No room at the inn. Good thing we have a reservation.
Life On The Vineyard
Hawkes Bay on the North Island and the Marlborough region on the South Island are the premier wine making areas in the country. The Marlborough region of New Zealand is renowned for its Sauvignon Blancs. The town of Blenheim is the "big" city in this area with a population around 21,000. The tiny town of Renwick sits 6 kilometers west of Blenhiem. Rather than stay in the towns, we decided to experience life on a vineyard by staying on one.
Research on the internet brought us to The Straw Lodge for our vineyard experience. The main house and the guest houses are constructed of straw-bale in a metal frame, covered by stucco. We got to see pictures of the full construction process. It looked challenging but the end result is beautiful, comfortable, functional, and environmentally friendly.
Loaner bikes are available at the lodge. Here we go for a bike ride!
Vineyards were in various stages. A relatively new vineyard was being planted.
What a beautiful place for a bike ride. Mountains in the back ground. Grapes in the foreground.
Rivers surrounded the vineyards. Much to our surprise, we encountered a flooded road along our route. Even more surprising was the truck driving down the road.
After the bike ride, we headed back to the Straw Lodge. The building in this picture are the Straw Lodge.
Here is the porch of our room.
Valetine's day Huia champagne and cheese. New Zealand's cheese manufacturers make delicious cheeses.
Not a bad view from our room.
Reuben, the dog, was quite friendly and fun.
We chose to have dinner with the owners one night. A delicious meal accompanied with Churton wines made from the grapes in the vineyard was a special treat.
Jane and Nettie have fabulous vegetable gardens all over the property. Mmmmmm, artichokes.
And, the beautiful artichoke flower. This is what happens if you wait too long to harvest one.
This is the main house at the Straw Lodge.
What a great table for neighborhood feasts!
Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir grapes are grown in the vineyard.
Great grapes.
We visited this winery to grab a bite to eat. Touring wineries and vineyards is a bit different here than in California. Most places have a restaurant. Wines are sold, but tours of the vineyards or wine making facilities are not done.
Vines & Wines
The Marlborough area has over 50 wineries within a small geographical area. The Marlborough Wine Trail is frequently toured on bicycle. The bikes have carrying packs for purchased bottles of wine. We visited five vineyards during our stay in this region. The boutique Huia winery offered tasty chardonnays, sauvignon blancs and champagne. Cloudy Bay's Te Koko Sauvignon Blanc was one of our favorites. Nautilus produces delicious chardonnays and champagnes, too. Villa Maria is one the big winemakers exporting lots of wine to the US.
We are starting to really appreciate the New Zealand Sauvignon Blancs. They tend to be very different from California Sauvignon Blancs - crisp and fruity, or sometimes "green peppery". The wines seem well fitted for the typical local cuisine of fish and fresh salads. So far, we are not finding too many red wines we like although the cabernet merlot shiraz blends can be yummy.
Perched on a hill overlooking the valley, this winery has quite the impressive facility.
Looks like the rain is on its way. Hurry, let's get to a winery to taste some wine and stay dry.
Nautilus wines are one of our favorites. Here is their tasting room.
Oak barrels at Cloudy Bay Winery.
The large top-secret satellite tracking station based in the Waihopai Valley motivated one vineyard in the area to call themselves "Spy Valley". Spy Valley wines are quite tasty.
Wairau Plains
Off the main drag of the wine trail, winding rivers and beautiful plains cover the land. We drove into this very rural area. Bordered by two rivers, the Wairau Plain extends from the wine country into miles and miles of sheep farms and pastures. "The Wairau River is Marlborough's largest river. It has a drainage area of 2600 square kilometers and is 257km long. Maori aptly named it "many waters" owing to it being largely a braided river. The Wairau's main tributaries are the Branch, the Waihopai and Rainbow rivers." We thoroughly enjoyed driving through this area. Of course, we envision vineyards filling the area someday.
Beautiful valleys framed with mountains are everywhere.
Desolate roads give perspective on just how few people there are on the South Island.
The Waihopai Hydro Dam was near the end of the valley. We drove beyond, but really very isolated on the remote roads farther inland.
What are these sheep doing? Something tasty must be hanging on near this pile of logs resulting in a pile of sheep.
Nets cover the grape vines to protect them from the birds. Harvesting time is just around the corner and the fruit is sweet and plump enticing birds to snack on the grapes.
Like every place on our South Island journey, we found the Straw Lodge and the Marlborough area hard to leave. We will return again, to spend more time and sample more wine. The relaxed, small-town feel of the area gives one the impression that this would be a great place to retire and plant a small vineyard. Some boutique wines? Maybye a small micro-brewery? Hmmm.
Alas, we must move on south back toward Christchurch. The conclusion of our wonderful South Island trip is just a few days away.