BEST: Black Barn winery cellar door manager Francis de Jager. PHOTO WARREN BUCKLAND
The cellar door.
An interesting term for the winemaking industry to adopt as the front-of-house calling point for those wishing to taste wines, learn about them and potentially purchase them.
For while they possess a door few will be found after descending steps to a cellar.
It was also a term which clearly caught the attention of noted wordsmith J.R.R. Tolkien (Lord of the Rings) who touched upon such a title in an essay he wrote in 1955 which revealed he loved the sound of it.
"Most English-speaking people will admit that 'cellar door' is beautiful, especially if dissociated from its sense (and from its spelling). More beautiful than, say, sky, and far more beautiful than beautiful. Well then, in Welsh for me cellar doors are extraordinarily frequent, and moving to the higher dimension, the words in which there is pleasure in the contemplation of the association of form and sense are abundant."
Whatever it was he actually meant, it would be fair to assume that were Mr Tolkien with us today he would be thrilled and impressed with what he would find on that front across Hawke's Bay.
Some remarkable examples of winescape beauty indeed.
It has been noted that some visitors, effectively those not exactly well versed in the world and the ways of wine, describe their planned winery visits as a journey "to the seller door".
Which to a degree is correct as the cellar staff will happily parcel or wrap a fine red or white after it has been purchased.
Some visitors, unfamiliar with the term, will simply refer to such venues as "the wine shop".
The bottom line is that a cellar door is a wine tasting room, but it has been developed into more than just a room or a shop lined with bottles.
It has become a staple, and increasingly acclaimed, part of the wine industry, and the Bay more than holds its own with a landscape of superb cellar doors, with committed,
knowledgeable and obliging staff to steer the sippers.
As regards the term "cellar door" it harks back to the pre-coolroom days when wine would be created and then stored in the cooler climes beneath ground.
It was essential to ensure stability in temperature during the production stages.
Great racks and shelves of bottles and barrels and vats and flasks and whatever else was required in terms of production, and storage before sale.
As time went by those seeking something fine to drink would begin visiting the wineries to make their purchases, and this would involve alerting the winemakers and their colleagues that they were there.
So one would knock...upon the cellar door.
In the last couple of decades, as the pathway of winemaking and wineselling has continued to evolve, the winery itself became as much a place to visit as it was a place to make wine.
That has been well and truly reinforced across Hawke's Bay.
They are places where wine can be tasted and purchased, and at many there are times when the winemakers are also on hand to chat with visitors about his or her approach to creating what they are savouring.
It is about tasting and learning, and the value and esteem of the cellar door has been well acknowledged here through the introduction back in 2002 of the House of Travel Hastings and Havelock North Hawke's Bay Cellar Door of the Year title as part of the annual Hawke's Bay A&P Bayleys Wine Awards.
The current title holder is Black Barn Vineyards, nestled in the hills near Havelock North and where the focus is on Bordeaux styled red varieties like merlot and cabernet franc, along with award-winning chardonnays and sauvignon blanc.
For the boutique-orientated winery the cellar door is an important component, with some of their wines only available through those doors or on-line.
Black Barn's cellar door manager Francis de Jager said picking up the title was a great accolade, as there had long been a "philosophy" at the winery that everything people encountered there had to be a "real experience".
The cellar door was essentially the hub for Black Barn as it was both a place for people to experience the wines but also to relax and consider what they wanted to do, and see, next.
"The award was a huge pat on the back for everyone here," Mr de Jager said.
"The key to it is satisfying the wants and needs people may have - they have chosen to drive up the road here so we have to make their time as memorable as possible."
The cellar door experience was no longer simply one of just tasting.
"We have a lot of fun with it - we talk to people about what they have seen and what they have planned while they are here in Hawke's Bay and offer suggestions."
The cellar door crew were happy to suggest and offer something which some people would previously not have considered.
"A lot of people have pre-conceived ideas on what wines they enjoy - some may say they don't try chardonnay any more and we'll happily say "well wait a minute...just try these".
And in many cases, they go further than just try.
They buy.
"We just like to talk to them and tell them the story of why and how we produce some wines."
While first and foremost it was creating a unique Black Barn experience promoting and pushing the rest of the region was " a close second", Mr de Jager said.
"It is very much about the whole region."
About 70 percent of the visitors are domestic, the rest international, including groups from visiting cruise ships although their timetables were often tight and only have about 15-20 minutes there.
"We like people to spend more time than that so they can get the whole experience."
Many locals would take visitors along, and they in turn often called by again.
"We see a lot of people returning - word of mouth certainly works as long as you deliver."
There was no standing back though.
"We never just sit on what we've got - we are always looking to keep ideas fresh and add something new to create that multi-sensory experience."
Which they had done recently through the creation of a new and rarely made wine produced for cellar door and on-line sale only, which had been dubbed 'Orange' wine.
It was an example of the artisan winemaking world and was created using techniques from ages past with tastes produced from extra time-on skins and unique ground storage.
"We are always trying to improve what we do," Mr de Jager said adding that in essence, it was all "a work in progress".