Set among vines in Queenstown’s Gibbston, an amphitheatre built out of schist rock debuts as a concert venue this Saturday.
Cox’s Vineyard, off Gibbston Back Rd, hosts up-and-coming New Zealand muso Reb Fountain, supported by returning local muso
Maxx Gunn.
Leah Seifert and her husband, Simon Cox, took over the pioneering pinot vineyard, established in 1999 by Cox’s father, Doug, seven years ago, and have since created their own award-winning label.
Simon built the amphitheatre out of local schist during the last Covid lockdown.
‘‘Our vision has always been to have world-class musicians play in this amphitheatre, among the grapes,’’ Seifert says.
‘‘It’s all very much about drinking premium wine and listening to good music,’’ though beer and non-alcoholic beverages will also be available this weekend, along with a food truck.
Fountain, who’s bringing her full band, was born in San Francisco and raised amid the thriving music scene of Lyttelton, near Christchurch.
She’s released five albums and won the Taite Music Prize, an Aotearoa Music Award and an APRA best song award.
She’s also toured internationally with Marlon Williams and supported Crowded House and Nick Cave.
Queenstown-raised Gunn, meanwhile, is a multi-instrumentalist singer-songwriter known for his stirring renditions of jazz and soul ballads.
This will be his first local performance after several years in Auckland.
Tickets, $70 a head, can be bought via coxsvineyard.co.nz (November 12’s set aside as a weather contingency day).
There’s also $30 bus transport – also bookable via the website — leaving Frankton (3.15pm), Lake Hayes (3.30pm) and Arrowtown (3.45pm), returning from 8.30pm.
Seifert says their next concert’s likely to be in March.
Meanwhile, she notes they’ve also been celebrating five golds this year for their pinot noir and pinot gris, two at the International Wine and Spirit Competition in London and three at the New Zealand International Wine Show.
