Taste Martinborough

 On Friday 14th May, we left Waipukurau and headed for Martinborough. The day was crisp, and the Tararuas had a fresh cap of snow. The farmland became more lush. Very picturesque.

After setting up at the now familiar Top 10 Motor Camp, our first stop is Luna. Luna has formed from Alana and Blue Rock and hence Murdoch James vineyards as well. We are focusing on Pinot Noir and Riesling.

The first carton in the car.

Then we went to Columbo. We wondered if the young woman who served us was from Colombia, but she was from Chile. She had done her oenology training over there and worked at Emiliana - which just happened to be the one winery that we visited in Chile. (Of course we remembered the name) So we had quite a long chat to her and we also bought some Urlar Rose. Poor vintages tonnage wise have meant that quite a few wines are selling out, and they are, in our opinion, releasing the new wines before they are quite ready. 

Next stop was a small boutique winery called Grava - where the Riesling was great!

Time for a cuppa and a shower and then we walked back into town for dinner at Medici

Then we took the local taxi service back to the caravan.

Next morning was a mix of cold but sunny or wet squally showers skudding through. Although we were up early enough, we ditched our plans to go out to the Putangirua Pinnacles as the walk in is about 45mins. It would be just our luck to be caught in a shower. So we read our books until it is time to go to the wineries.

Its a fair trip out to Johner at Gladstone which we have found to be a reliable winery. The German owner has been stuck in Germany since COVID, but (fortunately) the Swiss winemaker has been stuck in NZ. We thought the wines showed promise, but were selling very young.

Next on our tour was Olivo, the Olive oil orchard. What an informative talk from the grower - she gave us lots of good cooking tips. This really was a highlight - and we came away with many bottles.

Lunch at Coney's was next on the list. Tim Coney does tasting flights while you are having shared platters. He is absolutely hilarious. The Pinot Gris was surprisingly good, and we did buy others with a view to cellaring them.

Pan seared rare venison on brioche crostini with a burnt spring onion cream - so tender and tasty!!

Paua fritters with garlic and chilli prawns and a lime and coriander mayo - some seafood for Duncan to enjoy.

It was disappointing the dessert took so long to come. We finished the day at Palliser Estate, then headed back to the caravan for a snooze, followed by a light tea and a game of scrabble. Duncan was to go first - but he picked up no vowels and had to chuck his tiles back! We both ended up with one letter, with the scores a tie, but now Duncan's turn came first, and so I lost by two points.