KEY POINTS:
There's a scene in the Monty Python film The Meaning of Life where John Cleese tries to convince a grotesquely obese restaurant patron to try just one wafer-thin mint.
The subsequent horrific explosion after the minuscule morsel is consumed flashed through my mind when sitting down for breakfast at the Martinborough Hotel on Monday morning after a weekend of fine dining.
While it is pinot noir which has put the Wairarapa village on the map, there is more to Martinborough than pinot. There's riesling for a start - the region produces several fine versions of the often belittled variety.
There is also plenty of evidence that local restaurateurs are going to match the fame of the viticulturalists.
Monday's breakfast was the final hearty meal consumed during three days guaranteed to send the obesity police into conniptions. For the record however, Martinborough offers several pleasing walking, cycling and running routes alongside its vineyards and down to the nearby rivers, as well as a well-regarded 18-hole golf course.
Not that exercise seemed a pressing concern on Saturday afternoon, when the call of reserve pinot noir and kikorangi blue was more alluring. A glorious sunny day was spent on the lawn of Vynfields Estate, in front of the large Edwardian house cut into five pieces and trucked over from Wellington to the Wairarapa to be nestled into a landscape made for it.
The time and money spent on establishing Vynfields - a boutique organic/biodynamic vineyard - is indicative of the revolution which has swept through Martinborough.
Thirty years ago, the town was a sleepy place, well off the beaten track and with no indication that was going to change any time soon.
Its only claim to "fame" was a quaint village square with radial streets set out to mimic the Union Jack, and some old buildings which had seen better days. A rural service centre, Martinborough livened up during shearing season and then settled back into slumber.
That all began to change in 1978, when Department of Scientific and Industrial Research boffins analysed New Zealand's geography and concluded that Martinborough shared a similar climate and topography to Burgundy.
With most New Zealanders' wine palettes extending no further than Blue Nun or Cold Duck, the report was resoundingly ignored, except by a group of pioneering viticulturalists who upped sticks, moved to Martinborough, and created a multi-millon-dollar expert bonanza on the back of the region's award-winning pinot noir.
With the wineries - Martinborough now boasts 38, but not all are open to the public - has come a revitalisation of the village. Boutique shops and restaurants have - up, and weekenders flock to the village.
Accommodation is not scarce in Martinborough: every second homeowner seems to operate a B&B or a homestay.
However, the jewel in the village's crown is the Martinborough Hotel. With the wine boom has come a revival in the fortunes of the Victorian-era hotel which by the 1990s had seen much better days.
After a caring and sensitive restoration, the revitalised hotel has now been absorbed into the Peppers resort chain and is doing its level best to live up to original developer Edmund Buckeridge's 1882 boast that it was "one of the finest hostelries ever erected in any inland town in New Zealand."
Its 16 rooms are each named after an early Martinborough settler family. Each suite is individually designed, giving a sense of the history of the building, but also with all the modern day comforts.
Guests can make a slow progression from the sunny courtyard to the wood panelled library, and then into the Martinborough Hotel's shining jewel, the restaurant.
Desmond Harris, latterly of five star Wellington restaurant Logan Brown, has been tempted across the hill to Martinborough for both lifestyle and career reasons. The quieter pace suits a young chef with an expanding family, and a resort hotel full of wealthy and influential guests is a good place for a chef to make a name.
With the assured figure of Wellington entertainment scene veteran Tony Austin as maitre d' to guide diners through a small but carefully selected menu, Harris already has a major asset on his side. He deftly steers us through three superb courses - oysters, a mushroom medley and a berry trifle for him, duck, pork belly and a decadent chocolate souffle for her - and offers astute Martinborough wine matches. Upon hearing a wish that a liqueur wine from local vineyard Muirlea Rise was on the menu, Austin descends into the well-stocked cellar and finds something not too dissimilar, putting a perfect seal on a memorable meal.
Sunday, and the wineries are too alluring to resist. Especially the call of Alana Estate, where Ian Garner - one-time chef and co-owner of the legendary Wellington restaurant Petit Lyon - now presides. Alana sits snugly at the bottom of several wine terraces, offering a restful view for a long, leisurely, three-course lunch with matching wines.
Although more food seems excessive, you can always find room for a meal from Martinborough's French Bistro. Jim and Wendy Campbell's restaurant has long been regarded as the finest in town, and plates of delicately cooked squid and beef suggest it's a crown they have no intention of surrendering to the competition two doors up.
The remains of a superb bottle of Te Kairanga pinot are carried back to the hotel room, to accompany the last of Saturday's blue cheese. Just one wafer-thin cracker, sir?
GETTING THERE
Air New Zealand offers domestic flights from all around the country to Wellington, the closest airport to get you to Martinborough in the Wairarapa region. For low domestic smart saver airfares and schedule information to assist you with your travel plans, visit www.airnewzealand.co.nz
WHERE TO STAY
The food and wine experience package for $460 consists of one night's accommodation, a four course dinner with matched wines and full breakfast for two the next morning or try the winter bed and breakfast special for $220 valid until October 31, 2007.
FOR MORE INFORMATION
Contact Peppers Martinborough Hotel at (06) 306 9350, email martinborough@peppers.co.nz or visit www.pepeprs.co.nz
* Mike Houlahan stayed in Martinborough courtesy of the Martinborough Hotel and Air NZ.
