Jeremy's 50th Birthday shenanigans

Feb 25, 2025
2 min read

Tuesday 18 February

What a great way to turn 50! Fun packed day with WAYYYY too much food & alcohol, in beautiful surroundings and the company of great friends! Thanks for inviting us all, Jeremy!

Started earlyish with brunch at their place - ably cooked and served up by Russell.

Then we piled into the Pajero...

... and set off for Rippon Winery on the south west side of Lake Wānaka. It was an amazingly stunning location with panoramic vistas of the lake and a beautiful venue.

Sadly the schist infused wines did not hit the spot, even though our guide was very knowledgable and explained lots about the vineyard and its unique geology.

So we moved on from there to Aitken’s Folly which was the polar opposite - a tiny vineyard with minimal views, tastings on the owners driveway and a hugely casual approach to everything - but the wines tasted went down a treat and resulted in a few purchases. They produced a really interesting chardonnay which was incredibly pale, almost like water which got a big tick of approval, and a very palatable pinot noir which Louis purchased. Jez bought himself a birthday present of their premiere Chardonnay called Gordon - partly after their fabulous beagle/Jack Russell cross doggo, partly to do with their Scottish clan affiliation and also partly after Gordon Ramsay but I didn't catch that particular connection! Gordon the dog made a special appearance on request, but did not hang around for long... divo!

Next stop was the Wānaka Beerworks out by the airport & the transport & toy museum. We were hosted by the owner Joel Le Breton and given a fascinating behind the scenes tour of the micro brewery before everyone but Nickie & I tucked into paddles of 4 beers of their choice. The tour was fascinating and insightful - we started looking at the differently coloured and roasted malts, the very basic looking crushing machine, the exclusively designed and crafted copper beer kettles where the malt and other flavourings are added, the large fermenter vats where the beers mature for four to fourteen days and even the compact canning machine which spits out several hundred labelled cans per hour. I especially loved the humorous names and logos for many of the beers - they have a great design aesthetic!

Nickie and I explored the next door museum toy shop and reminisced about our children’s childhoods!

Back at the ranch for a pause and a snack, Russ rustled up breakfast leftovers sarnies for everyone and I took a siesta on the couch while the crew walked down to Cork for Espresso Martinis then BrewBar for more beers!