After two months on the road, I’m finally back home in New Zealand after a great trip through Europe and the USA. Taking the role of a travelling salesman, I’ve been in countless airports, highways, planes, trains, taxis, cars. Just the one delivery truck journey across state lines, but that’s a story for another time perhaps! I was fortunate to have my family with me or at least stationed somewhat nearby so that when things got tough, I could get back to my girls.
My first leg of the trip was through Sweden, visiting with our importer and distributor Jono Paetz at AKO NZ Wine. The sun never set the whole time I was there, and the radiant thirst for New Zealand wines was stunning. I felt it in the air as I walked and ferried around a beautifully warm Stockholm amidst Midsummer festivities… it’s an exciting place.
Next, it was off to Dublin where I’m not sure one man could smile and laugh as hard as I did in those three days. The people of Ireland, their stories, and their songs kept me in motion my entire stay and held me aloft through some great events at places like Ely Wine Bar (Dublin’s finest) and La Touche Wines (thank you, Damian).
Then it was off home to the USA where my head was spinning with the excitment of all the great people and great wine shops I got to see! They say travel is a pacifying force, I argue that it can also be humbling. I saw how the world’s other wine regions are producing exciting, progressive, and delicious wines with beautiful labels and great stories to boot. Travel is also galvanizing, imbuing strength. I was left confident the place for our wines; I saw nothing like them out there.
The world has so much to learn about Hawke’s Bay and Martinborough wines; where we’ve been and, importantly, where we’re going. It’s all so new to everyone still. And my habit of making a wide range of styles is starting to prove it’s relevance. Folks around the world want new expressions of wine, organic and sustainably produced wines, and wines of character that provide an experience. I continue to stride towards providing that experience: an escape into a new discovery here on the North Island of New Zealand.
