I had a nice sleep in this morning, the bed in the cottage here is queen size, unlike the double in the Wellington apartment, where I spent most of my night almost falling out of bed. We had some jam and croissants for breakfast before striking out on the road to discover a bit of the local landscape.
Our first stop was the Palliser Estate estate winery. Even though we were there shortly after opening time, we weren’t alone in our tasting pursuits. There was one couple from the UK who were biking their way around all the wineries in the district.
From there we drove to Greytown which these days has many cafes and homewares shops. Many of the older buildings have been restored giving the main street lots of character.
More importantly, there is a Marae (Maori meeting place) near Greytown in a place called Te Hupenui, that was influential in getting the Maori’s represented in the NZ parliament. Interestingly, Te Hupenui translates as ‘The Big Snot’
With Greytown done, we drove to the Murdoch James winery, which apparently had a restaurant that was worth trying. Despite the sign on the gate saying the restaurant was open, it was not. While we were disappointed, the Canadian couple who had ridden the 8 or so kilometres on their push-bikes were less impressed. There was nothing else to do, but to taste their wines and head back into town.
Following a cafe lunch, we visited the Martinborough Brewery. This is a newly established craft brewery that has been going for about a year. I tasted 4 of their beers, a Golden Ale, 2 Pale Ales and a Porter, all of which were quite good. I bought some take away supplies, for emergency purposes, of course.
Our last stop for the day was the Martinborough Vineyard. They have won several awards including best Chardonnay (outside of Burgandy) and the best Pinot Noir in the world! (in 2011). We again met up with our UK cycling friends, who still seemed upright, but they did have a backpack full of bottles. The bike hire company apparently also has a service where they will follow you around at the end of the day and pick up all your wine – very civilised, I say.
We finished off the day by walking to the Martinborough Hotel for some dinner. One of the interesting things about revisiting places is the realisation that everything goes in cycles and I think on this occasion we caught the downward spiral. Since our last visit, it seems that the ambience no longer matched the decor. I think being reminded of my Grade 8 Dance with Rod Stewart singing ‘Hot Legs’ helped bring me to this view. The walk was pleasant as we passed some nice cottages and a small church.
I last came to Martinborough in 1999 and have looked forward to this return visit since then, because we didn’t have time to explore last time. I have to say I’d expected the wineries to be a little better developed than they were and expected the staff to be more professional. Much of the wine tasting conversations felt scripted, but nonetheless they are producing some very fine wines… so who am I to criticise. Martinborough itself, could do with a gallery and a decent butcher.
Anyway off to Feilding tomorrow for the family Christmas activities!
Until tomorrow
Rob's "Beats Working" Blog 