wining in marlborough

We picked up our rental car in Picton this morning, then lost about an hour trying to get the back window fixed at the rental agency’s garage (no luck). Today’s plan: wine & food. I volunteered to be DD for the day since I lived in the area for about a month when I was doing vineyard work. It turns out Sabrina knows “Winery Row” better than I do, but I did score points as a tour guide with the boutique chocolate factory (w/samples, of course) and Prenzel, a distillery with unlimited tastings of liqueur, dessert sauces and various flavored oils and dressings.

We hit about seven or eight of the ~25 wineries along Rapaura Road, then I drove my sleeping passengers out to the vineyard where I worked in Seddon. Natalie woke up to see it, and feigned interest – I’ll admit it, it looks just like all the others. It’s crazy to see the difference from August; the fields are a fluffy spring-green blanket of new leaves now.

After a pub meal, we relaxed at Watson’s Way, a great little hostel in Renwick, and shared a bottle of Summer Riesling from the Wairau River winery – my reward for driving!