Today is the last day of 2010 and we have made lots of plans. The first set of plans involve going on a wine tour in the Marlborough wine region. Of course we were going to be picked up at 11:30 from the house so this meant we had a really relaxing morning. This gave us plenty of time to finalize the plans for dinner and the evening.
As soon as we got picked up we met the driver Jo who is very personable and friendly. She is willing to cater the tour to the interests of the guests of which there were 6 of us. This was hard to do when you have so many wineries to select from since this is the Sauvignon Blanc grapes and this region is world renown for its wines. Trying to select the 4 or 5 vineyards to visit was a challenge.
Quote from Wikipedia: “When the first growers planted grapes in Marlborough in the 1970s (there is evidence of plantings as early as 1870s), it is unlikely they would have foreseen the extent of the growth and fame that the region’s wine industry would achieve, based upon a single varietal called Sauvignon Blanc. The distinctive pungency and zest fruit flavours of the first Marlborough wines, in particular Sauvignon Blanc, captured the imagination of the country's winemakers as well as international wine commentators and consumers and sparked an unparalleled boom in vineyard development. Worldwide interest in Marlborough wines, particularly Sauvignon Blanc, has continued to fuel that regional wine boom.
The continued worldwide interest and demand for Marlborough wines fuels on ongoing growth of plantings. The region currently has 23,600 hectares of land planted with planted grapes. These plantings are primarily located within the Wairau Valley. Over the last decade, viticulture has also spread southeast into the smaller slightly cooler Awatere Valley. More recently the southern side valleys of the Wairau – Fairhall, Hawkesbury and Waihopai – have gathered a collection of vines.
New Zealand’s first exportation of wine in 1963 came ten years before grapes were even planted in Marlborough. However, Marlborough is now the largest wine producing region in the country, 79% of New Zealand’s total active wine production.”
We started with the largest producer of wine, Montana’s. However its name is being changed to Brancott since the Montana name when marketed in USA gets confusing. Actually the name Brancott has something to do with the first vineyard’s family name that became part of the Montana’s vineyards. The wines we tasted here were: a Bubbly Sauvignon Blanc, a regular Sauvignon Blanc, a Riesling, a Sauvignon Gris, a Rose, and a Pinot Noir.
Our next stop was at the Saint Claire Cellar and Café where we were to sample wines and have lunch. The lunch was not included in the tour so this was at our own expense but we all were interested in checking out what we had been told was an excellent menu. I was not impressed at all and feel that the food was over priced and lacked quantity. This was the general feeling of several of the others too. While we had our lunch our tour host (Jo) went to pick up 3 more people who were joining our tour at 1 pm.
At Saint Claire we were able to taste more really good wines (did not make up for the food but it helped). This winery is a mid-sized winery and does ship wines to Canada. They grow some of their own grapes but buy most from vineyards around the region. In face some of their wines are coded to indicate which vineyard the grapes are from. Other wines use blends of vineyard grapes. The wines we tasted are: Omaka Reserve Chardonnay, Awatere Noble Reisling, Pioneer Block Sauvignon Blanc #19, Pioneer Block Pinot Noir #14, and Choice Savvy Bubbles.
Our third stop was at the smallest winery in the region called Gibson Bridge. This winery is owned and run by a husband and wife team and they have a total of 6 hectares of vineyards. They do not buy grapes from anyone else and only produce a small amount of wine which is considered some of the best. I am not able to list the wines we tasted since it was such in informal setting with not wine lists presented. However we did really like the dessert wine called Sweet 16. This is a Noble wine which means the grapes are left to the very last minute to be harvested. The grape (dried like a raison almost) is high in sugar content and is used to make the dessert wines. It is similar (yet different in processing) to our ice wines. The name comes from the fact that there were 16 rows of grapes left in the vineyard to make this wine.
As we were finishing up in this small winery, one of our group accidently turned and walked into a glass door that lead outside. It shattered and she had a few cuts on her knee. She also hit her head but not hard enough to break the glass at that level. She was badly shaken up as were the owners. She had to sit down for a bit so the tour continued without her and her fiancé. However the next vineyard we visited was only about 3 minutes up the road so our tour guide dropped us off and went back to pick them up.
The final winery we visited was called Te Whare Ra (shortened to TWA on the bottles). This is another small operation with only 3 full time employees. The wines are so well regarded that some are used in restaurants and they have run out of all the previous years’ stock. The next batch of wine to be available is ready to be bottled and should be available in a month or so. However, the demand for their wine is such that they have a email list of clients who have first option to purchase the wines. The particular wine most popular that was not bottled yet and is not usually on the wine tasting option was available only for us (a special favour to one of our group). As for the names of the wines we tasted, this time I was not able to get a list and the picture I took does not have readable labels. However, the range of tasted wines is similar to the other wineries but each was a bit different.
We left this last winery in a hurry so we could get to the Boutique Chocolate Factory for a quick taste sampling. This is a very busy place and the chocolates we sampled were so good. However the costs reflected this fact so we did not buy anything. It was very nice to check it out of course and sample the wares.
We finished the tour and returned to John’s place about 5:30 so we had about one hour to relax, change and head out for our New Year’s Eve dinner. Wes and I had decided to treat John, his mom, and their house guest to the dinner as a thank you for staying at their place for 3 nights. They are great hosts and we wanted to express our gratitude. When we did the Napier wine tour we picked up a Mission Noble Gewürztraminer wine to celebrate New Years Eve so this was to be part of the dessert. Unbeknown to us the restaurant is a BYO wine option so Barbara and John purchased the wine ahead of time and we took that as well. The restaurant we went to is the Hotel d’Urville and John’s daughter is the manager and hostess. We had a really enjoyable dinner sitting out on the patio deck which is a first for me for a New Years Eve dinner.
We had talked about going to Picton (about 30 minutes away) to watch the fireworks and participate in the community celebrations, but when it was time to decide – home or Picton?, everyone was ready for home to relax, drink some dessert wine and have the apple dessert that Natallie prepared. The sunset was stunning by the way and I was able to snap a few pictures. What a great way to end 2010 since from now on it will be 2011.
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