Destruction at Linden Estate after Cyclone Gabrielle led to floods that swept through Esk Valley. The winery is one of those now taking part in the Harvest Hawke's Bay festival. Photo: RNZ / Jemima Huston
Dozens of Hawke's Bay hospitality businesses will come together for a wine and food festival on the banks of the Tukituki River, a welcome celebration after the long clean-up following Cyclone Gabrielle.
Harvest Hawke's Bay was set to make its debut in April, but after Cyclone Gabrielle, it was pushed back to 25 November.
Some participating businesses have only just reopened their doors following the storm, and are hoping it signals a return to showcasing what the region does best.
Festival manager Liz Pollock said it would be the region's first wine and food festival since being named one of the 12 Great Wine Capitals of the World in May, taking up the accolade alongside iconic names like Bordeaux, Napa Valley and Adelaide.
"People are really looking forward to summer," Pollock said. "They're really looking forward to getting out there, [and] celebrating everything that is fabulously Hawke's Bay wine and food country."
Almost half of the tickets already sold went to people from outside of Hawke's Bay, Pollock said, and there had been more than 50 registrations for the temporary motorhome park next-door.
"We were getting a lot of feedback that people want to come and, yes, have a great quintessential Hawke's Bay day out, but also to come and support the local wineries and the local hospitality," she said.
Linden Estate was among those on the lineup, and owner Bruce Jans said after a tough year it felt good to be back in business.
The Eskdale Community Hub was set up at Linden Estate after Cyclone Gabrielle. Photo: RNZ / Jemima Huston
They reopened their doors at Labour Weekend, after nine months cleaning up post-cyclone in the devastated Esk Valley. The winery lost about 27,000 bottles in the floodwaters, which were metres high in some parts of the valley.
But now, Jans said, they had a good crop coming on.
An Esk Valley vinyard: Flooding during Cyclone Gabrielle washed through vinyards, wineries, houses and communities. Photo: RNZ / Jemima Huston
They had marked the waterlines from the floodwaters on their buildings, a reminder of what they had been through, both during the storm and in the months that followed.
"It's been one hell of a time," Jans said. "I've paid seven people on average for eight months with no income, so in spite of the hospitality industry looking gloomy, we've hung in there and are very happy to have done so."
They had celebrated their reopening by selling bottles of their limited edition "Underwater Wine" - bottles salvaged from the floodwaters in the basement, still corked, and sold with a light dusting of silt - which he said went down a treat.
"We had a hell of a big turnover," he said. "People are warming to the fact that people do carry on in adversity."
Aerial photos of Esk Valley show how widespread the flooding was there. Photo: RNZ/ Sally Murphy
Greg Miller, chef and owner of the winery's sister restaurant Valley d'Vine Restaurant, said their space was inundated by four feet of floodwater, and it had been a long road to recovery.
"It wiped out basically everything," he said. "It cancelled a lot of weddings, a lot of functions I had booked."
But Valley d'Vine would be offering a festival menu of pāua fritters on a citrusy salad, and a smoked beef cheek on potato salad.
"It's not really a money-making thing," Miller said. "It's more just to get out and show people what we do."
Harvest Hawke's Bay would showcase sixteen wineries from across the region: Black Barn Wines, Maison Noire, Paritua Wines, Crab Farm Winery, Tony Bish Wines, Petane Wines, Oak Estate, Trinity Hill, Sileni, Askerne, Smith & Sheth, Collaboration Wines, Te Mata Estate, Te Awanga, Linden Estate and Craggy Range.
Food would be supplied by Deliciosa, Black Barn Bistro, Valley d'Vine, Black Betty BBQ, Hunger Monger, Cellar 495, Tu Meke Don, Brother, and Long Island Deli, and there would be live music from Anton Wuts and David Selfe, Scarlett Eden, and Naked Gun.
