Magnificent Marlborough

The dive north through the Maruia River valley was gorgeous, including a quick stop at the falls. Soon we were heading more east, along the Buller River, and then the Wairau River valleys. As we approached Blenheim the valley became dense with vineyards; roughly 34,000 hectares, mostly Sauvignon blanc grapes, ready for harvest!

We arrived at S&K's by late afternoon, and enjoyed the evening on the patio. K treated us to a fabulous garden veggie and bean tart for dinner. Delicious local wine accompaniment too. The evening did cool down rapidly, so moved into the lounge for a lovely visit.

S&K planned a fun mid-morning tour through Marlborough wine country. We headed off to Clos Henry to sample an array of wines. Due to the unique nature of the property they are able to make estate wines from grapes grown in two distinct soil types due to a fault line. The side by side comparison of their Sauvignon Blanc grown in the rock vs. clay soils was distinctly different; we much prefered the rockier soil, while K liked the clay. Similarly, the Pinot Noir 40/60% (rocky/clay) vs the prefered 100% clay wines.

We drove through a vineyard with ripening grapes and tasted the unique flavours of the Sauvignon blanc, Pinot Gris, Sauvignon Gris, and Gewürztraminer grapes. Lucky for us to visit this time of the year 🍇🍀The grapes will all be harvested in the next few weeks.

On the way back to the house we stopped by a popular meat pie shop for a late lunch. By late afternoon we were walking along the Riverside Park to the Fidelio Cafe and Wine Bar for an light bite. Frank's Eatery and Bar was our choice for a delicious dinner which they treated us to 💕

Sunday was another fabulous morning, and enjoyed a light breakfast and tea before heading off to the Sunday Marlborough Market. We walked through the neighbourhood streets to to the market. Once there J&A stopped to order coffees while S&K were stopping at various stalls to gather items on their shopping list. A quick stop at the Empanada stand, then the fruit stand for plums, and we headed back to the house. S&K took us through the Riverside park trails, getting busier the closer to the CBD we got.

This was a wonderful visit with friends from long time past 💝 Hopefully we can cross paths more frequently 😊Read more