Gisborne calls itself the chardonnay capital of New Zealand and has the record to back it. Add citrus, sweetcorn, avocados and a coastline full of kai moana, and you have a region that eats far better than its size or its remoteness would suggest.
The wine
The Gisborne flats are warm, sunny and fertile, and the region built its reputation on chardonnay — ripe, generous and among the best in the country. Gerürztraminer, viognier, chenin blanc and pinot gris all do well here too; this is aromatic white country rather than red.
Cellar doors sit out among the flats at Matawhero and Patutahi, ten to twenty minutes from the city. They are unpretentious, cheap to visit, and rarely busy. A Saturday afternoon at one becomes ordinary very quickly.
What grows and what swims
Citrus, sweetcorn, squash, avocados, persimmons and kiwifruit off the flats, sold at roadside stalls and orchard gates through the season for very little. This is productive country and it shows up on the table.
Off the coast: crayfish, pāua, kina, snapper and kahawai, with a deep local culture of gathering kai moana — particularly up the Coast, where it is customary practice rather than recreation. Rules on species, size and quantity are real and enforced, and there is proper tikanga around it. Ask before you assume, and ask locally.
The Gisborne farmers’ market on Saturday morning is the weekend fixture: producers rather than resellers, and a cross-section of the town.
Eating out and the everyday
The rhythm of the year
- Retail is limited. Serious shopping means Napier, Auckland or online, and online delivery is slower and sometimes surcharged.
- Touring music, theatre and exhibitions rarely come this far east. The region’s own festivals — and there are good ones — fill part of the gap.
- Specialist imported groceries are hard to find. Most people build up an order from Auckland a few times a year.