Winetopia Wellington 2017

words by niall roeder

By all accounts, last year’s inaugural Winetopia was a raging success. Many a glass of New Zealand wine was poured, swirled and polished, and the city of Auckland was well and truly painted red… and white and rosé.

Winetopia is back in 2017 and due to its triumphant first year and much to the delight of Wellington winos has expanded to include the nation’s capital. We say, cheers to that.

Touted as, “the greatest celebration of New Zealand wine” and with a line-up set to include over 670 wineries from all over the country, this is more of a wine trade show with a party vibe. This is wine tasting on a very large scale.

Each of the two festival days are broken into three soaked sessions exploring New Zealand wines. Besides mingling with other wine lovers, thirsty patrons will sample a barrelful of flavours, discover food pairings, and enjoy master classes, talks and tastings by wine gurus and sommeliers from local restaurants.

HOT TIP: If you’re a wine rookie, don’t stress – there’ll be no pretentiousness here. Remember to take your time when you taste.

Smell the wine, swirl the wine, smell the wine again, then sip the wine.

Leave the wine in your mouth and concentrate on the taste. Ask yourself, “do I like it?” and “what does it remind me of?” When you’re having a crack at describing the drop use broad words, like “fruity” and “smooth”, opposed to tilting your head forward with a curled eyebrow and noting how the grippy tannins clash with the laser-like dust notes. Those people aren’t impressing anyone.

Winetopia will take place July 14 – 15 at Shed 6.

Auckland & Wellington, Winetopia is coming! Sold out last year – don't miss out in 2017. Sign up to our mailing list via www.winetopia.nz and be the first to hear about all the juicy goss!

A post shared by Winetopia (@winetopianz) on Mar 26, 2017 at 5:32pm PDT