Love is in the air in scenic Sounds
Chocolate for breakfast, tahr tartare and a glass or three of Marlborough’s finest drops – it’s a perfect romantic weekend away, writes
As special anniversaries go, celebrating the day you met 30 years earlier seems as good an excuse as any to take a mid-week break from Auckland.
Marlborough made sense. The flight is short. The vineyards are plentiful.
The Marlborough Sounds, commanding 1500km of New Zealand’s coastline, is world famous for its beauty.
And with chocolate, wine, gourmet food and unbelievable scenery already on the agenda, we figured the romance would take care of itself.
Day 1: Chocolates for breakfast
The first flight out from Auckland for the day touches down at Marlborough Airport at 9.40am, timed perfectly for a late breakfast at Vines Cafe, about 10 minutes from the airport.
The cafe is one of six stores at Vines Village, the artisan hub of Marlborough.
Shops there include Elemental Distillers’ Roots Dry Gin (produced on site and awarded ‘‘NZ’s Best Gin’’ at the 2021 NZ Spirits Awards).
Those with better balance (and higher alcohol tolerance) than me could bike the wine trail with Explore Marlborough bike and wine tour.
Another worthy stop is Makana Confections, which has handmade treats using only the freshest natural ingredients available.
The Marlborough boutique chocolate factory is set up like a winery cellar door, where you can watch how the chocolates are made, taste a few samples and, of course, shop.
Guilt about left-behind teenagers prompts a buying frenzy (after the prerequisite tasting frenzy) that makes me glad I had opted for check-in luggage on the return flight.
Tasting and lunch at Saint Clair winery
Saint Clair Family Estate was established by Neal and Judy Ibbotson in 1978.
The viticulture pioneers in Marlborough still live on the grounds adjoining the original vineyard, the business remains in the family, and Judy helps make sandwiches for friends showing off their garden at the annual Garden Marlborough Festival (an amazing event worthy of a place on your travel calendar).
The extensive menu of the Estate’s Vineyard Kitchen constantly changes to reflect the region’s best seasonal produce. Over summer, booking is essential for lunch and wine tastings.
Water taxis on the Marlborough Sounds
No roads lead to Furneaux Lodge, the first stop on the Queen Charlotte Track and our base for the rest of the day. We take a water taxi – fleets of them provide easy access for tourists to the resorts on the many coves around the Sounds, as well as for locals heading to their baches.
Furneaux Lodge sits on 1.2 hectares of flat land. There, the pace is easy and the atmosphere comfortable and relaxed. Explore the inlet kayaking, swimming, mountainbiking and walking, or spend the day fishing, diving and dolphin watching – great for families with young children.
For a markedly more upmarket option, one of the most exclusive resorts on the Sounds is the five-star Bay of Many Coves, named one of the best small luxury hotels in the world by Luxury Travel Guide.
Food and beverage options at both these places are amazing – fresh, local, seasonal and spectacular.
Day 2: Make it stop
There are more than 30 cellar doors in the Marlborough region. Cycle, drive, private or group tours are all brilliant options.
For all of them, it pays to book, especially during the peak summer months, because even in early spring, quite a few of the tasting rooms were fully booked already.
Tour and tasting at Hans Herzog
After a long day of tasting wine and more gourmet food, we lucked out at Hans Herzog Estate, arriving to tour the vineyard just as the winemaker himself pulled up to prune some shoots.
Herzog’s family-owned, single estate vineyard is one of the pioneers of organic wine-making.
He also grows some heritage and new varieties, sometimes sacrificing existing ones, as there’s only so much he can grow on 11.5 hectares.
We hit our limit
By the time we make it to dinner at Scotch Wine Bar & Restaurant in central Blenheim (again, it would pay to book), there is criminally little room left to truly sample its range (the widest in town, apparently, with wines, craft beer, cocktails and spirits).
The wine shop features more than 300 wines, all kept in a temperaturecontrolled and humidified cellar. The food menu is small but spectacular: wild tahr from north Canterbury served as tahr tartare, and egg yolk and pickled rhubarb is a memorable way to end this hedonistic tour through Marlborough.