Wine tasting in the Marlborough Region!!

I know it says wine tasting, but it's not a good idea to 'taste' on an empty stomach, so the first stop was at the chocolate factory for a free sample - or two! We stayed at a great place in Renwick and hired a couple of bikes from the park owner for 10 NZ dollars (an Elvis bargain!! - most places were 50 bucks each!). The concept of riding bikes while drinking wine always seems like a good idea - when you start off, but as you'll see when you follow the pictures along, it's not the safest concept I've ever come across!














This is us proudly showing off our bikes, stranding straight and unaided, on the way to the first winery.......











The vinyards are set in the beautiful Marlborough region, I don't know how many there are - but there's more than can be visited in a day. Notice the snow capped mountains in the background. If it gets too cold in the valley on a night, they bring helicopters in on the morning to force the warmer air down into the valley to protect the grapes from frost - there must be a lot of money in this wine business!! The grapes get warmed up - and everyone else gets woken up, they don't seem to care though!




This is Elvis on the way to the first vinyard.



















Another view of the vinyards - I thought I'd better do the scenary shots early before the tasting!







Down to business now - this is about the third tasting we'd done. Unfortunately Elvis and I didn't quite understand the finer points of wine tasting, so when the owners waxed lyrical about a 'gooseberry flavour with a long almond finish' we justed nodded in sync. When he asked me what it tasted like I said 'Wine'. I think it's best sometimes not to complicate things!

We've had 15 samples each by this time and it's starting to take effect - getting on the bike and keeping it straight was becoming more difficult.

The couple in the next picture are Ron and Jeanette from Perth. We had a little chat about our home towns, our travel experiences and the dangers of cycling and drinking. Ron and Jeanette have asked us to call in to see them when we get to Perth (I don't think they were drunk!) Anyway, we're looking forward to seeing you in Perth in January 2008 - we'll also be keen to hear how your wine tasting went!




























More pictures from the various different cellar doors - definitely getting tipsy by this stage.





























The picture above was the last of the 32 samples (each) - by now it was difficult to walk to the bikes - nevermind ride them.

The last picture shows Elvis in hysterics, laughing at me being a 'Granda' telling her we would be late getting the bikes back - this wasn't helped by me reading the map the wrong way around and taking a wrong turn. Elvis was laughing so much that she couldn't ride her bike anymore and had to walk with it for a mile or so. We eventually got back an hour late - but the guy who owns the park was sympathetic. Anyone who has drank a lot of wine knows how the story ends - fell asleep feeling dizzy - woke up with a headache!!


Ps - a message to my cycling friends - I've got a great idea for next years trip - we just need plenty of vinyards.

Pps - Hello to Laurie and Sue Potts and Steve Hanby - thanks for your comments - great to hear from you and we're glad you're enjoying the blog.