Thirsty Work

For wine, food and brew fans, the Auckland region is a veritable smorgasbord of sensational options. We meet the talented winemakers and kitchen team behind Waiheke wunderkind Cable Bay, then we see how the lads at Deep Creek Brewing are making their wildest brew-dreams come true before journeying north to see how a computer nut and a deer farmer are creating wine magic at Mahurangi River Estate.

Where art and science collide. We explore Woollaston Estate's eye-popping collection of New Zealand art and of course taste their magnificent organic wines, before heading on a brew hunt for 5 of Nelson's most exciting craft brewers. They tried to hide, but we flushed them out.

Get us to the Gibbston! We roll on the Queenstown Cycle Trail to Chard Farm, befriend Dale, the cellar door goat then zoom up the old Gibbston Back Road, where the Brennans have bought a little of New York City to Central Otago; and finish our trek at Quest Farm, where a patchwork of high altitude pinot vineyards present some unique challenges.

Christchurch-based neurologist Ivan Donaldson discovered wine back in the 1970's and set the Waipara wine region in motion, a region which soon attracted an ex-South African ballerina to create her own organic vine paradise at Fancrest Estate. Then on the west coast we to investigate 150 years of brewing history at Monteith's and Yvonne tells you a failsafe way to buy wine for a friend.

We journey into New Zealand's second-largest wine sub-region, the Awatere Valley, to meet Mugwi, kaumatua of Tohu Wines, the world's first 100% Maori-owned wine company; and how does a Sandhurst-trained soldier in the British army segway into growing grapes and making wine on the other side of the world? What steered Simon Waghorn from studying seaweed to a life of wine - an astrolabe perhaps?

Situated in Puketapu (Maori for "sacred hill"), the Mason family made the decision back in the early 1980's to diversify from strictly sheep and beef to vineyards. We take a trip back in time at the Puketapu pub and head over the hill to Church Road, where the pioneering vision of teenager Tom McDonald a century ago has turned one of New Zealand's oldest wineries into a fine wine powerhouse.

It might be one of New Zealand's smallest wine regions, but out there amongst the vines there's more pedigree and passion than you can sling a screwcap at. We visit no less than nine of the best Martinborough wineries this side of the Ruamahanga River - Escarpment, Schubert, Haythornthwaite, Te Kairanga, Cabbage Tree, Coney, Ata Rangi, Murdoch James and Martinborough Vineyard.

It was the pristine waterways of the Marlborough Sounds that seduced Sue White and her ocean-loving, late husband Greg into a life of wine at Whitehaven; just down the road we discover what inspired the team at Nautilus to create their wine collection. We unveil the man behind Morton Estate's makeover in Taranaki, the land of milk and oil and one of the region's oldest pubs.

It's a taste of Scotland in rural New Zealand as we ring in a new vintage with bagpipes and kilts at Urlar, meet Cairn Terriers and Kuni Kuni pigs at Gladstone Estate, and spark home-made cannons to scare birds off the grapes at Palliser Estate. Then we zoom up the Ruamahanga River by speedboat to get into some seriously competitive wine and food matching at the Wairarapa Wines Harvest Festival.

It's a taste of Scotland in rural New Zealand as we ring in a new vintage with bagpipes and kilts at Urlar, meet Cairn Terriers and Kuni Kuni pigs at Gladstone Estate, and spark home-made cannons to scare birds off the grapes at Palliser Estate. Then we zoom up the Ruamahanga River by speedboat to get into some seriously competitive wine and food matching at the Wairarapa Wines Harvest Festival.

We meet a US-based Kiwi who is passionate about Mt. Beautiful, his North Canterbury vineyard and his high-country sheep station. Then we travel an hour south to Sherwood Estate, a small winery that definitely punches above its weight before heading west over the Southern Alps to the tiny town of Kumara to see how the historic Theatre Royal is performing.

It was the name Cloudy Bay that put New Zealand wine on the map back in 1985, but today we're uncovering the shiny new faces behind the country's most iconic brand. Then we count our Blenheim blessings with the Ibbotsen's at Saint Clair Family Estate before heading north to trade holy water for a cleansing ale and some scrumptious food at Auckland's remarkable Riverhead Tavern.