Getting Heart and Soul out of our heads

We headed straight to the coast to clear our heads of the tireless '80's DJ that is my mind (somehow I lost my way looking to see something in your eyes, but love will never compromise..) and found our way to Napier/Hastings. Yippee. Wine country. First stops: Black Barn and Te Mata, some of the older wineries of the region. Both small by NZ standards (5,000 case total production) and delicious big reds.  Apparently, Hawke's Bay is actually Syrah and Chardonnay country.  Who knew?  But the winner of the day was Rod Macdonald wines (even smaller), right by the ocean (an old Crawford site) and super fun one-offs and winemaker-joy driven bottlings. Again, pleasantly surprised by real reds: an awesome 2011 Te Awanga merlot and hunky (but perfectly charming) Syrahs.  Kim, from Seattle, married a Kiwi and gave us lots of insider-scoop. Had a fun, but slightly contrived, 6 course meal at a newbie spot in Napier, Bistronomy. Julian is a dream to dine with, as he took all the pictures, and feels equally miffed when food isn't up to par.