Bicycles in Blenheim

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We were sad to leave the lovely Abel Tasman behind but onwards and upwards (well Eastwards) we went (along some very windy roads) towards the Marlborough region: home of excellent Sauvignon Blancs - Daz's favourite (always good coming to a country which specialises in your two favourite wines - Sauvignon Blanc and Pinto Noir). We stopped off for lunch in Havelock - the green lipped mussel capital of the world (so it claims) - and we were wowed by the taste and incredible size of our Thai Green Curry Mussels at the Mussel Pot.

Arriving in Blenheim we wondered where everyone one was. It seemed like a bit of a ghost town. Then we realised we had lost track of the days and it was Sunday (not that it makes much difference to us). So we had a little start at visiting a few wineries (Spy Valley, Montana and the Mud House) the best being Montana which had an excellent Sav and also a Sauvignon Gris: an old grape type hardly seen any more and not a mix of Sauvignon and Pinot Gris. Then we wandered into town. Daz ordered a venison dish with blueberries (amazing and it was only in a gastro pub) and we whiled away a few hours watching tennis and reading papers toasting and lameting our halfway through the holiday point!

On Monday morning we hopped onto mountain bikes and set off on our tour of the Marlborough Wineries. The reason we were here. Our planned route on the map looked easy enough until we saw that it was going to be at least a 30k round trip - this could be a long day. It was. We were out from 9.45 til 6.30 but had lots of fun going from one tasting to the next on our bikes getting wobblier and our bike bags more full each time we stopped.

We managed to fit in 11 wineries!! Not as excessive as it sounds and easy when you realise most are within a few metres of each other. It was the ride either side that did us in!

The ones we tasted at were:

• Wither Hills
  
• Villa Maria
  
• Highfield Estate (& lattes)
  
• Isabel Estate
  
• Te Whare Ra
  
• Gibson Bridge
  
• Nautilus
  
• Wairau River (& lunch)
  
• Cloudy Bay
  
• Allan Scott
  
• Saint Clair
  

& Makana chocolate factory!!

Highlights were:
Isabel for the lovely family feel (the grandaughter of Isabel runs the cellar door and we loved most of what they had). We bought a sav but also really liked their noble sauvage dessert wine - most uncharacteristically for us.

This character change continued in both Gibson Bridge (lovely decor) where we splashed out on a Noble Pinot Gris after not agreeing on which of their great normal Pinot Gris to get (Daz liked the fruitier 2008 and Loz the more complex 2007 - is that saying something about us?) and in Alan Scott where rather than pay the $2 each tasting charge we bought a late harvest Sauvignon Blanc. Both probably not as good as the Sauvage but excellent nonetheless and cheaper.

Lunch of a superb nibble platter at Wairau River with fantastic glasses of Sav (Daz) and Chardonnay (Loz). Very garlicky houmous but lovely nonetheless, as was the pesto.

Best Sauvignon Blanc? For Daz it was the 2008 in Nautilus (one for the shopping list as it is available and probably be cheaper in the UK) and anything tasting of gooseberry and grapefruit (even though he does not like the fruit) rather than green pepper and herbs. We can definitely say there is a difference now having tried so many... Loz preferred the Chardonnay at Nautilus but also loved the Clifford Bay Sav at Villa Maria.

Only one Pinot Noir passed muster though which was disappointingly the one at the rather snooty Highfield Estate, where the Chardonnay was also pretty good (NZ Chardonnays are very different and lighter than Oz or US Chardonnays and therefore much better). Didn't buy any though due to the attitude but did make use of their free sunscreen and sit in garden with straw hats on.

All in all a splendid day. Not too hot and a good bit of exercise while supping some excellent tipples. Only risk maybe that we might not be able to bring ourselves back to drinking cheap plonk from Sainsbury's.

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Comments

[Miranda]

OOO nice nibbly bits and those mussels look awesome!