Showcasing real New Zealand food and wine
With 85,000 international visitors in the country, Rugby World Cup will showcase New Zealand to a global audience of discerning travellers - and, away from the rugby field, it’s Kiwi food and wine that’s likely to attract the most sustained interest.
Tourists hungry to sample the New Zealand lifestyle will find that Kiwi cuisine has come a long away in just a few decades - from basic colonial fare to a distinctive Pacific Rim cuisine that now vies with the best in the world.
Talented and innovative chefs combine ingredients freshly harvested from the garden, pasture and ocean, while Pacific influences, organics and indigenous foods make it unique.
New Zealand wine
New Zealand is also a premier new world wine country, producing award-winning wines. Exported to cellars worldwide, New Zealand wines reflect the terroir of clean air, fertile soils and sunshine.
Most of New Zealand's more than 500 winemakers are boutique, small scale operations producing low volumes of niche varieties. Many will be showcased during food and wine events and festivals that will run alongside the 2011 Rugby World Cup.
The REAL NZ Festival programme is currently listing 100-plus food related events - just some of the more than 500 events on the mammoth nationwide six-week festival programme that’s about much more than rugby.
Festival events range from food demonstrations in farmers markets to food festivals celebrating regional delicacies, and exclusive fine wining and dining occasions in some of New Zealand’s top vineyards and restaurants.
Feast of flavours
During the festival there’ll be a moving feast of flavours nationwide as the New Zealand farmers’ markets network presents Outstanding in their Field (weekly) with local producers and chefs working their culinary magic to showcase fresh Kiwi produce.
Downtown Auckland will host Taste of New Zealand (19 - 22 October) - an indulgent culinary celebration of the best restaurants and produce, sandwiched between the Rugby World Cup semis and final. Visitors will be able to sample innovative cuisine, fine wines, beers and produce from 120 providers, and watch international guest chefs putting an international spin on Kiwi produce.
Meanwhile, migrant communities in Wellington will band together for a spicy multi-cultural celebration of their culinary traditions. Hosted by Pataka Museum, in north Wellington, and running for six weeks, The Migrating Kitchen (18 August - 27 September) will profile local ethnic communities, showcase their culture, and demonstrate their cooking.
Regional food celebrations
North to south, regional celebrations of seasonal delicacies will be a major feature of the festival programme which covers some iconic New Zealand events.
Three hours north of Auckland, the family-friendly Bay of Islands Catch "it!" (20 - 21 October) seafood tournament is all about bringing in the biggest and the best, and eating it. The two-day event based at Paihia features fishing, diving and gathering, along with filleting, shucking and kina / sea egg sucking. Capping off the fishing contest, there’ll be the one-day "it" Food & Wine Festival (22 October) - on the Paihia Village Green.
Whitianga Scallop Festival (17 September) - on the Coromandel Peninsula, and a favourite Auckland weekend destination - promises land-based seafood indulgence, with food and wine stalls, seafood demonstrations and cook-offs, scallop shucking and live Kiwi entertainment.
In Hawke’s Bay, the New Zealand Olive Festival (24 September) celebrates all things olive from olive oil tastings to appreciation workshops, cooking demonstrations by top local chefs, grower stalls, great food, wine and entertainment.
On the northern Canterbury coast, Kaikōura Seafest (1 October) is an annual festival celebrating the ocean’s abundance. Long before Kaikōura became renowned as a whale-watching Mecca, Māori knew it as the place to go for the best crayfish / lobster. Kaikōura means "eat crayfish" and Seafest is the place to try delicious New Zealand kaimoana / seafood straight from the sea.
The South Island’s West Coast Whitebait Menu Challenge (2 September - 30 October) is inspired by the little fish netted by the bucketful from local river mouths, and rated among the freshest and tastiest on the planet. The challenge has local eateries showing off their best whitebait recipes - including the classic whitebait pattie - and competing to find the ‘Best in the West’.
In the central South Island, the Central Otago Pinot Experience (20 September) is a not-to-be-missed event for wine connoisseurs. Renowned for award-winning pinot noir and aromatic whites, Central Otago is among the world’s great wine districts. This grand tasting experience in the picturesque Gibbston Valley will involve 20 wineries with sampling, gourmet lunches and take home goodie bags.
Port Chalmers - on Otago Harbour and just outside Dunedin - is the major fishing port for the cold waters of New Zealand's southern ocean, and the Port Chalmers Seafood Festival (1 October) celebrates this bounty. A variety of vessels will service the wharf-side event, including fishing boats delivering fresh seafood, and passenger vessels.
In New Zealand’s deep south, Taste of Southland (8 - 18 September) will draw oyster lovers to a fresh supply harvested from the pristine waters of Stewart Island. Reputedly the best in the world, local Bluff oysters will be on the menu in Invercargill - served straight from the shell, or cooked to perfection in a local restaurant.
REAL NZ food and wine highlights
Nelson Wineart First XV Wine competition
25 - 28 September, 2011
Nelson - at the top of the South Island - claims two significant New Zealand firsts: the birthplace of rugby, and the first South Island grapevines. It’s also a community with a strong Italian heritage, and a seafood industry centre.
Wrapped around the Italy v USA rugby match (27.09.11), the four-day Nelson Wineart First XV Wine festival will feature an international blind tasting of 45 top wines from Italy, USA and New Zealand - from which the judging panel will select a ‘First XV’.
The programme will also include a degustation dinner - showcasing the best Nelson seafood and local produce, and a tutored tasting conducted by the judges. Participants will be invited to meet local wine makers, and taste over 100 wines at the ‘new release wine tasting’ on the Nelson waterfront.
Marlborough Wine and Cuisine at Brancott Vineyard
6 October, 2011
Marlborough - a sheltered dry sun-drenched region in the north-east South Island - produces intensely-flavoured world-class sauvignon blanc wines.
For the REAL NZ Festival, Pernod Ricard will open the gates to the Brancott Vineyard Estate - an historic venue that’s usually off limits to the public - for an exclusive one-day wine and cuisine event.
Beautiful surroundings and entertainment from top musicians will set the scene for matching a wide range of Marlborough wines with gourmet cuisine prepared by the region’s top chefs. The day’s programme will also include culinary master classes.
Wairarapa Vintage Wings and Wine
7 - 10 October, 2011
Just north of Wellington, the Wairarapa is a relaxed weekend destination for city dwellers keen to sample from a wealth of specialist food and award-winning boutique wine producers. The region also has a long aviation history - dating back to just 10 years after the Wright Brothers first flight in 1903.
Wairarapa Vintage Wings and Wine festival - to be held on either side of the Wellington Rugby World Cup quarter finals - will add an extra flight of fancy for rugby tournament visitors who drive over the hill or take the train.
Wings and Wine guests will have the run of three aircraft hangars, aerial displays and the world’s largest privately-owned WWI aircraft collection, and 10 themed stands matching superb wine and food.
Kumeu’s Best of the West Festival
9 - 15 October, 2011
Kumeu - on Auckland’s western fringe and one of New Zealand’s long-standing wine-making areas - is planning a week-long free-entry family-focused festival that will have something for everyone.
Boutique artisan wine makers, farmers and local food producers will be on hand to feed the multitudes, and for entertainment there will be a village of arts and crafts, and Māori culture performances. At the end of each day, there’ll be a giant screen and the latest Rugby World Cup match to watch.
Kumeu is Auckland's heritage wine area with the wineries dating back to the 1940s when wine families of Croatian origin established winemaking in the area. These families are still living and working in the area today, making some of New Zealand's most renowned wines.
Gisborne Wine and food festival
Sunday 23 October, 2011
Every day, Gisborne - on New Zealand’s eastern tip - is the first city in the world to feel the sun’s morning rays. Vineyards in this remote special part of New Zealand produce aromatic wines with distinctive intense fruit flavours.
Gisborne Wine and Food festival will showcase wines from 25 boutique wine producers, and fine regional food - including seafood, beef and lamb - at 15 food stalls in a stunning vineyard setting. There’ll also be boutique beers and natural juices.
New Zealand celebrity guest chefs Simon Gault and Al Brown will be hosting exclusive wine and food workshops. Top New Zealand musicians led by Fat Freddy’s Drop will provide entertainment, culminating in a live screening of the Rugby World Cup final.
Full details on all of these events can be found on the REAL New Zealand Festival website.
Background: New Zealand food and wine
New Zealand's Pacific Rim cuisine draws inspiration from Europe, Asia and the Pacific islands of Polynesia - a blend of influences that has created a unique range of flavours and food styles.
The best Kiwi cuisine is based on local ingredients that are harvested from the surrounding ocean, rivers, and rich pastoral and agricultural landscape.
Flavours are fresh, subtle or spicy - as varied as the food sources, and cafés and restaurants that serve the dishes.
For food that has a distinctly New Zealand flavour, the choice includes lamb, cervena / venison, salmon, crayfish / lobster, many species of fish and shellfish such as Bluff oysters, paua / abalone, mussels, scallops, pipis and tuatua (New Zealand shellfish), kumara / sweet potato, kiwifruit, tamarillo, feijoa, and manuka honey.
New Zealand chefs are renowned for their innovative style, and many have returned to their homeland after honing their craft in top international restaurants.
The Kiwi wine industry also has a growing reputation for its new world wines - notably sauvignon blanc, pinot noir and syrah - that have conquered awards at some of the world’s best wine shows.