Last Day on South Island

We’re now heading back over to the North Island, catching the ferry in Picton tomorrow morning. Our South Island adventure is coming to a close. 

It’s late summer here. The very few true deciduous trees are changing colour. It’s harvest time in wine region.  For our last night, just like our first night on the South Island, we’re staying at the very same freedom campsite on the bank of the Wairau River.

Marlborough District, especially the Wairau River valley, is the premier wine region in NZ. Most famous for their Sauvignon Blanc – a full 83% of the fields are planted with sauv blanc. Not my fave, but there’s no denying its distinctive refreshing character and worldwide appeal.

In just 30 years, the region has grown from boutique status to a major world wine region. Nothing like Italy or France who together produce something like 8 billion litres a year – but at 300 million litres, NZ is a pretty big producer. Around twice as much as Canada, even though Canada is 37 times bigger and has 8 times as many peeps.

True enough, we’re not growing grapes in the Arctic or even in most of Canada. Something like 31,000 acres of vineyards in the whole country – and we’re pretty big, around 2.5 billion acres big. So, it’s puny, our viticulture allotment. But as in so many things, we punch way above our weight. Yeah us!  And, I dare add, we make some of the best Riesling wines in the world.

Which gets me back to New Zealand. How can they make so much wine for so few? The answer is, they don’t. Something like 90% of New Zealand wine is exported around the world and enjoyed by Americans, Australians, Brits, and indeed Canadians.  As far as I know, we have virtually no export market for the fabulous wines we make. But if isolated NZ can pull it off, so can we.

Bill and I started our personal wine tour in a civilized way. We spent the morning finding the trailhead and then tackling the easy Wairau River track. It’s one of those out-and-back tracks, what you’d expect for a riverwalk. Pleasant enough. At this time of year, like most mighty rivers in New Zealand, the Wairau is a mere trickle of its former self.

Quite a lovely valley. To the north, lush green mountains.  To the south, a mountain range that is brown and parched.  Between the river and the brown parched mountains to the south, hundreds and thousands of acres of vineyards. This is Marlborough wine region, the sunniest patch in New Zealand.

Having clocked our first 8 kms and 12,000 steps by 11:30, it didn’t seem too outrageous to start our wine tasting with a shared glass of bubbly at Huia. From their own very puny Chardonnay crop, they produce a traditional method Blanc de Blanc that is exceptional.

Huia is named after an extinct New Zealand bird, a flying bird whose tail feathers were treasured by Māori chiefs and warriors as a symbol of rarity and greatness.  A nice sounding word, and nice to say, but a strange name for a vineyard, I thought. 

Bucking the trend, this small winery produces only 1/3 Sauv blanc, focusing on Chardonnay and Pinot noir for their bubbles and rose.

From there, we ventured to Wairau River Number 11, a much more elegant, and you might say corporate presentation.  Appealing for both the landscaped beauty of their property and the offerings of their restaurant – not to mention their delicious Riesling.

Then over to Bladen for a scheduled 1 pm tasting. Another puny winery, just 28 acres, pulling off some spectacular wines. They do their tastings only at designated hours, so they can talk a lot about the love story of the founders, the family history of the place, and the fields, and the winemaking, and the deliciousity of it all. Again, a very nice sauv blanc – but the star was their Riesling.

In Marlborough, they have a long growing season with lots of sun, warm summer days and cool nights. Riesling loves that. And so do I!

Our last stop was something called the wine shed. Open just two weeks ago, they have set themselves up as a tasting venue for the even smaller wineries in the area, too small to do their own presentations. Surprisingly – or maybe not surprisingly? – these were among the best of our samplings.  All organic and hand harvested, and many made at the wine collective – a sort of winemakers’ co-op for sharing tanks and barrels and other wine-making paraphernalia. Best sauv blanc, hands down. Excellent Riesling, we bought one to take home. A Chardonnay with sauv blanc personality. And two Pinot Noir that were juicy and delicious.

And that was that.  That’s how we toasted farewell to our South Island adventure.