Day 10

Today we are going to sample some of the best wines that the Marlborough region has to offer.  We chose a group called Bubbly Grape to be our guides, and most importantly our drivers.  We were surprised when Jonathon showed up and we were the only ones going out on the tour.  This led to a very fun and informative day, as he could focus his entire efforts towards our desires and questions.  Great fun!

There are some 40 odd wineries in the area, 20 or so with cellar doors.

Montana Brancott Estates was one of the first wineries in the region and is now one of the largest.  They used this rifle site to ensure that the vines were planted in a perfectly straight row.  Seems to have worked well.

The sheer number of plantings is beyond belief.  If I remember correctly, there are some 350 thousand individual vines planted in Marlborough.  They appear to go on forever.  There are small windmills in the background, pretty hard to see, that we thought were used for irrigation.  In actuality, they are used to move the air to keep the frost from settling on the plants.  In addition, they use over 100 helicopters on the frostiest of nights, as well as, smudge pots.

We visited 6 wineries, a couple also produce olive oil, and a chocolate factory on the tour and had a beautiful meat and cheese platter for lunch; Lawson's Dry Hills, Brancott, Spy Valley, Giesen, Bladen, and Bouldevines.  We left at 10AM and got back around 4:30PM. Thank god, we were up to the task!

Tomorrow, we cross the Cook Straits and head back home.  We'll spend the night in Taupo, and then drive the rest of the way on Tuesday.  That's it for this year's trip.