December 2013
The Karikari Estate winery restaurant sits perched on a hill with a sweeping view of the north Karikari Peninsula coastline. It is one of the more upscale wineries in Northland, associated with the small Peppers Carrington Golf Resort nearby. Our goal was to have lunch here and do a wine tasting, but it was the height of the Christmas/summer holiday season, a time when places like this get booked well in advance.
We found the entry drive closed off and a sign that said “Estate Booked,” but we were hungry and determined, thus in denial, and figured maybe “Estate Booked” meant the resort was full. There was another driveway that was opened for cars to come out (aka the exit); so we drove up like the confused tourists that we were. We managed to find a spot in the full parking lot and headed into the restaurant.
It wasn’t a surprise find the restaurant was booked solid, but one server came up and said they might have something. Soon, he came back and said yes, they have a table for us! They also informed us of a 15% surcharge to eat here at this time of year (which we knew some popular restaurants charge during the holiday season), but we were hungry enough that we didn’t care about the surcharge.
Back in the mid-80s when I visited here, my picture of a typical New Zealand afternoon featured a farmer fixing his fence while bored sheep looked on. Now, my picture of New Zealand has become remarkably similar to my image of Napa or Tuscany: groups of friends and family sitting alfresco on a sunny afternoon, enjoying fine dining and generous glasses of local, good-quality wine. The outdoor dining area of this restaurant was that image come to life, but we were led past it to an area off to the side where a large tent stood. It was obviously meant for a wedding or special occasion, but they had set up a table for two right at the edge. It was just at the crest of a hill, with an amazing view of the vineyards, trees and fields stretched out below us and the coastline with its large white sand dunes off to the side. What a surreal landscape, what did it remind me of? Strangely, of the background of the Mona Lisa.
I planned to have the wine tasting plate, a sample of 5 or 6 wines, but the menu boasted that their Wild Chardonnay, not part of the tasting, had the flavor of the natural yeasts abundant in this vineyard. Since I am a sucker for a yeasty chardonnay, I opted for that. I was not disappointed: it was fabulous.
We also ordered the seafood pizza, which was really good, and more wine. For dessert we split the sundae which had 6 scoops of ice cream made up of 3 flavors (strawberry, chocolate and jamoca) and chocolate sauce. What a treat! It had been well worth the price, even with the surcharge, to enjoy this place today. –Cyndi
