Nelson, Picton & Wine Country

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We enjoyed a sleep in and leisurely start to the day. We woke to find the heavy rain of last night had passed leaving relatively clear blue skies. We checked out of our Blenheim accommodation and drove north to check out the coastal town of Picton, where the ferry departs for Wellington and the North Island. Picton was a pretty place, a small beach town, surrounded by lush forest overlooking a turquoise bay and impressive fjord. After some time here, we were ready to start todays main objective; tasting Marlborough wines.
Our first stop at Saint Clair was a bit of a fail, the winery being closed for renovation. Fortunately there was a local foods business on site with cheeses, fudge, mushrooms and honey available for tasting. We walked away with one of the best bries iv ever had (Over the Moon OMG triple cream brie).

Next onto Hunters, and a full range of wines for sampling here, a good sauv blanc, Riesling, Chardonnay, pinit noir and a red blend called the chaser. Our third stop actually wasn't a winery at all. We passed it per chance and I insisted on stopping. I hadn't heard of the Moa brewery before and was excited of the prospect of visiting a New Zealand brewery. It was well worth it. The range of the German brewer was delicious and $5 got me a sample of 6 of his 40 available beers.

Stop Four, one of Natalies favorite Marlborough wines in Cloudy Bay. $10 for 5 tastings here but well worth it. We didn't leave here empty handed, taking away a bottle of Savingnon Blanc for our travels. By now it was approaching 2pm and we were really hungry. Stop Five in Wither Hills had a delicious selection and tables free, but we were rudely informed wed have to wait an hour to be seated? This treatment meant we needed a drink.. so time for tasting. Thankfully the wines here were good and we left with an unusual sparkling white. Next stop, Villa Maria, cruise ship, asked to wait, no thanks, next!

Stop six, Giesons probably saved our lives by actually offering us lunch! A delicious share plate with salamis, hams, chicken, oysters, cheeses and strawberries lifted our spirits. The wines here werent bad either. Stop seven, just across the road to Wairau River. We left here with a bottle of Savingnon Blanc. Nautilus was just accross the road so we headed over the road for further tasting. Overall, nothing special. Time was running out and my palate was borderline slaughtered, so one last stop for the day; Hans Hertog. A bit of an upmarket feel here.. $10 fee for just 3 tastes. They were good, but not value.

That was about all I could handle, so off to Nelson now for the night. The accommodation; Courtesy Court, would have been more appropriately named Courtesy Landing Strip. Aircraft soared overhead on a regular basis landing just down the road. The place was was good value, but pretty basic, with only one silverfish. A short walk down the beach had us at a variety of dinner options. We opted for the Smugglers Inn. A home cooked feel meal and local beer topped off a good day. It didn't take us too long to negotiate our way home via some sidestreets before we called it a day.Read more