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Wine tasting in the Marlborough Region, now this could be really interesting or just plain boring so I won’t apologise for the detail. You have been warned.
Contrary to popular belief most of the wineries in the Marlborough region are actually in Renwick and not Blenheim like all the guide books suggest. We had put a side one day to get around as many places as we could, really you need 2 to 3 days to have a good go as there must be over 100 cellar doors round about the place. Marlborough’s signature grape is the Sauvignon Blanc however most white varieties can be produced to varying levels of success as we came to find.
Brancott Estate, formally Montana is the largest exporter of wine in New Zealand and was the one that we were most familiar with, specifically the Sauvignon. We arrived at the cellar door after driving down a dusty dirt road for a while (in the campervan) when we were greeted by the porter in his Mercedes 7 seater he then took us up the hill about 100 yards to the door, I am sure we could have walked but he insisted. We were offered
the standard 6 bottles to sample and also another maybe 6 of the signature range which were all classed as reserves from 2010 / 2009, we could not help but think that it’s just the left over’s from the previous year that has been repackaged.. Guess what..... It’s just that. So next time you buy a bottle of wine, buy 2 and put one away for a year, it would have saved you in this case 50% but can you resist the temptation to leave it there. Out of all the whites I most liked the Chardonnay reserve 2010 and the Merlot 2010 from the 2 Reds. The views out of the glass frontage were spectacular, we could see amass of vines in the vale and on the hills, we were told as we drank which grape came from where. The Sauvignon came from literally the front garden under out feet. You can get them all from Sainsbury’s if you fancy. We could have spend all day at Brancott the guides were really informative and we were under no pressure to buy. All the tastings were free and they were very generous with the samples, giving us 12 tastings (We
got 3 everywhere else). This Winery is definitely ‘a must’ on any Marlborough wine tasting itinerary.
On to
Moa which is actually a beer brewery in the heart of wine country. The dude who owns it, Josh is the son of a winery owner who wanted to do something different so he opened Moa over the road from his dads place. There were 6 beers here to taste ranging from pilsner to stout and from a modest 4%!A(MISSING)BV to the stout at 10.5%!A(MISSING)BV. These were proper tastes as well not just a few sips like at most wineries. Again the tastings were free. They sell the beers in champagne style bottles which are quite cool and offer a flagon or 2 litres to take away. The locals just come in and get a refill for dirt cheap. The beers were really tasty but at present they don’t export to the UK. However, they do to Asia and South America. We bought some Cider, 4 bottles for $12 (£6).
The Forest winery was up next, these produce the ‘
2 doctors’ brand which is available from Waitrose in the UK. These specialise in the Riesling variety but also
offer the other standard whites and reds. The Riesling was pretty average and the rest were on the brink of being poor to undrinkable. We sampled 9 in total but left un-impressed and scorned from having to pay $20 for a 6 wine tasting platter. By this time the steering on the van was feeling pretty light or maybe it was me. Time for some food and the last tasting of the day before things got dangerous.
Giesen is a slightly more modest producer however they also ship to the UK through many wine merchants. They don’t really have a specialty and do most whites really well, Nat really liked the Riesling and I was drawn towards the Chardonnay reserve 2010 yet again. Mid way through the tasting our platter arrived laden with Cheeses, Meats, Breads and Olives along with our selection of a full glass of whatever we fancied. We were talking to the other couple who were also tasting at the same time as us and working our way through the platter, I ate most of the meats and Nat ate most of the Cheeses in actual fact Nat ate 2 full blocks and ended up been
sick when we got home; well she did say prior to the platter coming that cheese and biscuits were her favourite food in the world after ice cream. The 5 tastings (3 whites & 2 reds) were free and they kept our glasses topped up whilst we were eating.
All in all we picked the ideal time to go wine tasting, Autumn. The summer crowds had long since gone and we had nearly all private tastings. The guides at Giesen and Brancott were very informative and keen to answer most questions about the processes involved. I’m not sure that this new found knowledge in wine and beer making will lead to us making better brews in the future, you guys can be the judge of that the next time we get around to making some.
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