I made a special detour via the ferry from Wellington to the South Island in order to visit the Marlborough wine region. This is New Zealand’s biggest wine producing area by far – 70% – and it would have been a shame to miss it. It is a sea of Sauvignon Blanc however and although I like it you do need to be aware of that. The rest is mostly Pinot Noir and then some Chardonnay, Pinot Gris and assorted others even including Montepulciano.
I treated myself to a wine tour as I was getting a bit sick of driving and having to spit everywhere…Hop’n’Grape was definitely worth it and highly recommended. Cameron is a wine maker of 20 years standing who now runs this company and has special access to the winery he used to work for – Mount Riley. Since I was the only one who knew anything about wine I got to pick 2 of the wineries we visited –Fromm and Cloudy Bay. The tour of the Mount Riley winery was comprehensive to say the least and it was only because the wine in the stainless steel tanks were too low for Cameron to reach to get a sample – using a special wine sampler – a large plastic jug! – that we didn’t get to taste the wine in the tanks.
Our nextstop was Framingham which was a completely different experience. Their main grape is Riesling but they do others as well. Sauvignon Blanc is the cash cow everywhere and they all make a typical Marlborough one. Then onto Wairau River for tasting and lunch. The food was really good and the wines pretty good as well. After lunch we headed to Fromm which is a tiny organic boutique winery which concentrate on Pinot Noir but as everywhere else also do Sauvignon Blanc. They are also one of the few places which still use corks. Everywhere else it’s screw cap apart from a few bottles at Clos Henri. I was really impressed by their personal service and honesty about what they do. We tasted a 2016 Riesling Beerenauslese which seems to have come about by accident. It was really yummy and of course I didn’t have to spit!
Then onto Cloudy Bay which is on another level – very corporate and slick but still excellent. The setting is lovely with Australian gum trees and eucalyptus being planted by the original Aussie owners. Now it’s owned by LVMH. We ended the day there sipping their Pinto Noir on bean bags on the lawn.
The next day I visited 3 more wineries before getting on the ferry back to Wellington. Saint Clair had the added benefit of coffee in the morning and as you know that’s really important to me! This is a family owned winery and I particularly liked their sparkling which is called DAWN Methode Traditionelle Vintage 2013. Dawn is apparently the who is almost 104.
Clos Henri is another organic boutique winery wholly owned by Henry Bourgeois of Sancerre fame. All the staff are French and the tasting room is a tiny deconsecrated church which they had bought and transported from 40km away. They also sell their Loire wines but you can only taste them if you are a large group. This one also impressed with their attention to detail and is the only place I actually bought wine – Bel Echo Pinot Noir 2016 at NZD33. Their top wines are also still corked although I’m not sure how much of a sign of quality that really is as it’s quite risky these days especially as UK consumers expect NZ wine to be screw cap.
Last one Highfield Terravin – also a boutique winery with a very nice restaurant and a tower you can go up into and see all of the Wairau Valley vines.
Some thoughts on the Marlborough region. The last 2 vintages have been challenging and there are vineyards for sale as they probably took their eye off the ball relying on the region being bone dry and warm all the time. People are moving away from that punch you in the nose Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc and towards a subtler style. They are also showing Sauvignon Blanc which has had more attention than just stainless steel and quick bottling experimenting with wild yeasts, old barrel ageing, on the lees and if they can afford it keeping it for a few years before releasing it. Te Koko 2014 from Cloudy Bay is an example of this. Te Koko means Cloud Bay in Maori.
Anna's Travels 