We will spend a few days in the northern part of NZ's south island at the beginning of May.
From the dozens of wineries on the official NZ wine websites, are there any you would recommend particularly for a visit? Any interesting wine trails in the area?
Advise on hotels close to estates would also be appreciated.
Thanks a lot
Yves
Salut/Hi Yves,
le/on Sat, 4 Mar 2006 09:28:16 +0100, tu disais/you said:-
Oh wow!! This is one for Andrew.
I'll rush in with two on opposite sides of the road. Cloudy Bay and Allan Scott winery in Marlborough.
Don't recommend Hotels use Motels, it's far cheaper and VERY comfortable. We got a motel for 4/5 for about $70NZ a night iirc. There are dozens all over the place.
Mark? Lord St Helier? Let's hear it.
"Ian Hoare" wrote ............
Always glad to oblige !
Firstly, I must confess to being curious as to where you are visiting before you get to the northern part of the South Island, like your arrival point into NZ - as you must arrive into a major NZ port of entry, it does make a difference as to how you intend travelling to Marlborough.
Perhaps a little lesson in geography may assist.
Marlborough is centred around the town of Blenheim; which, although it has a small airport, is relatively isolated. It involves either a quite splendid ferry trip from Wellington, or an equally spectacular coastal drive up from Christchurch.
As Ian suggests, Blenheim has a whole gambit of accommodation.
Take a look at:
Nelson City is an hour or so to the west of Blenheim - driving is the only realistic option - the Nelson wineries are in fact a further 1/2 hour or so beyond the city.
With these distances, you should regard each region separately, although of you only have three days I would tend to stay in Blenheim, and make a day trip over to Nelson (leave early - return late) - but if you have more time, definitely stay in Motueka; a small town close to wineries and beaches etc.
As to the wineries, this is an excellent site:
Neudorf and Seifried are the most notable - the former make no pretences - they are all about wine without the distractions of cafes etc.
In saying that, many NZ wineries have cafe or even formal dining facilities - however, many smaller establishments start winding down after Easter, so phone first.
Marlborough is a relatively compact area, very easy to drive around with
60-70 wineries within a close proximity to each other.Again many have eating facilities, and I would be remiss not to mention Hertzog Winery & Restaurant; a first class establishment for fine dining.
As Ian suggests, Cloudy Bay, simply because of it's iconic status is a must visit; Allan Scott Wines are right across the road.
Villa Maria, although Auckland based have an excellent facility which I recommend; Seresin, Wairau River and Saint Clair.
Remember, May is autumn downunder - expect cooler evening temperatures but daytime temps in that 18-20degrC range.
Thanks for all the clous, St.Helier,
well we will actually be on a Round-the-World-Trip (12 April - 9 May) and after concentrating on Samoa and Tonga, we will fly to Christchurch (via Auckland, of course)and hire a car over there. Given the limited amount of time, it might be better to concentrate on Blenheim and Marlborough and to keep Nelson for a future visit, especially as some time should be reserved for scenic drives and whale watching (sorry if this is OT, but is it a good time of the year for whale viewings?).
Weatherwise, I realise that it's autumn in May. You know, that's the difference: here in Luxembourg, we should be heading for spring now, and what did we get: a record 31 cm of snow on Friday !! It was actually the largest amount of snow recorded on a single day since 1955...
Anyway I will check all the links you mentioned.
Thanks again
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