return to Martinborough

Conrad and I did what we could to balance places new to us with places we enjoyed two years ago on the recent trip to New Zealand. A case in point is the village of Martinborough. In 2007 we enjoyed a sunny day trip and winery tour there, coming up for the day only from Wellington. This time around, we spent a night there, heading north from Wellington to Napier.

Here's what we didn't realize when we planned this: the grapes would mostly be in, and the vineyards would be busy with the start of wine making. As such, mid-afternoon and midweek there weren't many opportunities to taste wine close in to town. The whole village was fairly tranquil, in fact. We checked in to our hotel, the Petit Hotel (four rooms, nicely restored old building), and headed across the street to the Village Cafe for lunch. Not too many people in there, and we happily read and tucked into the Caesar salad (yes, that is a fried egg - a neat variation on the raw egg that goes into the traditional tossed-at-the-table salad) and charcuterie plate.
We'd parked for the night, so a glass of wine each as well. Yes, that IS a shocker.

After lunch, we set out walking. There are wineries farther out, but we wanted to go to the ones within a short stroll of the village center. Alas, not too many have midweek cellar door hours, and fewer still have such hours year-round. We ended up at Ata Rangi just before closing.

I wish we'd taken photos inside. We had a great little visit, in fact - talking with the winery owner and some others there, enjoying the wines (and the labels - gorgeous!). Our little stroll resulted in three bottles (two half size ones among them) coming home with us. Success!

For dinner we wandered to the bigger, parent hotel next door and in to their bar. In the off season, the dining room was not open, but there were a number of good options for eating available in the bar. Not only that, but the bartender gave us great advice (and samples) of some wines. I'm kicking myself right now - I'm at the Vancouver condo blogging there, but the menu is at home in Chicago. My memory is poor, and my descriptions of these items will be paltry:

A salmon tartare. I think.

More fish. I think.

Salad.


Cheeses.

Pathetic of me.

Over night, the ominous clouds we saw earlier left a bit of rain - not much - but rocked our little building with fierce winds. Somehow we didn't mind being awoken often - we had no rush planned for the next morning, and we kind of liked the feeling of being so sheltered inside.

In the morning, though, a sunny day in the village, and under these blue skies I got behind the steering wheel to try driving for the first time in NZ.

Twelfth NZ post; Martinborough (yes, more wine tasting)

Our most summery day of the trip before our time in Auckland had to be the Sunday when we went by car up to Martinborough. Murray, a guide with Flat Earth, drove us up and took us around to 6 wineries, including lunch at one. It was sunny and rather warm out, and the countryside we passed through was super - we climbed up the Hutt Valley out of Wellington, over some mountains, then into the Martinborough area.

Marlborough, where we did our first wineries tour, is known (justifiably) for its Sauvignon Blancs, though we did enjoy some of the other wines (not the Rieslings, though, nope). Martinborough is known for its Pinots Noirs, so this was to be Conrad's wine day. It's not nearly so important a wine-producing region as Marlborough. Alas (and perhaps it was a result of the roster of wineries we visited) the wines weren't as good either.

So:

1. Winslow. Quiet little place. The winemaker's son spoke with us at length. His Pinot Noir was not so terrific, but we liked his Riesling, of all things. Then he poured us some sparkling wine, and we were surprised to find that it, too, was pretty good. Not our usual purchase, but we bought one of each.

2. Tirohana. Another small one, but we got some direct, personal care there. Again, we were surprised not to care for the Pinot Noir much. Instead, we bought a bottle of a rose and a bottle of a light dessert wine. Curious.

3. Alana. We had lunch here, and it was a tasty, meaty lunch for us both. I might not have chosen it, but we were able to try their reserve Pinot Noir and opt for a glass at lunch. Good stuff. We sat out on the patio, enjoying the warm day in the shade. We ended up purchasing a bottle of the Pinot Noir as well.






4. Te Kairanga. The Framingham of the Martinborough tour. Slight attitude. Decent but not super wines. We sipped and thanked them and made a discreet exit.


After lunch Murray drove us around a bit, past some vineyards and some parcels of land still dedicated to other farming. We went round to the 5th winery by way of a scenic back road.


5. Murdoch James was a terrific little place. We were wary of buying too much by this point because we were unsure of getting it all home. Consequently, we bought only a bottle of the Cabernet Franc. It will need a few years, and we later left it as a gift with Dion and Minna in Auckland - we hope we might share it with them in the future.


6. The Cabbage Tree. A very tiny operation. The owner looks delightfully mad scientist crossed with Crocodile Dundee or something. He showed us the operation, and we happily tried his four wines. A rose was tour purchase there as well.

So, the Pinot Noirs let us down, and we don't know if we had the best or not. Murray was a great guide in general, but not a wine person, in fact. We think that next trip we'll have to get down to Otago and do tastings there.

Back in Wellington, we changed and strolled along the water a bit, stopping for photos in the evening light,






before heading to Floriditas again. Lunch the day before, dinner that Sunday night. We shared grilled shrimp, I had lamb and Conrad had chicken, and of course I had more of that heavenly Seresin Marama Sauvignon Blanc. Ahhhhhh. And in a funny end to the evening, Conrad and I got our wires crossed when we were paying and using the restroom before leaving, resulting in the waiter getting some $22 tip (in NZ, tipping is rare, and certainly much more modest if it does happen).