A lazy start is on the cards today after the big drive yesterday, but that's OK as it gives us time to plan our wine tasting for later on.
Many of you back home will not know that Martinborough is a big wine growing region in NZ as much of the NZ wine at home is from Hawke's Bay or Marlborough.
There are two important considerations when it comes to wine for me and Mrs M. Firstly we don't drink red, and secondly we tend to like the Alsace style aromatic wines (Gewürztraminer, Riesling etc) rather than the more popular NZ Sauvingon Blanc.
A little bit of research at the Martinborough Wine Centre points us in the right direction and off we pop out of town to go and try a few. Fortunately as Martinborough is compact and bijou everything is in walking (or staggering) distance.
First up is Haythornwaite which is a lovely boutique vinyard of only 11 acres and they specialise in Gewürztraminer. Mrs M tastes all 5 different wines from dry through to sweet desert wine, while I dip out of the Gewürz after the medium sweet and sample some of their Pinot Gris. The wine is amazing and we have to buy a couple of bottles of the 'Susan' a dry for me and a sweet for Mrs M.
Conveniently our next stop is directly across the road at Vynfields.
After 5 decent measures earlier we decide that a spot of lunch is in order and order some nibbles and their 'wine sharing plate' of five different wines. Again their wine is lovely and this time we opt for some of their Pinot Rose to take with us.
After a very enjoyable afternoon we head back to Betty for a quick change and then off out again to the Martinborough Hotel for our first NZ dinner out - fish & chips for Mrs M and steak frites for me.
Mr M
Many of you back home will not know that Martinborough is a big wine growing region in NZ as much of the NZ wine at home is from Hawke's Bay or Marlborough.
There are two important considerations when it comes to wine for me and Mrs M. Firstly we don't drink red, and secondly we tend to like the Alsace style aromatic wines (Gewürztraminer, Riesling etc) rather than the more popular NZ Sauvingon Blanc.
A little bit of research at the Martinborough Wine Centre points us in the right direction and off we pop out of town to go and try a few. Fortunately as Martinborough is compact and bijou everything is in walking (or staggering) distance.
First up is Haythornwaite which is a lovely boutique vinyard of only 11 acres and they specialise in Gewürztraminer. Mrs M tastes all 5 different wines from dry through to sweet desert wine, while I dip out of the Gewürz after the medium sweet and sample some of their Pinot Gris. The wine is amazing and we have to buy a couple of bottles of the 'Susan' a dry for me and a sweet for Mrs M.
Conveniently our next stop is directly across the road at Vynfields.
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| Vynfields |
After 5 decent measures earlier we decide that a spot of lunch is in order and order some nibbles and their 'wine sharing plate' of five different wines. Again their wine is lovely and this time we opt for some of their Pinot Rose to take with us.
After a very enjoyable afternoon we head back to Betty for a quick change and then off out again to the Martinborough Hotel for our first NZ dinner out - fish & chips for Mrs M and steak frites for me.
Mr M
You must have been tempted to spend the night in the Martinburgh Hotel, looks on a par with what you had in India !!
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