MANY years ago, I was a fan of Parsonage Hills wines.  
These guys made a wide range of fruit wine from their base in Te Horo, a short road trip from town. I remember loving their black doris plum wine.
Now there’s a new producer, based in Paparaumu. They’ve come up with the punny name Unwined, which fits nicely with the idea of fruit wine and its association with the good life. They offer winery tours complete with samples, after which you can purchase wine ($18.50) from the cellar door.  
We conducted our own tasting on a sunny Sunday, figuring the wine would be like the weather, full of the promise of spring.
We were impressed by the complexity of the Unwined Feijoa. It’s dry and sav-like with layers of feijoa flesh and pip flavours. Comb-honey waxiness adds another dimension. One to enjoy on its own or with nibbles.
Unwined Apple will be a hit with those who like apples.  
It smells like Appletise and its flavours come in two waves: first toffee apple with buttered crumbs (all that’s missing is the cinnamon and it’d be apple crumble), after which it’s cleaned out with slightly bitter apple skin. The wine is off dry, so has a nice silky texture from the unfermented sugar.
We judged the Strawberry and Rhubarb wine to have the most potential.  
Its subtle strawberry jam aromas reminded us of a pinot noir rose. It was surprisingly dry – we were expecting the wine to be off dry based on the nose, but it was the driest of the bunch. Just as we were enjoying the full flight of the strawberry, it tapered off rapidly. A little more residual sugar might have softened the abrupt and pithy finish.
Wine of the week: Our favourite was the Unwined Feijoa and Ginger.  
It’s off dry with a fragrant feijoa nose and flavour, and an ever so slightly syrupy texture. We liked its long finish with a hint of ginger. This wine will get the tongues wagging on sunny afternoons. With its lush quaffability, it’s exactly what we expected of a fruit wine.