The Train To Wairarapa

Posted by Ruth Atherley on May 23, 2010 at 5:00 pm

Wairarapa is seen by nearby Wellingtonians as a trendy weekend rural escape. With a population of fewer than 40,000, it is a peaceful retreat from city life. It features quaint townships, a thriving café scene, art and culture and many nature walks. It is also centrally located on the Classic New Zealand Wine Trail. Uh oh…

I took the train from Wellington and had directions to get off at Woodside Station. When the conductor saw my directions, she frowned and said, “That’s not usually where the tourism board sends people. When we get there, I will make sure there is someone there to meet you. If not, you just come with us to the next station.” Only in New Zealand, would a train conductor be worried about a grown woman finding her ride in broad daylight. How nice is that?

Peter Wilson from Destination Wairarapa was there waiting for me. The conductor was satisfied that things were good and she waved us off. Peter is a charming, friendly man who looks amazingly like the American actor Jeff Daniels. I was about to ask for his autograph until I realized that he was my host for the day!

We started off in Greytown, which is New Zealand’s oldest inland town with the most complete main street of original Victorian wooden architecture in the country. It offers visitors a nice relaxed environment and some great shops, cafes and restaurants.

We started at The French Baker for a coffee. This bakery was quite busy and I could see why. Fine baguettes through to chocolate croissants were displayed and their aroma was enticing.

Our next stop was Schoc Chocolates where I got to meet Murray Langham, one of the founders. I am absolutely a convert to this chocolate and was delighted to learn that they will ship to Canada; you just need to contact them through their website at www.schoc.co.nz.

They have over 50 flavours and one of the ones I tried was rosemary and apricot, which was fabulous. Murray explained that he was cooking chicken at home one day, making a rosemary and apricot stuffing and wondered how that would go with chocolate. Well, I only have one word for that – delish!!

Our next stop was Tirohana Estate (“Tir” is Gaelic for earth, “Ohana” is Polynesian for family). It is a boutique winery set against the scenic backdrop of the Martinborough hills in the heart of the Wairarapa.

We were fortunate enough to be met by the founder, Raymond Thomson. Raymond has another life as a successful television executive, but rumour has it that he is happiest working in his vineyard. True to NZ form, Raymond welcomed us with open arms and a funny story. It seems that the rock band AC/DC had recently come to visit his winery and to have a meal. Raymond didn’t recognize them and as it was coming into harvest season, he thought perhaps they were migrant workers looking for a job. He asked them and they said that they didn’t want a job. So he asked what they did for a living and they replied that they were musicians. He then asked if they were going to play a local bar around town and they laughed and explained that they had just finished playing at Wellington stadium, which holds 36,000. Raymond laughed when he told this story, shaking his head at himself.

We then went into a wine tasting with Raymond’s son-in-law Toby James (they weren’t kidding when they put family in the name!). Toby’s understanding of wines was inspiring. He not only knew his stuff, but he also brought an easiness to the process that made the tasting much more enjoyable. He said something that really made me think. He explained that while there are some standard rules that people tend to follow when pairing foods with wine (like white with fish and chicken, etc.), they prefer to bend those rules a bit and often have red with fish or a white with lamb – depending on the wine and how the food is prepared. I found that very interesting.

We tasted two Pinot Noirs at Tirohana. They were the Tirohana Pinot Noir 2008 and the Tirohana Pinot Noir Leslie, which Toby called a dangerous wine. And he’s right. It is so good it could be very, very dangerous.

We then moved on to lunch, which as you can see from the photos was excellent. With our blue cheese and broccoli soup, we had Tirohana Chardonnay. This wine was more aromatic than most Chardonnays and tasted of apples with a hint of vanilla and butter that supported the fruit.

For our main course, Peter had the sirloin roast, which was paired with a special reserve Pinot and with my fish in a lemon cream sauce. I went with the recommendation of the Tirohana Pinot Noir Leslie…the dangerous wine!