Written by Robert Giorgione; a guest writer for Winekeller, a passionate New Zealand wine specialist, brand ambassador and award-winning sommelier, and owner of Roving Sommelier Wines & Deli

We will be starting our road trip around New Zealand exploring its premier wine region, Marlborough.

For most people, Marlborough is one of the first places that springs to mind when it comes to New Zealand wine. It was way back in 1987 when I first tasted a Kiwi wine and yes - as with most wine consumers – it was a Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc. In fact, Marlborough produces around 85 per cent of New Zealand’s wine, and most of that total output is Sauvignon Blanc, which has become the country’s flagship variety. Back in 1985 the now-iconic Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc (made by original head winemaker Kevin Judd), along with other pioneering Marlborough winegrowers got the ball rolling and let us just say ‘the rest is history’.

The region’s sunny dry climate is ideal for viticulture, and in the past four decades or more much of the farmland around Blenheim has been transformed into endless rows of vineyards growing grapes. If you want Marlborough on a plate and in your glass – go no further than a Sauvignon Blanc and some delicious fresh seafood. For me this is the pure expression of land and sea and a complete balance of tastes and flavours, which epitomises the region.

However, it is no longer just Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc that attracts attention. Chardonnay, Riesling, Pinot Gris, Gewürztraminer, even Grüner Veltliner, highly rated Pinot Noir and now Albariño, among other varietals and wine styles such as top-class traditional method sparkling and dessert wines flourishing in Marlborough’s suitable climate are now being rewarded with attention and acclaim.

My Marlborough wine tour New Zealand

The Marlborough region is a superb area for a New Zealand wine tour, with a wonderful selection of places to stay, ranging from the simple backpacker hostels, and family-owned B & B up to luxury lodges and hotels. Marlborough also has some fine restaurants, bistros and cafés, cheesemongers, olive oil producers and farmers’ markets and of course winery cellar doors to welcome visitors aplenty.

The township of Blenheim is the major centre of the region, but the vineyards extend westwards into the valleys to Renwick and beyond, covering some of the lower slopes of the Brancott, Omaka and Waihopai Valleys and spill over into the Southern and Awatere Valleys, close to Seddon and Ward to the south.

Heading south, the Kaikoura coast is popular with visitors on the tourist track. This bountiful coastline is also famous for whale and dolphin watching, which should offer you some rest and relaxation from wine tasting, gourmet dining and the many epicurean delights of the region. Hiring a bicycle is another way to get around and at least you won’t have to worry too much about drinking and driving by taking this ‘more healthy option’. Don’t forget to stop off for some fresh kaimoana at “Nin’s Bin” either!

While most tourists and wine lovers eagerly head out straight away to the vineyards, the Wine Station in Blenheim, housed in the railway station’s more than 100 years old heritage building, is a savvy one-stop shop, offering a selection of around 80 different Marlborough wines by the glass. The best part? It’s self-service, with wines dispensed by high-tech enomatic machines. On a personal note, I’m really pleased that someone has made good use of that old heritage building, where the actual railway is no longer in use and the only ‘famous’ thing about it is it’s the place where the coach stops.

Marlborough, New Zealand wineries

Over the years, I have followed quite closely and truly admire the work of many Marlborough wine makers, and to witness the evolution in their wonderful wines. It is always wonderful to see that they continue to push the boundaries in the pursuit of producing great wines. Not only do these Marlborough-grown wines give an honest representation of the wine makers’ personality and skill, but also a true reflection of what is going on within the vineyard. These are exciting times to be in Marlborough. Award-winning wine makers such as Kevin Judd, amongst others are at the top of their game. What’s more, it’s all come around full circle with his Greywacke label, which, since 2009 goes from strength to strength, and is producing some of the best wines in New Zealand.

Dog Point Vineyard:

There is a wonderful story about Marlborough’s Dog Point Vineyard .

Ivan and Margaret Sutherland purchased land and planted grapes in the late 1970s, knowing that their vines would reach optimum age by the time they got around to founding their own label. Ivan planted Pinot Noir alongside the Sauvignon Blanc, betting on the grape becoming a big thing for Marlborough one day. The gamble paid off. During all this time, grapes from their vineyards were sold under contract to Cloudy Bay, where he was the viticulturist. In 1990 James Healy joined as oenologist and they both found that they were a great team. In addition, their wives, Margaret, and Wendy worked at Cloudy Bay. In 2002, when Ivan’s maturing vines could wait no longer and it was time to leave, they decided to start their own label – Dog Point Vineyard.

The wines are all sourced from their own valley floor and hillside vineyards on the southern side of the Wairau Valley. Ivan and James, “after spending years in corporate board meetings as directors” got back to “hands-on wine making”. Old fashioned values prevail at every step of the process, low cropping, hand-picking, hand-sorting, wild yeast and oak barrel fermenting and ageing. I am going to make a bold statement right now: I can confidently say that the wines from Dog Point Vineyard are my most favourite of all from Marlborough. Trust me, I have been following them since back in the early days. They are the most quintessential and truly representative of what a Marlborough wine can be – sourced from great vineyards, organically grown grapes, and two immense people at the top of their game. As Ivan Sutherland puts it in his own imitable way: “James and I served our 25-year apprenticeship at Cloudy Bay. Since 2002, we now get our hands dirty, sweep the winery floors and make a bit of wine.”

For me, a wine from Dog Point Vineyard, especially their “Section 94” Sauvignon Blanc , will always be at the top of my New Zealand wine bucket list. Both families are now involved at every level of the business, and they also offer comfortable, self-catering accommodation at the French Barn, close by to the winery.

Seresin Estate:

Seresin Estate has always featured near the top of my bucket list of favourite Marlborough vineyards.

The estate was established in the early-to-mid-1990s by world-renowned cinematographer, Michael Seresin. I first tasted their wines back in 1997 at Oxo Tower in London, where I was head sommelier and was introduced to the original winemaker Brian Bicknell. You cannot fail to miss the vineyard along Bedford Road past Renwick because the distinctive Seresin “hand” logo is clearly sign-posted and then you see the huge Stonehenge-like rock formation up on the hillside. I have visited the vineyard on five occasions and spent a few valuable days there during the 2006 vintage. Not only was that a great personal experience for me, once again to get hands on and learn something more from another person’s perspective, but also it was Brian’s last year at the helm. He left and went on to establish his own vineyard called Mahi (see later). I met Clive Dougall, who took over as wine maker, and who previously had worked at Pegasus Bay and a chef called Chris Fortune (formerly of Hotel d’Urville in Blenheim and now runs the farmers’ market). The current consultant winemaker is Tamra Washington-Kelly, (previously of Yealands Estate, and who also makes her own wines in collaboration with her husband, Simon Kelly).

Seresin Estate is more than just a vineyard, as it also produces top-notch olive oil and honey, amongst other things, and has been farmed organically since day-one and now follows biodynamic principles. They produce an extensive range of wines, from classic, aromatic whites, through a selection of special single vineyard Pinot Noirs, to dessert wines, all available to taste and buy at their cellar door shop, along with other merchandise. I still have my Seresin t-shirt I bought more than twenty years ago in 2001, and it still fits!

Deep Down Wines:

Clive Dougall left Seresin Estate is 2019 and went on to form his own wine label, Deep Down Wines with fellow Kiwi and sommelier, Peter Lorimer, who worked in London for a few years, before going back to his homeland.

I’m a big fan of their Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir, both made from organically grown grapes from local winegrowers and using wild ferments and very little or no sulphites. Deep Down wines are produced with minimal intervention, with organic grapes sourced from local growers, and taste extremely pure and natural. However, these truly artisan wines come in limited quantities, as they are not produced in an industrial scale, so once they’re gone, they’re gone!

It's very easy to tour around the Marlborough region while you’re there. I suggest you get hold of a local wine trail map and make your own personal itinerary of stop offs and places to visit. Other personal Marlborough favourites and must-visit recommendations include the following vineyards, (many of them also include winery restaurants and cafés that serve delicious local produce and cellar doors that feature top-notch regional wines):

Clos Henri Vineyard – owned by the French Henri Bourgeois family of Sancerre in the Loire Valley. The cellar door is housed inside an old heritage church building, which features on their logo.

Mahi – owned by Brian Bicknell, who produces top-notch, artisanal wines using minimal intervention, all sourced from local growers.

Te Whare Ra (TWR) – owned by Anna and Jason Flowerday, famous for their small, organic vineyard using biodynamic winegrowing techniques, and also having the oldest Riesling vines in Marlborough, planted in 1979.

Giesen Estate – wonderful cellar door and tasting room facility where you can sample wines via an enomatic system and a fabulous winery restaurant. Their lip-smacking clam chowder is delicious!

Wairau River Wines – owned by the Rose family and renowned for crafting elegant and authentic regional wines, located in the Rapaura sub-region. They also have a lovely winery restaurant that serves diners with mouth-watering local produce paired with an extensive selection of wines by the glass.

Lawson’s Dry Hills – located on the southern outskirts of Blenheim, a family-owned vineyard since the early 1980s. The late Ross Lawson was a pioneering trailblazer Marlborough winemaker. Rather unusually for Marlborough, the eponymous estate became famous for its beautifully aromatic and fragrant Gewürztraminer. LDH also produces top-notch Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir.

Herzog – Swiss family-owned for many years and features a lovely fine-dining restaurant, perhaps the best in the region and producers of an esoteric selection of fine artisan wines.

Rock Ferry – organic winegrowers producing top-notch regional wines, (I’m a big fan of their traditional method sparkling). The small estate also features an engaging cellar door/shop where you can taste their range of wines and a winery restaurant, where you may fancy a bite to eat alongside a fabulous array of wines by the glass. 

In addition, a visit to Marlborough would not be complete without going to the Blenheim Farmers’ Market at the weekend, or perhaps sampling a whitebait fritter with a cold beer or chomping down on an iconic Renwick pie from the legendary pie shop in town!

In my next article (Marlborough Part Two), we will focus on the region’s flagship grape variety: Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc. 

The epicurean odyssey continues….

More about Robert Giorgione:

Award-winning sommelier Robert Giorgione has been in the hospitality and retail industry for more than 35 years, including 17 years of experience in London where he worked as wine buyer and head sommelier in some of the best fine-dining restaurants and retail establishments, and also won many prestigious awards for his wine lists and sommelier skills. Most recently, Robert also picked up valuable experience in retail and customer service at the iconic Wally’s in Cardiff and previously worked as sommelier at the famous Park House Restaurant, Wine Bar and Private Rooms also in Cardiff, where he massively contributed to the establishment’s successful reputation for fine-dining and sommelier service and its award-winning wine list.

Now relocated to beautiful South Wales, Robert owns and runs Roving Sommelier Wines & Deli – an independent wine merchant and deli in Newport Market and Food Court, which stocks some of the finest affordable premium wines from around the world and epicurean treats, and Robert works enthusiastically to guide wine lovers and consumers towards something that’s right both for palate and pocket.

See here for further details.

In addition to this Robert has many years of experience as a wine consultant for a variety of private and corporate clients, (New Zealand Wine Growers, Wine Chap, Naked Wines, and Les Caves de Pyrene, amongst many others), and has been a wine judge for many prestigious international wine awards and competitions (his areas of experience include New Zealand, Regional Italy, Spain, and South-West France). In fact, the South-West of France, and in particular the region of Roussillon has a special place in Robert’s heart, as he has a real fondness for the local Vin Doux Naturel wines that pair extremely well with desserts and chocolate. In October 2012, while working with William Curley, Robert won the UK Final of the Roussillon Dessert Competition alongside pastry chef Sarah Frankland. The sommelier and chef pâtissier team went on to represent the UK in the European Final held in Perpignan in April 2013 and won the overall title of European Champions, beating the crème de la crème of Belgium, Holland, Germany, and Denmark. An achievement and experience that Robert is genuinely proud of.

Robert’s talents and experience also extends to writing, blogging, and between 2010 and 2013 he produced 275 roving sommelier video blogs on his Roving Sommelier TV You Tube channel.