Marlborough Wine Region

How could we visit New Zealand without spending some time in the Marlborough wine region?

Both of us have always been primarily red wine drinkers, but this visit has truly made us appreciate the whites — specially the Sauvignon Blanc (or Sav Blanc as they call it!) that put the Marlborough area on the world wine-making map.

Marlborough is New Zealand’s most important wine region by far, with more than 500 growers producing more than three quarters of all the country’s wine. Astonishingly, this huge industry didn’t really get going until the early 1970s, when some smart viticulturists at Brancott Estates figured out that the region’s dry and sunny climate was ideal for Sauvignon Blanc.

We toured the Framingham winery to see if they might want to benefit from our profound insights and expertise. Strangely enough, they seemed to know more than we did.

With harvest not for another couple of months, some of the vineyards had draped their vines in breathable plastic to protect them from the birds!

Most of the major wineries around Blenheim offer wine tastings and some operate restaurants as well. We had an absolutely scrumptious lunch at the Saint Clair Estate.

One night in Blenheim, we looked outside to see a distinctly orange moon. And I promise we hadn’t any wine that evening….lunar eclipse maybe? No, just smoke from the continuing bush fires in Australia!

In the nearby town of Havelock, we enjoyed a mussels tasting at the Mills Bay restaurant. New Zealand has over 550 mussel farms, most of them in the Marlborough Sound area. The green-lipped mussels are the delicious and meaty, and the biggest we’ve had!

Luckily we were able to walk off some of that meal on the iconic Queen Charlotte Track trail …

… while soaking in the gorgeous scenery along the way.

And seeing lots of birds, including this unusual looking crested one. Ken was all excited, thinking he had seen an indigenous or exotic bird, only to find that it was a common California quail, one of many birds introduced to New Zealand by European settlers.