Gourmet road trips: Spoiled for choice wining and dining in Hawkes Bay

By THERESA GARNER

If you believe a certain magazine's gossip page, a visitor from Hawkes Bay is an anonymous country bumpkin in civilised Auckland company.

Yet a visit to Hawkes Bay is always perfectly acceptable, and anyone mentioning such holiday plans is in danger of being weighed down with wine orders.

Even American food guru Art Siemering has picked the bay as the next Napa Valley, the United States' drawcard wine and food region. The only downside for Americans is the 15-hour trip from LA.

But from Auckland to Hawkes Bay is less than an hour by air and five hours by car, making it the ideal weekend break, if you can't stretch to any longer.

Driving down the state highway into Napier's stunning surrounds, the Esk Valley wineries stall progress into the city, setting the tone for the visit - hillsides streaked with grapevines, and enticing signs welcoming visitors to try and buy.

If you want to make it to your accommodation, some strategic planning is needed, as there are about 40 wineries from the coast to the river valleys.

The best thing is to cull your favourites down to a manageable number a day. Many wineries have restaurants and cafes, so make sure you time your visit for lunch and book at the more popular restaurants.

Sileni Estate offers two restaurants, a food store and a cooking school on Maraekakaho Rd.

Closer to Napier, Brookfields, where the jovial owner has been known to encourage visitors to pour their own tasting glasses, has set its dining tables among rose gardens.

French-style Terroir, part of Craggy Range vineyard, with a stunning location and pricey menu, was voted one of the world's 75 hottest new restaurants by Conde Nast magazine.

Tours by car, horse, bus and bicycle are all on offer, but a good way to explore and taste the region's products is to drive it yourself, referring to a road map called the Wine Country Food Trail, which signposts a collection of 85 food outlets extending from Mahia to Norsewood.

The trail takes in the largest honey-producing enterprise in the Southern Hemisphere, Arataki Honey, near Havelock North, where you can taste pure New Zealand honey and view bees at work through a glass wall.

If you prefer your honey flavours in a wine glass, the "map" that will be of most help is the Hawkes Bay Winery Guide, which colour-codes the five winemaking sub-regions, from the cooler maritime climate of Bay View, to the warmer inland areas.

Landmarks abound in Hawkes Bay. Nearly 30 years ago, Vidals in Hastings became the first winery in New Zealand to set up a restaurant, beginning a marriage of food and wine that has become the region's hallmark.

Not to be outdone, Mission Estate is the country's oldest winemaker, and worth a visit for the history as well as the wine.

After a day at the vineyards, coffee might be in order. Hawthorne Roastery and Espresso Bar on Napier Rd is Stop No 83 on the Food Trail.

For fresh fruit and vegetables, cruise the roadside of Meeanee, or check out the farmers' markets held each weekend.

If time is short, Park Estate Winery, on Pakowhai Rd between Hastings and Napier, is a tourist-geared microcosm of the bay. As well as using grapes for its wines, it produces fruit wines in exotic flavours such as feijoa.

And children will be happy enough next door at the Fruitlands shop, where they can taste slivers of fudge to decide whether chocolate or passionfruit agrees with their palate, then order a wedge.

Wine is not everyone's cup of tea, and Hawkes Bay's memorable meals can be as simple as barbecued chicken and icecream.

Locals' favourites include Hot Chick on Hardinge Rd in Napier. A softdrink and takeaway chicken barbecued over volcanic rock and eaten with your fingers while staring at the ocean is as enduring a memory as any five-star restaurant.

And for afters, it can only be Rush Munro icecream. Children will love the iconic icecream garden in Heretaunga St West, Hastings, with its fountain and goldfish. Parents will love the shady oasis from the summer heat. The whole family will love the icecream, made using the recipe Rush Munro created in the 1920s.

Bear in mind, the cities of the bay hold their own culinary delights.

Ahuriri is Napier's jewel. The booming restaurant and cafe scene has been carved out of storage sheds and port buildings, and overlooks a busy fishing port.

Hawkes Bay Seafoods, on the corner of Pandora Rd and West Quay, supplies Japan and the United States, but also Friday night's fish'n'chips.

The fine dining at Provedore is sometimes juxtaposed with the sight of patrons of nearby pubs leaping naked off the wharf. It's a place of contrasts.

More information

* Best website: the official tourism site for Hawkes Bay

* Napier Visitor Information: 100 Marine Parade, Ph 06 834-1911, Email.

* Hastings Visitor Information: Russell St, Ph 06 873-5526, Email.

* Harvest Hawkes Bay, February 6-9. Annual food and wine celebration, with tastings, tours and concerts.


* This is the final in the Gourmet Road Trip series.

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