While the winds of change are now blowing in Blenheim, for many years it remained a farming service town, despite its location amid New Zealand’s biggest mass planting of vines.

Yet almost invariably, those who love wine are also interested in food. If not originally from Europe, many of the winemakers, viticulturists and cellar hands now living in Marlborough have worked in famous wine and food regions such as Burgundy and Bordeaux.

Swiss hospitality-wine pioneers, Therese and Hanz Herzog were first to forge the gourmet dining path in Marlborough. Gibb’s Vineyard Restaurant followed suit. Fire destroyed the original site, but Swiss-born Heidi and Kiwi husband Chris will open Gibb’s in the Willows (gibbs-restaurant.co.nz) by a willow-fringed pond in a Rapaura vineyard with views to the Richmond Range in August 2012.

Over the years the fine-food movement has gained momentum and there are now more gourmet and vinous delights in Marlborough than ever before.


Top row and opposite: Marlborough’s striking new Brancott Estate Heritage Centre
Middle row: Hedgerows Hydroponic Camarosa strawberries; vinegars; Mary Rix-Miller
Bottom row: Dave Anderson, Wither Hills restaurant; croquette of slow-braised lamb

The Herzogs continue to draw visitors, in October opening their newer Herzog Bistro (herzog.co.nz) doors for dinner for the first time in response to popular demand.

Also in October, Prime Minister John Key opened the Brancott Estate Heritage Centre (brancottestate.com). Built on the hill where Montana used to take its corporate VIPs to view the original 1973 vineyard that launched Marlborough sauvignon blanc, the striking, flat-roofed centre has been designed by Auckland architects Fearon Hay to merge with the surrounding terrain. There’s no detailed landscaping beyond the expanse of plate glass, since it’s all about the dramatic panorama: as they gaze, visitors can match sophisticated sharing plates and platters to the top-shelf Brancott Estate Letter Series and the full Reserve range.

Meanwhile, up-and-coming chef Dave Anderson has taken over the grandly appointed restaurant at Wither Hills (witherhills.co.nz), wowing diners with handmade lobster and prawn ravioli, and a croquette of slow-braised lamb, wrapped in a kumara blanket, coated with panko crumbs and served over a vegetable caponata with mint hollandaise.

Rather more down-home is the retro-style cafe attached to the brand- new cellar door at Rock Ferry in the Wairau Valley (rockferry.co.nz). Chef Fiona Harvey, wife of Rock Ferry owner-viticulturist Tom Hutchison, serves up classic organic steak sandwiches, lime leaf patties and a soba noodle salad with grilled eggplant, coriander and free-range chicken or prawns. Fruit compotes will flow from the many fruit trees in their garden – damson plums, apples, quinces, pears and feijoas – while two plots of herbs are grown according to the same biodynamic principles that drive Rock Ferry’s viticulture.

Also recently opened is the cellar door at TerraVin in the Omaka Valley, 16km from Blenheim (terravin.co.nz). Possibly the smallest cellar door in Marlborough, it’s a beautifully converted space to one side of the house of owners Mike and Jo Eaton, overlooking their steeply sloping vineyard of pinot noir.

For owners of smaller wineries with no dining options, Hotel d’Urville (durville.com) in Blenheim has long been a popular choice to entertain foreign guests. Converted from the former offices of The Public Trust, opposite the Civic Theatre, it is Blenheim’s most elegant building. Innovative executive chef Maree Connolly has introduced an extra pre-theatre bistro menu, with a choice of two entrees, mains and desserts for just $39 – an unbelievable deal considering we had fillet steak. Appetisers also now come bite-sized or as small plates, replacing entrees and allowing diners to compose their own tasting menus.

Our meal began with a soup of Cloudy Bay clams (one of many local products championed by Maree) and ended with a strawberry sorbet served with new-season strawberries from another local producer, Hedgerows Hydroponic – the big Camarosa variety, beloved of chefs for being
red right through when sliced, with no white patches.