Cheers: Waiwera, that's the spirit!

Waiwera Organic Winery is now exporting New Zealand-made vodka to Russia.

Don Kavanagh is WOWed by a local distillery's gin and vodka.

Like, I am sure, many, many people, I have never given Waiwera much thought. It's a lovely little spot, but ever since the toll road bypassed it, I've hardly even driven through it. But it has been on my radar a lot more recently. And it's all down to vodka.

Well, spirits of all sorts, really, ever since Waiwera Organic Winery started distilling a quite staggering range of spirits.

Yes, I was a bit puzzled about the name, too, but it does make a couple of wines and the initials spell WOW, so that's good enough for me.

The company is owned by a Russian billionaire, Mikhail Khimich, who also owns Waiwera Water and has managed the seemingly impossible task of selling vodka to Russia. New Zealand vodka at that.

The staff are all Russian or Ukrainian, which makes for interesting tea breaks, I'm sure.

The vodka range covers a clean, crisp, oily straight version and a core range of flavours that include pepper, lemon and ginger. They're very smart products, with good, natural flavours (made by infusion) and a lovely oily texture. The pepper, in particular, is a knockout, with a real bite on the back palate. It also makes utterly gorgeous gin, Mahurangi Gin, which has become one of my favourite gins ever. The citrus and juniper notes are clear as crystal and the secondary flavours combine to give a glorious palate.

What really got me excited about the Waiwera spirits was that there was another distillery in New Zealand. For a country with such an enthusiastic audience and great raw materials for good spirits, the country's distilling history is patchy at best. A brave few have kept the flag flying, but many examples have tasted exactly like home-brew on a larger scale.

With such good water, good wine, good beer and good fruit here, it should be a no-brainer to set up a distillery and I'm delighted Waiwera has done that.

It already has a brandy in its range and is looking at making a whisky shortly as well.

It's part of a larger picture that will finally see a genuine distilling industry here.

Alongside the likes of Lighthouse, Thomson's Whisky and Broken Shed Vodka, we could be seeing the start of a craft spirits golden age. Bring it on.