The pop star took time out from her packed schedule of global gigs to check out an Auckland winery and kick back with some Syrah.
It's been a busy start to the year for the
Be The One singer, who is currently touring across 18 countries, with 57 upcoming concerts left to go. The next venue on her itinerary is Spark Arena in Auckland, New Zealand, where Dua Lipa will perform on the 2nd and 4th of this month. Ahead of the shows she made sure to squeeze in some wine tasting, heading to a 33 acre (13.3ha) vineyard overlooking Rangihoua Bay in the North Island for some rest and relaxation.
Posting to her 87.3 million Instagram followers the English/Albanian artist wrote: "Wine tasting on the the edge of the world!!!!! AUCKLAND I'M SO EXCITED TO SEE YOU TOMORROW!!!!
The singer sampled both reds and whites during her visit to boutique winery The Landing, where a tasting, tour and lunch will set you back NZ$200 (£88) per person, and is by appointment only. She may have discovered the producer's fine wines during previous tour stops in Los Angeles, where The Landing expressions are on the lists at restaurants including Bluewater Grill and El Galleon. Consumers can pick up a bottle of The Landing's top Syrah in the off-trade for NZ$129.99 (£57), while its lower tier Syrah retails for NZ$38.99 (£17).
"You never know who you'll run into it at the Tasting Room at The Landing," the winery shared on social media. "See you again soon Dua Lipa."
Dua Lipa: tourist prototype
In choosing to visit a winery during her trip to New Zealand, Dua Lipa becomes exactly the kind of tourist the nation's Government wants to encourage. In August 2024, New Zealand announced a goal
to grow its income from international tourism by NZ$5 billion over the next four years. That growth, if achieved, will see the industry leap from NZ$8.2 billion to NZ$13.2 billion by 2028.
Absolutely key to this growth, said René de Monchy, chief executive of Tourism New Zealand, is the country's food and drink offering, as recent research shows that 85% of visitors to New Zealand have food and drink tasting at the top of their priority list.
However, just months after the Government revealed its grand plan to attract more tourists, Auckland Council introduced a controversial alcohol sales restriction law,
banning off-trade sales in the region after 9pm. Bars and restaurants, however, are able to sell drinks until 4am in Auckland city centre, provided they are licensed to do so, and sports clubs can sell alcohol until 1am. The policy will be "monitored by council members", the city said.
Culture club
Given that most wineries stop holding tours and tasting at around 4pm, Auckland's curfew shouldn't unduly impact cellar door sales, though producers may of course suffer reduced sales in on-trade venues in the city.
Founded in 2007,
The Landing takes its name from the area’s historic location as the place is thought to be where the earliest Māori and European settlers to New Zealand made landfall, establishing the settlement where New Zealand's two cultures first lived together.
The producer started off by planting Syrah and Chardonnay, before adding some Pinot Gris later on. The vineyard itself sits within a protective cradle of hills, sheltering the vines from the sea breezes blowing off the Rangihoua Bay, and resulting in wines with "intense flavour and complex mineral characteristics", according to winemaker Ben Byrne.
Having led the winemaking team at The Landing since 2019, Byrne favours using a light hand to "see what the fruit is telling us". Meanwhile, his viticulturist wife Tereza Byrne utilises under-vine mowing to minimise chemical use in the vineyard, plus hand-picking and leaf-plucking for "a highly customised approach that gets the best from each block."
Serious statement
As
db reported, while
Pinot Noir is New Zealand's leading red variety, the country is making a serious statement with its Syrah. The Hawke's Bay region, in particular, is producing world-beating expressions and with rumours that the region's
2025 vintage could be "the vintage of the century", surpassing even that of 2013, which is widely thought to have been one of Hawke’s Bay’s best years, the quality looks set to scale further heights.
“Syrah is probably the most exciting up-and-coming variety for New Zealand and particularly for Hawke’s Bay," Church Road’s chief winemaker Chris Scott told
db.
However, Marlborough, too, is expanding its plantings. “We have two different Syrah clones planted across separate, sheltered sites on river terraces immediately adjacent to the Waihopai River, chosen for their free draining, stony soils," said Matt Mitchell, general manager of Marisco Vineyards, which owns Marlborough powerhouses The Ned and Leefield Station.
"The quality of the wines, especially when you consider the relative youth of our Syrah programme, is really very exciting indeed,” he added.
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