Twenty minutes from Christchurch on the West Coast Road (SH73) is a leafy locale known as West Melton, home to a plucky community of winegrowers, including Philip Caunter, a million-miles-an-hour man who doubles as ‘software entrepreneur’ and ‘ardent fan of the West Melton RFC’. His vines grow on free-draining, greywacke-littered soils gifted by ancient braided flows of the Waimakariri River and four years on, this gris is developing into a nashi-scented, complex, mineral-driven little number. Light, spicy and gently styled.
Sip with: almond chicken salad with basil mayonnaise
