A Trip to Hurunui Village
Created | Updated Aug 7, 2011
The Hurunui is a smallish District within the Canterbury Region that takes up a great swathe of the
South Island of New Zealand. Quite why it's commonly called 'The' Hurunui isn't clear – there's not
a lot of information on websites, other than local council and bland touristy stuff.
There are a few largish wineries and, as it happens, the target for July's trip out with our Probus
Club was Hurunui Village Winery, which has a better presence on the web thanks to its present owner,
Hurunui Jack.
It is some 45 minutes or so from Christchurch, taking the Main North Road (Highway 1) but our
coach-load started from Rangiora, going via Sefton and Balcairn to pick up the 1 at Amberley and
then turning left onto the 7 at Waipara, continuing some way North towards Hanmer Springs.
Over the Weka Pass and continuing past Waikari, we paused when approaching Hurunui Village to pick up a scruffy individual and his dog.
Eh? What's this about?
I was sacked from my job at the restaurant on Saturday night and I'm going to lose my comfy little
hut, so I'm hijacking you lot to impress the boss. I'm Podge the swagger and this is my dog, Wag,
who is now known as Sir Wag – I knighted him Saturday night".
By this time pretty well all of us had noticed that his long scruffy silver hair was a wig and his
clothes, while in character, were clean – but not neatly pressed.
He handed out miniature swagbags, nicely made and stamped with a drawing of Wag, containing a
chewy, a sticky, a lolly, a stub of pencil and a long narrow piece of paper with a norful lot of a or b
or c? questions typed on it. "Don't fill in the Qs yet. No, not yet". He then started in on the history
of the place.
The hotel opened its doors in 1886. Its liquor licence (an early if not the first in NZ) was dependant
on it providing eight beds in four rooms, shelter for six horses, and stable yards for yoking-up
cattle. Horses had to be provided, too, for travellers to ford the river.
Some years later, after a bad flood, the hotel was dismantled brick by brick and rebuilt some way
over the other side of the river, in its present location.
By this time we were at our destination, the trading post-cum-café. Tea, coffee and/or drinks from
the bar, further warnings about answering those questions just yet and, more history.
In those times the hotelier was more than just that. One of his jobs was as the local butcher, killing
and preparing meat – when called to the bar, he had a habit of turning the rims of beer glasses
against that bloody shirt of his, to clean them. Henceforth, kiwis drink from the bottle (true, oh yes
it's true).
Fast forward to 1979. Larger corporations were, apparently, buying up places like this, stripping off
their licenses and taking them into Christchurch. About twenty of the locals clubbed together and
bought the place in 1979-80, in order to save it. In fact, one of our own number was of that group,
she bearing a photograph of them outside the hotel. Over the years, that group grew into something
more than a hundred, from whom the present owner, Hurunui Jack, bought the place in the mid
1990s and of course he is to be given a copy of that original 1980 photograph. He was a builder
before buying the place. Renovations and later buildings show evidence of that, having door frames
and other visible woodwork made from Rimu from a demolished building in Christchurch some
years ago (Rimu being an, if not the, iconic wood here). Much of the inside lining of the roof is
made from wool crates, stamped with their origin: Cairnvale, Woodbank, Birchdale, Saddlewood,
Black Hills ...
The vineyard was planted in 1997 and its first vintage was in 2000. It is a small plantation, perhaps
as much as 4 hectares (10 acres). It is and will remain a small, boutique winery – big stores want
larger quantities than they can provide and the prices are not sustainable on this scale, so all sales
are from the village itself along with mail-order and the internet.
Onward, ever onward, for a walk around. To the Wine Cave that is built ("Stop cheating – put that
paper away") 22 metres into the hill, maintaining it at close to 12 degrees. Well, that's what it says
it is. In fact, currently it's built into a sort of natural shelf that extends out from the hillside for about
20 metres at that point and, say, 2 metres in height. Most of it is, of course, an access passageway for
the cave, with doors at either end. When finished it will be used for ageing wine in casks. The plan
must be to bury the lot under a few metres of rubble and soil to provide the necessary insulation.
A few (just a few) of the chattering classes complained bitterly that Wag had been allowed to go
rabbiting, to bring one back and, indeed, proceed to crunch its head. Twice!
They have built two cottages (so far), Jesse's Cottage and Meg's Cottage, as self-contained luxury
dwellings. "We'll look at Jesse's Cottage – not Meg's because There Be Dragons. We've put 'em on
guard, for the honeymoon couple".
Interestingly, Jesse's (if not both) is built of cob but in this case, pre-made blocks, while
the visible woodwork is from that consignment of Rimu.
Back to the café for drinkies, fill in the questionnaire (yes, I got a pass mark – just) and any
questions while awaiting lunch.
- Q: Why roses on the end of the vine rows?
- A: Bugs and diseases prefer roses, which helps to keep the
vines clean (white roses are better). - Q: What are those black blades on the vine posts?
- A: Well now, we use two methods on different
parts of the plantation. Some fans to keep the air moving during cold times, reducing frost and then
there are the flippers. These (electrically driven), snap back and forth, aligned along the rows and
spray airborne moisture over the vines – specifically the buds. The moisture freezes and builds up a
layer of ice, thus insulating the buds from the worst of windchill.
And so to lunch. They have no pretensions to 'Fine Dining' as many vineyards do (with variable
success). Here, they provide good, wholesome home cooking (and appropriate sized servings) of a
high standard.
Full marks all round, from preparation through to presentation – and the prandial.
Homeward bound, with the whole staff turned out to watch us stumble up onto the coach after an
interesting and enjoyable day.
