Wine Tour in Blenheim

Today we went around the Blenheim (pronounced Blen'em by the locals) region on a wine tour, touring 5 different wineries in total. It was fantastic! We tried many different types of wine, including: sauvignon blanc, pinot gris, rosé, chardonnay, pinot noir, merlot, malbec, riesling, gewürztraminer, and ending with a dessert wine. Even with all of these put down our gullets, we survived the day relatively unscathed. :)  

85% of the wine produced from this region is Sauvignon Blanc, and every vineyard has a fantastic edition.

Special thank you to: Claire, TR, Greg, Kathleen, Jill and Chuck for the wine tour and lunch!

Here is a photo of our lovely tour guide, Dave, starting the day off by explaining where we will be heading. We had a total of 10 people in our group, majority from the UK, a couple from France, and one local to Blenheim:

The first stop of our tour took us back to Allan Scott winery, where we ate lunch yesterday. Since we took photos there (and posted them in our last blog post) we did not take more there today. Our second stop was at Hunter's:

Our next stop, Saint Clair, was where we ate lunch (both of us chose a delicious lamb salad), preceded with a tasting:

The fourth place was a small boutique called Bladen.  We didn't particularly love any of their wines, but the setting was gorgeous:

And, the final stop, called Framingham:

We bought 3 bottles.  An Allan Scott Sauvignon Blanc, a Hunter's 2015 Chardonnay, and a Hunter's 2016 Kaho Roa Sauvignon Blanc (Kaho Roa is Maori for Oak Barrel).  We could have bought more, but we can only bring back one bottle per person into the US, and you kind of have to draw the line somewhere.  

Other favorites included:
St. Claire Pioneer Block Malbec
St. Claire Wairau Reserve Sauvignon Blanc
St. Claire Chardonnay
Allan Scott's Scott Base Pinot Noir
Framingham Classic Riesling (Monica)
Framingham Dry Riesling (Cam)
Hunter's Sauvignon Blanc 2016

We never really liked the Pinot Gris or Gewürztraminer, and generally didn't care for the Rieslings aside from Framingham's.  Framingham is known for their Rieslings.  The bottom line is that the Marlborough region is "Savi" (Sauvignon Blanc) country.

When we returned home, we relaxed for a while, then took a walk around the beautiful Airbnb property, making sure to say hello to the friendly sheep:

Tomorrow we head to the gorgeous region of Abel Tasman, where we will be staying in an eco house without internet until February 17th.  First, we plan to make a stop in at Dog Point vineyard on our way out of town.  Their sauvignon blanc is one of our favorites that we have been buying in the US. 

We’re not sure if we will be heading into town for internet during our time in Abel Tasman. If you do not hear from us until February 17th, that’s why. Let the adventure continue and Happy Valentine's Day!