NZ-marlborough wine country
On Day 1, we visited Montana (aka Brancroft in US), Cloudy Bay, Allan Scott, From and Grove Mill.
Montana was recommended by several kiwis as it's the biggest winery in NZ, so being fans of the mom & pop wineries we were a little apprehensive. However, we had a great time tasting 8 different Sauv Blancs thanks to a very knowledgable winery employee. We learned about all the different brands, vineyards and appellations where Montana-Brancroft has grapes, which was a bit dizzying at first! We bought 1 terroir-specific wine to enjoy on our NZ trip, and another for tasting back home with our other NZ wines (don't forget to remind us!)
I was really looking forward to visiting Cloudy Bay, as I've had their wines in USA, and was excited when we arrived - the place had a great brick courtyard where you walked in. But I was a bit disappointed with the wine tasting - not a big variety, and the staff seemed a bit distracted with their coworkers milling about.
In a similar vein, Allan Scott was a quick visit. Even though he's been a longtime winemaker in Marlborough, the girl pouring our wines only seemed to know a little about the wines and the winery. But we did buy a Sauv Blanc from here.
A nice surprise was Fromm. A German decided to start a winery in Marlborough and focus just on reds, making some fantastic Pinots in a variety of styles. We bought one that I think we'll cellar a few years and then see how it comes out! We also enjoyed reading the detailed wine notes they had at the tasting room and chatting with the lady pouring our wines.
Our last visit of the day, Grove Mill, seemed like a bit of a letdown. I think we were really tired after all the wines we tasted that day! But we really liked their organic and environmentally friendly approach. We also bought a Pinot for future tasting :)
Our dinner was at Gibb's Vineyard Restaurant, fantastic place in the middle of a vineyard. We had a Fox Island Pinot; our waitress' father is the owner! We started with a delicious mussel appetizer, followed by our lamb and fish dishes. Wow! One of the best meals we had in NZ.
Day two was a short wine tasting trip. We visited Clos Henri, which was started by a french winemaking family from Sancerre. Their wine tasting room was a small church they transplanted from 60 km away! We bought a mellow Old World-New World style Pinot.
Finally, we visited Seresin winery, named after the NZ director Michael Seresin. Here we tried a variety of whites and reds; we did buy one, but the fun part about the winery was that we also got to taste some of their boutique olive oils - yum!
After Marlborough, we headed to Nelson where we planned to spend a night before going on a 3-day kayak trip. Along the way, we drove through coastal towns in the Marlborough Sounds and stopped to have a quick seafood lunch. We had some great fried oysters and mussels - these were really tasty with beer :)
Montana was recommended by several kiwis as it's the biggest winery in NZ, so being fans of the mom & pop wineries we were a little apprehensive. However, we had a great time tasting 8 different Sauv Blancs thanks to a very knowledgable winery employee. We learned about all the different brands, vineyards and appellations where Montana-Brancroft has grapes, which was a bit dizzying at first! We bought 1 terroir-specific wine to enjoy on our NZ trip, and another for tasting back home with our other NZ wines (don't forget to remind us!)
I was really looking forward to visiting Cloudy Bay, as I've had their wines in USA, and was excited when we arrived - the place had a great brick courtyard where you walked in. But I was a bit disappointed with the wine tasting - not a big variety, and the staff seemed a bit distracted with their coworkers milling about.
In a similar vein, Allan Scott was a quick visit. Even though he's been a longtime winemaker in Marlborough, the girl pouring our wines only seemed to know a little about the wines and the winery. But we did buy a Sauv Blanc from here.
A nice surprise was Fromm. A German decided to start a winery in Marlborough and focus just on reds, making some fantastic Pinots in a variety of styles. We bought one that I think we'll cellar a few years and then see how it comes out! We also enjoyed reading the detailed wine notes they had at the tasting room and chatting with the lady pouring our wines.
Our last visit of the day, Grove Mill, seemed like a bit of a letdown. I think we were really tired after all the wines we tasted that day! But we really liked their organic and environmentally friendly approach. We also bought a Pinot for future tasting :)
Our dinner was at Gibb's Vineyard Restaurant, fantastic place in the middle of a vineyard. We had a Fox Island Pinot; our waitress' father is the owner! We started with a delicious mussel appetizer, followed by our lamb and fish dishes. Wow! One of the best meals we had in NZ.
Day two was a short wine tasting trip. We visited Clos Henri, which was started by a french winemaking family from Sancerre. Their wine tasting room was a small church they transplanted from 60 km away! We bought a mellow Old World-New World style Pinot.
Finally, we visited Seresin winery, named after the NZ director Michael Seresin. Here we tried a variety of whites and reds; we did buy one, but the fun part about the winery was that we also got to taste some of their boutique olive oils - yum!
After Marlborough, we headed to Nelson where we planned to spend a night before going on a 3-day kayak trip. Along the way, we drove through coastal towns in the Marlborough Sounds and stopped to have a quick seafood lunch. We had some great fried oysters and mussels - these were really tasty with beer :)
Labels: honeymoon, Julie, Marlborough, New Zealand, wine tasting, Xavier
posted by Xavier at 6:39 PM
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