Every now and again I'm asked to take visitors to Hawke's Bay on wine tours and I enjoy these for reasons aplenty. The first is that I'll leap at any opportunity to show off the spectacular place where I was born, raised and live to anyone. Any time.
The second is that taking people on wine tours gives me a great excuse to get away from the office, away from my desk and out into the wide world where it all happens, and by that I mean the cellar doors. One little wine tasting oasis that I always try to call into is Sileni Estate on Maraekakaho Road, in the middle of the Bridge Pa Winegrowing district - because yes, the wines are quality, but it's how they run their cellar door that really spins my wheels.
Anne Boustead has been the cellar door manager for aeons and she and her team are brilliant at making you feel immediately welcome no matter how busy they are. I can't stress how important it is to be acknowledged as soon as you walk in the door - I've lost count of how many times I've felt so bored and ignored at cellar doors around the country's wine regions because no one has said "Hi guys, great to see you! I'm just working through this group - but here's a wee something to sip while you wait and I'll be with you in a tick".
But you'll never have that issue at Sileni. They know the wines intimately; they're always entertaining and most importantly - are great educators. So it's no surprise to me to hear they claimed their fourth Cellar Door of the Year title at the Hawke's Bay A&P Bayleys Wine Awards held on October 20. "We're utterly thrilled with the win," said Anne.
"We have a great team here at our cellar door and everyone loves their job. When you love your product and you love what you do, you can't help but provide a great experience."
