacier produces a cloudy, fast flowing river which has a grey blue appearance due to the mineral mica suspended in the water.
Nearby Fox Glacier is similar in length and is fed by four glaciers in the high Southern Alps. Like Franz Josef it is currently in retreat. It is unusual because it is one of very few glaciers that terminate in temperate rainforest. When we visited the path leading to a close up view of the terminal face of the glacier was closed to clear a landslip so the only option was view from a gap in the rainforest.
Fox is regarded by some as being the the more appealing of the two glaciers and this might be because Fox appears to attract less tourists. As the walkway was closed I don’t think we could get close enough to judge