Sometimes a wine can taste great in the moment, with a stunning setting and cool tunes playing. But what happens when you strip all that back? UNO wine columnist
Jess Easton finds out.

PHOTO  Jamie Troughton/
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It’s the ultimate test of a wine maker’s prowess – to see if your best vintage still sings while being sipped from a coffee mug, sitting on the floor. 

Thanks to Matt Connell’s easy-going Otago charm and remarkable ability to produce wines that transcend the vessels they’re served in, he passed that particular test with flying colours. 

That day remains one of my most memorable wine tastings, short on ceremony but long on delight. Matt’s distributor, Provenance NZ’s Rachel Baillie, called me one Tuesday afternoon to say they were in town, had a spare half an hour, and could they drop in? 

The only problem was that I was in the middle of moving; in fact, the last boxes were lined up outside the door. 

Did I mention it was also my birthday? There was a lot going on. I was possibly in trackies and in the middle of a final deep clean. 

Rachel and Matt breezed in, we scrambled some coffee mugs from a box, raised a toast to spontaneity and then I truly celebrated my birthday in style. 

Matt’s Rendition Pinot Noir is a hand-crafted, site-specific, boutique wine at its finest. He’s cleverly brought the fruit forward and then hidden it behind a silky subtle structure. It is incredibly well balanced, whether sipped from finest crystal or cheap porcelain. 

And his Chardonnay is Chablis-style, crisp and interesting. He showcases the very soul of Central Otago, built on quartz reefs, gold nuggets, crisp winters and balmy summers. 

Matt and his wife Beth have been involved in the wine industry for nearly a quarter of a century, combining hospitality experience, horticulture management and a passion for viticulture.

Each vintage they produce is unique – a tribute to the site it’s harvested from. On Matt’s most recent visit to Tauranga, we swapped moving house-vibes for a late-afternoon salt-infused beach, and he introduced us to his Area 45 Dry Muscat. 

It’s a rare variety and needs to be treated carefully, so the heavy floral bouquets and whiff of lollies don’t overwhelm – instead, Matt’s trademark structure and dry finish takes you by delightful surprise. 

Nothing is more surprising, mind you, than sampling something truly delicious in unexpected circumstances. I can definitely recommend it. 

Jess Easton is a director and owner of Kitchen Takeover and St Amand, complementing her career as a Tauranga-based lawyer.