The 45th Parallel: Burgundy's Mirror

How to Complete

3 steps curated by Wine Memories

1. 📜 1

   Find the Latitude Marker

   history Free

   Several markers along SH6 note the 45th parallel crossing.

   Drive State Highway 6 between Cromwell and Wanaka. Look for the '45th Parallel' road signs and pull-offs. The most photographed is between Lowburn and Wanaka. Your GPS will confirm when you cross exactly 45°S.

   🍷 Log Memory
2. ⛰️ 2

   Toast Both Hemispheres

   Optional

   adventure Free

   Bring a bottle from Oregon or Burgundy to toast the parallel.

   If you've completed Chapter 7 (Oregon) or Chapters 1-3 (Burgundy), bring a bottle from those journeys. Toast at the 45th parallel marker - you're connecting the global Pinot Noir story in one sip.

   🍷 Log Memory
3. ⛰️ 3

   Photograph the Parallel View

   adventure Free

   Capture the landscape that mirrors Burgundy's latitude.

   The landscape here (dry, continental, mountainous) looks nothing like Burgundy - yet the latitude is identical. Photograph the contrast: snow-capped mountains, golden tussock, wild schist outcrops. Different scenery, same magic.

   🍷 Log Memory

Insider Tips

• ✦

  The 45th parallel runs through Central Otago, Oregon's Willamette Valley, and Burgundy

• ✦

  Romeo Bragato declared Central Otago "pre-eminently suitable" for viticulture in 1895

• ✦

  The first recorded Central Otago wine won gold in Sydney in 1881 - the modern pioneers were reviving a tradition