Truffle

Taranaki Perigord Black Truffle

Here at Mountain Road Estate we are all fascinated with fungus.We want truffle to be the reason for bringing family together to share a special meal.

OUR VISION for Mountain Road Estate Organic Truffle to bring quality non-toxic Truffle to the New Zealand dinner table as a special winter delicious treat. 

We want truffle to be the reason for bringing family together to share a special meal and connect.

 to.

.And  Why is Fungi Beneficial?

Here at Mountain Road Estate we are all fascinated with fungus.

Fungi is very beneficial to our planet it breaks down waste, off-sets carbon emissions, provides food and medicine.

There are so many reasons to love this diverse species. Truffle in particular has been adored by the rich for many years, with kings believing it improved their sex life. Now this has not been proven in any way however its neat to know past beliefs about such a special food, and how it was treasured in the past. 

How Many Truffle Inoculated Trees Do We Have?

We have planted almost 300 truffle inoculated trees. 

This means that in 2025 we should have two paddocks that are bursting with Perigord black truffle in the winter. It is our dream to give locals the opportunity to taste quality truffle grown under their Maunga.

We maintain organic practices, and have right from the beginning of our journey. This makes us different to many of the Trufieres that we have visited. Most will spray out the grass before planting and while the trees are young to reduce maintenance work. 

 

Do you Sell Truffle inoculated Trees?

YES!!! We do we produce high quality, small batch inoculated seedlings following M. Hance techniques.
It’s a passion so we offer quality over quantity. Our Current offering are as followsL 

Quercus robur   English oak, Deciduous
Quercus ilex       Holm oak, Evergreen
Corylus avellana Hazelnut (white heart) Deciduous

Using DNA tested
Tuber melanosporum (Perigord black truffle)
Tuber aestivum-uncinatum (Burgundy/ Summer truffle)

Please contact us to talk about the possibility of growing Truffle on your land. 

Dan Zinsli
Mountainroadestate@gmail.com
0274713800
www.mountianroadestate.com

More on Truffle

What is Perigord Truffle

What is Perigord Truffle?

If you’re wondering what Perigord truffle is, don’t worry your’e not the only one!

The truffle industry is relatively new to NZ (1990’s). There are a few different types of truffle grown in NZ, we have chosen Perigord Truffle because we absolutely love the flavor and the food it matches.

Perigord truffle is native to Southern Europe and is extremely popular overseas.

Perigord Truffle has a beautiful earthy, garlicky taste that hits you in the back of the mouth, making you want more and more! Each experience in unique, some other words to describe truffle are: oaky, nutty, creamy, delicious, pungent 

 

Tell Me More About Perigord Truffle. I LOVE Science!

Perigord Truffle is a Ectomycorrhizal fungi that forms a symbiotic relationship with its host tree, in our case Oak and Hazelnuts.

A fungal network of Hyphae (fine microscopic filaments) makes its home over and in the roots of the inoculated trees. 

This network of hyphae create a symbiotic relationship with the tree, the hyphae helps the tree absorb nutrients and the tree will allow the hyphae to exist and eventually fruit (truffle) if the soil and climatic conditions allow.

Mountain Road Estate - Perigord Truffle - New Zealand - NZ
Mountain Road Estate - Perigord Truffle - New Zealand - NZ

How Easy is it to Grow Truffle?

Growing truffle is not for the faint hearted, there are a number elements that need to fall in to place, such as climate (hot summer, frosty winter) soil (high PH, well draining), no competing mycorrhizae, healthy soil full of bio diversity, well inoculated trees the list goes on. We have been working on this for many years…

Our Special Way of Finding Truffle in Our Paddocks

Some questions we get asked are:

… How are you going to find the truffle?

…. Will you crawl on the ground and smell them or will you get a pig?

Well we have a lovely deaf, blue heeler called Azul. 

While we are training her you may find us crawling around sniffing the ground.. it is a good smell!

In France, they did use pigs to find the truffle, you can still find people today with missing fingers from trying to get the truffle before the pig ate it. Hence at this point we have no plans to use pigs to help us find our truffle.

Keep your eyes and ears open

Be in Quick to Enjoy Our Truffle

Once harvested the truffle has a very short window to be consumed as the shelf life is generally around 1 week before the flavor starts to reduce

Join our wait-list and be one of the first people to be contacted when we have truffle available.

We want to make your winter a little bit more special!

Join us for a truffle hunt, do something new and support a new business 

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Farm

Mountain Road
Normanby, Taranaki 4673

Contact

(21) 182 8710
mountainroadestate@gmail.com

Hours

M-F: 9am - 6pm
S-S: 10am - 5pm

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