This is the most southerly wine region in the world, a rain-shadow landscape where the mountains hold off the Tasman Sea weather and leave the valleys cold, bright and dry, with hot days and frosty nights that suit pinot noir.
The vineyards cluster around Gibbston, on the Kawarau river, and Bannockburn, near Cromwell, where tasting rooms stand beside rows of vines on terraces of ancient river gravel. Cromwell has a giant fruit sculpture beside the highway and orchards of cherries, apricots and peaches, which ripen in the summer, and sell at roadside stalls. The gold rush of the 1860s brought thousands of miners to these valleys, and old stone huts, water races and tailings still scar the hillsides. Arrowtown preserves a small Chinese settlement, a reminder of the many Chinese miners who worked the claims. Just up the road from Gibbston, the old Kawarau bridge is where commercial bungy jumping began in 1988.
The riding is superb. The road through the Kawarau Gorge, with its twists above the green river, is a classic, and the roads around Cromwell, Clyde and Alexandra are quiet, with wide views over dry, tawny hills and distant snow. The surface is generally good, but ice can form in the shade in winter, and in summer the heat is intense. The best times are spring, when the blossom is out and the air is clear, and autumn, when the poplars and vines turn gold and red.
Fuel is available at Cromwell, Wanaka and Queenstown, so top up before you head into the quieter valleys.
Take your time. Sit on a terrace with a glass of wine, if you are not riding, or a coffee if you are, and watch the light change on the hills. It is a country that looks better the longer you stay.