At 1pm yesterday, our Marlborough wine tour began. Our guide Frank drove us to the Marlborough wine region, just south of Picton. The Marlborough is home to 60 premier vineyards where all the "savvy" grapes are grown----- my favorite! ("Savvy" = sauvignon blanc. Kiwis and Aussies are known for shortening long words!) Sauvignon Blanc is also known as "Sunshine in a glass" as it needs lots and lots of sunshine to produce its delicious taste. We visited 4 wineries; tasting Drylands (maker of my favorite wine--- Monkey Bay!), Saint Clair (might be my new fav if I can find it in the U.S.), Mahi and Wairau River wines.
As we drove to the Marlborough, our guide Frank, gave us a running commentary about the region and told us many interesting tidbits about New Zealand. We were quite intrigued to find that the San Andreas Fault comes all the way across the Pacific Ocean to... just south of here! We actually drove over the fault on our way to taste wine!
The Kiwis are always quite the entrepreneurs--- they have invented bungy jumping, the Zorb, and Wine Touring by bike! Notice the panniers... oh-so clever--- padded spaces for wine bottles that you buy at each vineyard!
Our last stop of the day was at the chocolate factory. Julie was happy!
Julie bought a bottle of champagne at Saint Clair. We enjoyed it with our homemade supper of popcorn, grilled cheese and chicken noodle soup!
