Jennie Milson eats and drinks her way around NZ's sunniest spots.
KEY POINTS:
If, like me, you're partial to a glass of wine, you'll feel right at home at Blenheim airport. It doesn't have a cracking wine bar (though it does have a cafe called Propeller), rather its walls are plastered with posters of neighbouring wineries within spitting distance of the tarmac.
To the newly arrived, this is encouraging indeed. Although do be aware that if flying isn't your thing, you probably won't love the flight to Blenheim. Chances are it'll be on a 19-seater plane, although it's only a 20-minute hop from Wellington and the views help you forget how small the aircraft is.
Just don't do what we did, which was to board the wrong plane; such is the risky combination of two airport bars, final-call boarding then being let loose on the tarmac and allowed to pick a plane.
However, despite such challenges, we find ourselves in Blenheim and are bundled off into the vines, pink-tinged in the setting sun, to Marlborough Vintners Hotel where earlier that day managers Dave and Sarah Anderson had officially opened the restaurant's new bar.
We promptly tested it to ensure it was working, with a local chardonnay and a margarita, expertly executed by resident barman Rudy.
We settled in for dinner with a bottle or two of good local wine. Executive chef Maree O'Connelly does great things in the kitchen - like my crab croquette with huge prawns and rosy lamb with baby veggies. And you must try her chocolate fondant, a crisp shell, hot from the oven and oozing within.
We collapse contentedly into family-size beds and awake to birds buzzing and bees singing. Oh, and a dull pain between the temples.
Flinging back the doors on to the deck of our lodge, there was Marlborough in all its splendour: expanses of grapevines, dramatic hills - some even snow-capped if you look hard enough - and those singing bees. Goodbye headache, hello Marlborough.
Our transport and guide for the day is ex-cop-turned-tour-guide George Williams of Sounds Connection, a company which offers a whole array of specialist local tours.
Williams whizzes us past row-upon-row of vines, stirring in the morning sun. He indicates which trees to look through to glimpse the hills over on the North Island and we hear about the Duke of Marlborough who was born in a palace called Blenheim (ah-ha!). Our brains fortified with new historical intelligence, we set about fortifying our palates by tasting our way round the land of sauvignon blanc.
Sauvignon is big business in Marlborough; it's the region's most widely grown grape and yields are up by around one-third in the past year to a staggering 120,000 tonnes.
But in the four wineries we visit, we begin to appreciate that this single variety can take on many guises - its complex characteristics are finely demonstrated at organic winery Grove Mill, which is the world's first carbon zero winery.
Here, we nose our way along a line-up of six glasses of sauvignon blanc, each with an added floating component. There's chopped kiwifruit in one, capsicum in another. Recognising these flavours will help us to identify the complexities of the grape when we taste the wine.
"Women are normally quite good at this," Grove Mill's tasting expert tells us. "Not necessarily because we're better wine-tasters than men but because we tend to cook a bit more."
Time for lunch, so Williams delivers us to Allan Scott's Twelve Trees Restaurant, where we sit in the sun and savour wines which have been matched to the four courses set before us. Each arrives with a flourish of introduction. We'd happily idle till dawn considering infinite pairings but Williams keeps a strict schedule, so it's back on the bus and before we know it, we're ooh-ing and ahh-ing over Herzog's lovely gardens, sipping sauvignon like there's no tomorrow and vowing to return for dinner, if only for a go on the drinks and cheese trolleys.
We also call in at Johanneshof Cellars for the cellar tour and a glass of sparkling, then swing by boutique chocolate-makers Makana, where we watch through glass windows as deft fingers set about moulding, shaping and filling chocolates.
Back at Vintners, Rudy senses we've had a long, difficult, day and kindly fixes us some cocktails.
The next morning we're up early for a day on the Sounds. Richard Miller, who is Regal Salmon's fish performance manager, takes us out on a boat from Picton to one of their salmon farms. The water is as clear and blue as the sky. It's stunning.
We're deposited at a tiny wharf, seemingly miles from Picton, and swooped up by boutique cheese-maker Lisa Sherrington.
She's just come from the farmers' market in Blenheim where, every Sunday, she and her beekeeper brother sell their cheese and honey.
She takes us to her home via a narrow road which twists through the trees and around the coast.
After a quick rummage in the cheese fridge, Sherrington quickly amasses an assortment of cheese under her arm.
Lunch, she announces matter-of-factly, will be simple - her cheese, soup and warm-from-the-oven bread rolls.
It doesn't get more homemade than that and is perfect with chilled sauvignon blanc (naturally) and views across the still water from her sunny deck. We don't want to leave.
But all too soon, it's fine to fortify yourself with one of Propeller's strongest cuppas before boarding the wee flight home.
FACT FILE
There are four Sounds in Marlborough: Queen Charlotte, Kenepuru, Pelorus and Mahau.
They have 1500km of coastline, 10 per cent of the country's total.
The king shag, one of the world's rarest birds, is seen only in the Marlborough Sounds.
Marlborough has more than 50 winery cellars that the public can visit.
Marlborough produces more than 60 per cent of New Zealand's wine.
Go to www.destinationmarlborough.com
IF YOU GO...
Dine at one of the region's many award-winning winery restaurants.
Sample boutique olive oils at local olive groves.
Pick your own stone-fruit, apples and berries.
Forage for garlic, asparagus and other specialities from the Sunday Farmers Market in Blenheim.
Seek out game and gourmet foods from specialty suppliers.
Soak up the entertainment at New Zealand's premier wine and food experience, Wine Marlborough. Held on the second Saturday in February every year (February 9 this year) where you can sample the region's wines and foods.
VITAL STATS
Marlborough Vintners Hotel
(03) 572 5094
www.mvh.co.nz
Sounds Connection
www.soundsconnection.co.nz
(03) 573 8843
Destination Marlborough
(03) 577 5523
www.destinationmarlborough.com
Grove Mill
(03) 572 8200
www.grovemill.co.nz
Allan Scott Family Winemakers
(03) 572 9054
www.allanscott.com
Johanneshof Cellars
(03) 573 7035
Herzog Winery and Restaurant
(03) 572 8770
www.herzog.co.nz
Regal Salmon
0800 725 666
www.regalsalmon.co.nz
Makana Chocolate
(03) 570 5370
www.makana.co.nz
Sherrington Grange
(03) 574 2655
www.sherringtongrange.co.nz
