MY TRIP

MY TRIP

by 

THE CURMUDGEON

We've just got back from our big trip away.

This was the first holiday we've had for quite some time. My partner - The Old Girl - has been working hard for months so took a week's leave.

We hired a rental car and chose a 4WD vehicle. The rental car site said it would be a RAV 4 - type so I was expecting a smaller vehicle with 4WD capability in case we encountered icy or snow conditions on our jaunt to Martinborough and Hawkes Bay.

The car we were give on Sunday was a Mitsubishi Outlander which is like the behemoths I disparage on this blog, for example: WANKMOBILES

As it turned out we didn't encounter black ice, snow or slippery conditions so didn't really need this monster but I admit it was handy to easily stow the quantity of baggage that The Old Girl decided to bring with us and we got a discounted deal through her employer so - 'mustn't grumble'

MARTINBOROUGH

I like this area. I remember, in 1979 when Mike W. was in the UK, he wrote me a letter saying that his brother, who was earning mega-bucks (or sterling) and banking them in tax-free havens was looking to invest in the NZ wine industry. I took a trip to Martinborough because I had read a soil and climate analysis by Derek Milne who concluded that the area, as yet unplanted with grapes, could be a significant area for New Zealand viticulture. I looked at farm properties for sale, topography and other bits and pieces and reported back to Mike. Nothing came of this as Mike's brother invested elsewhere and neither he or I had any money but, a few years later Martinborough did indeed make a splash in the wine world after some 'pioneers' invested in land, grew grapes and produced award winning wines.

In the mid 1990s Geoff B. raised finance and interested support from friends and family and we bought, planted and grew grapes on a beautiful piece of land which we named Pinnacles. A few years later, as it was time to build a winery and raise further capital the shareholders voted to sell, at a profit, the land and plantings. It was sold to Palliser Estate Winery and, the fruit from the vineyard - Riesling and Pinot Noir went on to win accolades.

Mike is now, through a connection with a financial friend in Auckland, a shareholder in Palliser Estate Winery. When The Old Girl and I visited the winery on Monday and tasted some of their excellent sparkling wines we discovered that, following the last AGM the company has decided to release more shares. We are looking to buy some and will be telling Geoff about this so he too can buy some. There's something decidedly circular in this - serendipity if you will. Maybe, what might have happened in 1979 was destined to happen, albeit in a smaller way, later.

Anyway, the visit to Martinborough was great. We stayed in lovely accommodation at Margrain Vineyards. I posted about this a couple of days ago. Robert commented thus on a photograph of the longe in the room:

Is that a complimentary bottle on the table?

His spelling (in this case) was spot-on but, even if he had misspelled it 'complementary' would also have been appropriate as the bottle, on the coffee table in a lounge with an old-fashioned stove and vineyard and wine imagery on the walls was well placed,

But ..... I digress.

The highlight in Martinborough was a tutored tasting at Ata Rangi. They do this really well. A free tasting, seated at table with 5 or 6 of the top wines including the expensive and gorgeous pinot noirs.
More wineries should have the confidence to do this. Naturally we bought some new release pinot noir and chardonnay for later drinking. I buy Ata Rangi wines on-line because they are one of the very few wineries who package some of their wines in 375ml bottles - Crimson pinot noir and their top pinot noir. Again, other wineries should have the confidence to do this.

NAPIER

We drove to Napier on Tuesday and stayed two nights with The Old Girl's relatives. We would have stayed longer but it was cold and rainy so walks were out, their swimming pool was freezing and we didn't feel like doing winery visits. We had a nice stay nevertheless though with Chris, a professional chef cooking a magnificent meal on Tuesday and we all went to a new restaurant - the Fire Station on Wednesday. Great food and great wine on both evenings.

Today we drove back to Wellington taking the route to Palmerston North instead of back via Wairarapa. The Manawatu Gorge road is still closed but we went on the replacement road through the wind farm.

MANAWATU GORGE REPLACEMENT ROUTE

These magnificent windmills are very close to the road with an effect like driving through a forest with giant trees. Impressive.

On arrival in the city we collected the Sonia Savage painting we bought. It looks great on the red wall in the apartment and The Old Girl is threatening to paint one of the walls red in our house when she returns there at the end of the year!

We've still got the rental car tomorrow so plan to visit Zealandia Ecosanctuary.

All good.