How I became a wine expert.

After the fatty burger and fries in QT I needed to burn some calories so I came to a conclusion that It was about time to work at a vineyard. You know, get some decent manual labour going on. I had been exchanging emails with this German/French couple which happens to own a small vineyard. The grapes are Pinot Noir so they make red vine. Lindis River is the name of the wine if you’re interested. It is also available somewhere in Europe. 

Anyhow, I needed to get from QT to Cromwell which is about 75km back the same road I took from Dunedin to QT. Thumb up in the air and I was hitching again. First 6 or so kilometres I shared with a possible dope head. I’m not sure but he was slow for sure. Nothing wrong with the ride itself though. He left me on an intersection and headed to another direction. Lucky me since next I was picked up by two Chinese girls cruising all the way to Cromwell. Driving ain’t gonna be a profession for these girls. :D I wasn’t scared at any point but I needed to tell where to go a couple of times…on a road where you only need to stay on the main road. 

Anyway, I got to Cromwell safe and sound and waited for my hostess to pick me up. 

Cromwell. Have to be one of the ugliest "monuments" I've
seen for a while. Though we do have our own monstrosity
in my home town.

Me sitting on a old water powered device that used to
crush stones to get into the goooooooollllllld.

Lindis River vineyard is located close to a river called Lindis. Makes sense, doesn't it? ;)

It’s rural area about 20 minute ride from Cromwell. Once we got there I was greeted by two lovely dogs, Maya and Apollo, and the other host, Holger. So begin my short but interesting career as a wine producer. My main job was thinning. So I was snapping the excess sprouts by hand to raise the quality of the remaining grapes. The less grapes from one “bush” the better the taste. I mean I don’t have a clue but that is what my hosts told me and that is what they believe in. I just drank the wine happily. I also made quite a classical error but in my host couples favour. One night we were enjoying a bottle of red vine which was not their own production. I tasted and told them immediately that their product is better. I could see from Holger’s face that there was something strange going on. “Oh, I guess this must be quite an expensive wine then?”-I asked. “Yes, it would probably cost like 100NZD in a store.” Muahahahaa (their product would probably be somewhere between 15 and 20NZD. “Well, like I told you. I understand completely nothing about wines. It’s a miracle that I even drink wine now a days”.

Lindis river and Maya. Maya is that black thingy on the front.

"Wine with a human touch". Manually labelling wine bottles.
There's always a first time for everything.

One funny detail about the place I was woofing in: I wasn’t the only Finnish item in that household. Have a look at this picture. That is a genuine Tulikivi fireplace from Finland. The couple said that it has been one of the best purchases ever. Usually the fireplaces here in NZ are just casted iron so they don’t hold the heat. So as soon as the firewood is depleted the fireplace is cold and so is the house since they have no clue how to insulate their houses here. Tulikivi fireplace is a heat storing fireplace instead.

Good old Tulikivi fireplace.