Celtic Organic Winery

Celtic Organic Winery's libations might be fresh, but they're also as old as the Celts themselves. Malcolm Hadlum has been making his boutique fruit wines on the shores of Lake Horowhenua to traditional Celtic methods for more than 20 years. Back when he was an orchardist, one crop of apples was ripe for cider, so he gave scrumpy a go. From there he turned to making fruit wines in 200-litre lots with no preservatives, sulphates or chemicals, using basic machinery and racking each bottle to clear the wine without using finings. The result is a range of full and fruity wines that aren't as sweet as might be expected of fruit wine. Plums form the basis of many of Malcolm's wines (black doris and omega — the fruit coming from the Hawke's Bay, as Malcolm sold his orchards some time ago), including a delicious port. The Green Ginger wine is highly recommended to soothe those winter ills, especially the Whiskey Mac, which is a blend of Green Ginger wine and a whisky distilled in Kaiapoi. It's great on ice and/or with a spritz of soda. Malcolm is happy to conduct tastings on demand, and visitors can even stay at the winery's lakeside accommodation. 324 Hōkio Beach Road, Levin. 021 049 8429, celticwinery.com