Italy in Otago - Como Villa Estate

Tuesday 28 April

Missed saying farewell to Jonny as he was off to school bright and early, but we spent the morning packing up, doing a bit of extra laundry, and generally trying to take 4 days worth of belongings back to Banjo before saying thank you & goodbye to Debs and heading out the gate around lunchtime. Looking forward to returning and checking out the enormous garage once it's finished!! We might even commandeer a wee corner to store our seasonal swap-out items!

I drove Banjo all the way down McArthur Road and then into town - always slightly nerve-wracking, but a little less each time. Had a shaky moment trying to straighten up to the kerb in reverse as we parked but I’ll learn! Quick couple of chores before we had lunch in the sun at Industry Lane Eatery - pulled pork bagel for him and ham & cheese croissant for me - yum! Loved their inclusivity sticker on the door ❤️🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️🌏❤️ Then we topped up with diesel as the McKeowns price had dropped a wee bit, and set off for Como Villa Estate in Earnscleugh, just 3kms from Alex!

We’d been trying to book in there all day to no avail, so we figured we’d cruise along and see if we could find anyone… turned out Mrs C had been missing my calls and texts as she was in Europe on the Danube, and Mr C had just not been paying attention to his phone 😉 so he picked up our messages just as we pulled up and we got an easy space in their empty POP!

A camera club had also turned up so we unhitched swiftly and joined them for wine tasting - CVE charges $25pp for the first night which includes tasting and a tour, then $5pp for any future nights - neat!

The history of this winery is amazing, it dates back to 1865 and the original homestead still stands, along with a number of other farm buildings and even the original Italian winemaker, Luigi’s long hidden cellar. Amazing - this place is 160 years old! The homestead was built by Thomas Oliver, a pioneering Englishman who made his fortune in the Dunstan Gold Rush and lived here with his young bride Mary, planting fruit trees and growing grapes. He employed European winemakers including Luigi & Guiseppe Valli who are famous as early vintners in the area.

A Pinot Gris, a rose, two Pinot noir and a port… I tried a few sips but wine is not my thing! Louis drank both helpings as we listened to Jonny recounting the history of this old winery then Louis accidentally bought a Pinot Noir 2022 for later... oops!

I wandered around trying not to interrupt the official photographers on their mission to capture shots at golden hour as I took my iPhone snappy snaps! The homestead is set up much as it was originally - with bedroom, kitchen, study and other rooms staged within the open plan area. There was a scrap of the Otago Times was found within a wall and dating back to the 1860s, time stamping the building of the homestead - incredible. There were so many fascinating objects - old spectacles on a Bible, a knitted teddy bear, opium poppies, a mechanical sewing machine and paperwork and a desk set up from a century ago. Over in one window was a very early bottle opener or corker, I am not sure.

Jimmy the miniature Jack Russell came to visit and promptly jumped up onto the display bed after he'd had a smooch with us!

Jonny took us out the back and showed us the original Italian winemaker, Luigi’s hidden cellar. It was covered up with corrugated iron when he left the property and rediscovered when a tractor drove over the hole and the old iron rusted through revealing this piece of history below. Many of the bottles were the ones found in here as the cellar was excavated. Jonny has built a new structure over the top to keep everything safe from the elements.

Up above ground it was golden hour - the old garage next to the homestead and the other farm buildings were positively glowing in the evening sunshine. Looking up the hill we could see the old smithy and the stables, behind the dray.

Back at Banjo we had pork belly for dinner and snuggled into our freshly laundered bed as the nighttime temperatures fell 😴