Marlborough WInes

January 11, 12

New Zealand’s south island is a long skinny land mass that has a ridgeline like a backbone that runs its entire length, north to south. As we fly from Queenstown to Wellington, we see a curious weather (weether) pattern. In the west side of the ridge, not a cloud in the sky. On the east side, low clouds right down on the deck. Must be a terrain feature that causes it?

After a few hours in Wellington, we are on the 15 minute commuter flight to Blenheim. The airfield shares a New Zealand Air Force base with the civilian terminal. On the field are 17 A-4 Skyhawk fighters wrapped in white plastic, as they have remained for over 10 years awaiting sale. NZ Air Defense has been trying to sell these relicts to a purported US buyer. The NZ government has spent $11 million to store them and $2 million in legal and consulting fees. Now the sale has fallen through and they plan to give them to museums as static displays. After sitting in a humid climate, wrapped in plastic, engines not pickled, they would be of no other practical use anyhow. Who knows what it would cost to get one flying again.

On to the Marlborough Vineyard Hotel in the Blenheim wine district. Our room is a small cottage/apartment at the edge of a vineyard.

After settling in, we catch a ride to Herzog’s Restaurant that is one vineyard over from the hotel. Run by German’s with precise efficiency, we are seated in a beautiful patio and forced to drink a ‘mandatory’ before dinner champagne or wine. Then we are marched to our table to order from tonight’s dinner selection. The food is excellent, the service is obsequious, the schedule runs like a Swiss watch. They have a system that is set in stone. If you go there, just understand you will do what you are told and accept what they serve as they serve it. Exceptions are not encouraged and barely tolerated. “You vill enchoy the food and the vine, ja! Ve do not serve crackers mit de cheeses.”  Great meal anyhow.

Next morning our wine tour guide, David (Highlight Wine Tours), picks us up and we have momentary flashbacks from our interminable trip with Richard in the Hunter Valley in Australia. No worries, David is delightful. He owns the company and is eager to show us anything we like on any schedule we want.

First stop is Cloudy Bay, a wine we have enjoyed with many of you. In rapid succession we try Wither Hills, Lawson’s, Dog Point, Te Whare Re, Wairau River and TerraVin. We do not make a dent in the almost 140 vineyards in Blenheim. We came for the sauvignon blancs, but found they produce very good chardonnays, Rieslings, pinot Gris and pinot noir. We did our best to try it all, but the wine won. Seven tasting rooms in four hours are more than mere mortals can endure. We waived the white flag and demanded to be taken to the chocolate factory. David complied and we ate enough samples of chocolate to get the wine taste out of our mouths.
   
The entire valley has been planted in grapes, overplanted in fact. Like many things in agriculture with long lead times, the high prices of grapes encouraged new vineyards to cash in on the $3,000 per ton prices. By the time they reached production stage, the price had dropped to $1,200 per ton and some grape buyers had reduced their tonnage by half. Now the banks own some of the vineyards and I suspect you can get a good deal on one with a valid offer. They use the quant term “mortgagee action” for foreclosure.

Our favorite Czechs showed up mid afternoon from their drive up the South Island and we spent the late afternoon and evening catching up on their adventures. Dinner is in our hotel, where we learn to dance the Hoky Poky in Maori. (You had to be there to understand)

TV Alert- There is some confusion on the Chase episode that appears in today’s TV schedule. Susan has seen a notice on the internet that the show originally scheduled for Wednesday night has been delayed a week. We can’t see it here anyway. Maybe it will air on 1/12 or maybe on 1/19. I know you have planned your week around my TV debut. Sorry.