Freshly shucked happiness _{by Madelaine Empson}

Marlborough (Summer 2019)

Blenheim and summer go hand in hand like a glass of wine and, well, a hand. My fiancé Dean and I were excited to visit wine country for a long weekend of good food and great drops, and Marlborough did not disappoint.

We touched down in Blenheim on a Friday and drove straight to Omaka Aviation Heritage Centre. This world-class museum showcases World War One and Two original, replica, and even flyable aircraft. The amiable Brian led us through Knights of the Sky – the first space dedicated to The Great War, filled with Sir Peter Jackson’s personal collection – and Dangerous Skies, Omaka’s WWII exhibition featuring a wide range of warbirds.

The museum excels in the stories it tells, which go beyond the wars to the people who fought them. I particularly loved learning about the all-female military aviators of the 588th Night Bomber Regiment of the Soviet Air Forces. These women dropped thousands of tonnes of bombs on Nazi targets under the cover of darkness. They were dubbed the Nachthexen, or the Night Witches, by the Germans, who likened the sound of their plywood biplanes to that of sweeping broomsticks.

A highlight of Dangerous Skies is the Stalingrad Experience, set in a bombed-out factory in Stalingrad. This film utilises CGI, laser projectors, surround sound, and incredible audio-visual design to tell the story of one of the most brutal battles of WWII and one of the bloodiest battles in the history of mankind. It is a sobering experience that brings to light the terrible toll of war.

I’m not an aviation buff by any stretch, nor is Dean, but you don’t need to be to appreciate the thoughtfully curated Omaka Aviation Heritage Centre. It’s a spectacular asset to the region.

Another asset to the region – in an entirely different way – is Vines Village, boasting a taproom, gin distillery, wine cellar, café, deli, artisan stores, and bungalow all under one roof. Vines Village is like a boutique playground for adults, with an actual playground thrown in for the kids. After filling up on a fried chicken burger and punchy seafood linguine at Vines Village Café, Jeff showed us around.

Jeff and his brother Tim took over Vines Village in 2013. Building it into what it is today, they even put up a shed for Ben, the creator of Roots Marlborough Dry Gin. We were afforded a quick tour of Ben’s distillery and found out that the very next day, he’d be hosting a gin-drinking party for volunteers to help peel hundreds of the grapefruits that would wind up in Roots Gin. Talk about hand harvested and locally made! That sort of ethos permeates through Vines Village.

We found our new favourite Marlborough pinot gris at Whitehaven, located within the village. Julie held a great wine tasting while telling us about the region’s famed sauvignon blanc. We found out that 80 percent of the grapes planted on the 30,000 hectares in Marlborough are sav!

As dusk approached, we checked into Vintners Retreat and nearly fell over when we walked into our fabulously appointed villa. Overlooking vines with rolling hills as a backdrop, we immediately felt at home at Vintners, a feeling bolstered by Kerry’s warm welcome. Our house had everything we needed for a weekend of R&R, though we wish we could have stayed for at least a week.

That night, we headed to the popular Gramado’s for fine dining with a Brazilian flair. We ordered chicken mignon (you can’t go wrong with anything wrapped in bacon) and Wakanui aged rib-eye steak, which was tender and bursting with flavour but very thin for $40. We were delighted by two surprises along the way: a chilli plate and a sneaky bite of Tim Tam cheesecake for dessert. Although we were on a time constraint, our host Kristen couldn’t let us go without something sweet. Our taste buds remain eternally grateful.

After a spa bath at Vintners – bliss – we rolled into bed and rolled right out again. Day two had dawned, and we were Havelock bound.

Havelock is a quaint, historic town with a charming gallery and a handful of cafés and bars. We started our time here at Slip Inn, a picturesque café overlooking the marina. The service was unbelievably slow (20 minutes for two drinks), but the view made up for it. Then it was onto Mills Bay Mussels for the best lunch I’ve had in a long while.

This family-owned tasting room and eatery celebrates New Zealand greenshell mussels by serving them in a range of innovative, unexpected ways. Our tasting platter included raw shucked mussels with garlic butter and panko breadcrumbs, chilli-smoked mussels, crumbed and beer battered mussels, and mussels wrapped in bacon (you just can’t go wrong I tell you). We loved chatting to Art and meeting his wife and kids while devouring these mouth-watering creations.

More mussels were forecast that day, a fact that brought us buckets of freshly shucked happiness. It was onto a Greenshell Mussel Cruise with Marlborough Tour Company next, with entertaining skipper Matty at the helm.

Exploring the stunning Pelorus and Kenepuru Sounds, this half-day cruise was one of the highlights of our trip. We learned so much about the Sounds and the town of Havelock (my favourite fact was that it used to comprise 20 24-hour pubs to water the goldminers living there). Matty talked us through the process of harvesting greenshell mussels while we visited mussel farms, even coming across a harvesting vessel in action. The Pelorus Image can take 120 tonnes of mussels a day. That’s roughly 20,000 mussels.

We then dropped anchor for a beast of a feast as birdsong filled the Sounds air. Our group was served bowl upon bowl of huge steamed mussels – each one must have been nine to 10 centimetres long. A perfectly paired Marlborough sav made this the most delicious cruise I’ve been on by far – and the most indulgent. Feeling like we ate the Pelorus Image’s full haul, we got back home at 6pm and promptly fell asleep, not stirring until morning. It was the finest food coma I’ve ever had. Thank you, Havelock!

The decadence was far from over though. It was time to sample more of that iconic sauvignon blanc on a wine tour with Sounds Connection. Our host Don got in my good books straight away by announcing he was there to “tell us some lies about the region and the industry with a few truths thrown in.” With more banter to follow, Don took our initially quiet party to five vineyards over the course of one golden, sunny day.

We started at Wither Hills, which blew me away for the beauty of the building. I distinctly remember the salty sav Sharon served us there, too. Our next stop was Hunter’s, the oldest family-owned vineyard in Marlborough, where we wandered through pretty gardens and even dropped in on an artist in his studio. We then had lunch at Saint Clair, where Sara tailored a wonderful tasting specifically to us. Unfortunately, our meals were disappointing – Dean and I ordered a pasta that featured sumptuous seafood but barely any flavour. The rest of our party raved about the food.

My high point of the day was hearing the story behind the Doctors’ range at Forrest Wines – their riesling was the first wine I enjoyed as a grownup.

By our final destination, Framingham, we were all happily chatting away to one another. Our Sounds Connection tour was an exceptional bonding experience, and I think the wine helped too!

But there was one more vineyard to visit, and it was my favourite by far. After a hearty, upmarket pub meal at The Public House in Blenheim’s town centre for dinner, we arose the next morning and made our way to Spy Valley Wines.

With clever signs and bottle labels written partly in Morse code (Spy Valley is named after the spy base just down the road), our time here was unique in more ways than one. Not only were we given a full tour behind the scenes (a first for both of us), the effervescent Della took us outside to sip a divine pinot noir right next to the vines on which it grows. Dean found the sav of his choice here, while I’m still madly hunting for the 2018 pinot noir rosé. If you only visit one vineyard in Marlborough, make it Spy Valley.

The rest of our final day was spent exploring Blenheim itself. I found it to be a friendly town filled with great food and outdoor spaces. We checked out the lovely Pollard Park and Brayshaw Park, a heritage destination featuring a recreation of a historic street from Blenheim’s early days called Beavertown. Visiting Marlborough Museum at Brayshaw Park was a fantastic end to our trip. Their permanent wine exhibition complements the region perfectly, serving as a wonderful introduction to the many local vineyards. With a mix of rare and unusual wines, wine-making equipment, interactive displays, and more, we marvelled at old bottles of wine – and I mean old! – from places we’d visited the day before. That sense of familiarity gave us a real buzz.

Thank you to Destination Marlborough for an amazing trip that helped us realise Marlborough is wine country and more. We’ve fondly christened it the land of the long green mussels!