MARLBOROUGH WINE REGION (15/08/09)
Having been drinking, and greatly enjoying, Sauvignon Blanc from the vineyards of Marlborough for a number of years we decided it was an important stop on our tour of New Zealand. Our first stop was at the Montana Winery, appropriate since this was the first we ever tried.
Almost all the Wineries have 'Cellar Doors' where you can go in and taste a selection of their wines for free. We found the small, family owned and run vineyards to be far more pleasant. The tiny Lawson's Winery had both Liz and Adam's favourite wines of all seven places that we visited. Surprisingly they were not Sauvignon Blancs- Adam's was a delicious Gewurtzstraminer whilst Liz preferred a fantastic, but very sweet (of course!), Late Harvest Riesling dessert wine.
Sampling Pinot Noir at the Wither Hills Winery, another of the larger vineyards exported across the globe.
At Wither Hills we were allowed into the cellar to see the rows and rows of oak barrells gradually maturing.
Wither Hills is markedly different from most of the Wineries we visited. It is very modern and set up for mass production, these enormous vats have been recently installed and will allow a hauge volume a wine to be produced.
Almost all the wineries now have these specially designed fans. The time when the budding grapes are just starting to show is crucial for the harvest, an unexpected frost can spoil a whole year. The fans keep the air moving and stop the frost settling, giving a degree of protection to the undeveloped grapes.
After about four different wineries the effects of being almost tee-total for the preceeding seven months were starting to show. Liz, by largely skipping the red wines, was probably doing better than Adam.
Our last stop was at a small boutique chocolate factory. We watched the chocolates being hand- made and received a rather pathetically small free sample of their delicious product.
Enamoured as we were with the chocolate we were not drunk enough (although we are sure that they rely on the fact that many people are) to pay the exorbitant prices that they were demanding.
Having spent a thoroughly enjoyable day in the rain the weather decided to clear just as it was starting to get dark. The golden light of dusk lit up the vines beautifully despite their winter lack of foliage and made us want to return in summer to see the area in it's full glory.
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