Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Today was a formal wine tour day. We started off at 9:30 a.m. where we were greeted by our ride and tour guide, Tammy. Tammy turned the van around and we headed out to Gibbston Valley and the winery namesake, Gibbston Valley Winery. The person giving the tour at Gibbston was not very interested in being with us and was mechanical in her speaking. The wines were not all that great, but we did get a cool wine cave tour. While we were with our less than thrilling hostess, our tour guide Tammy went to another building across the parking lot, the Gibbston Valley Cheesery to pick up some wedges for later tasting.
Tammy then headed towards the Nevis pass, which separates Gibbston Valley, Banockburn and Cromwell Valley. We were a bit delayed (as Grant from Valli was yesterday), when we were held while crews blasted the mountains along the pass. We were told this is preventive landslide measure. When we were released from our holding pattern, we headed to a much smaller winery, Olssens, where we did a cheese tasting with their wines and the cheese Tammy had picked up at Gibbston’s. The cheese and wine were all very good and the cellar door hostess let Mike cut some of their wild thyme for our dinner. The cellar door hostess even gave him a bag for the thyme and a scissors to cut it with. Strangely, since leaving Marlborough, we no longer see wild rosemary growing everywhere, but are now seeing quite a bit of wild thyme.
Earlier in the trip when we were all introducing ourselves to one another, Tammy offered up open suggestions for our last two wineries. As we waited for the blasting, Troy approached her and made some suggestions, which resulted in us crossing the road from Olssens and heading over to Felton Road. There wines were very good. The cellar door hostess even gave just the 4 of us a tasting of their best offering, Pinot Noir – Block 5 to try. She also provided us a list of where we could get their wines in the U.S. We bought a couple of bottles to take along and were on our way.
Next we went to “The Big Picture” and had a tasting lunch, which was essentially various breads, oils, hummus, cheeses, meats, olives, capers and artichokes. All very good! We then went into the sensory room to smell different flavors that are in wines. Some of the flavors didn’t match for us and we think it would have been more fun if we had to guess more of the scents instead of just a few. After the sensory room, we watched a DVD of 6 different wineries, and tasted their wines during the video. None of the wines stood out for any of us. “The Big Picture” is already being franchised in Australia and California.
For our last winery, we went to Chard Farm, which was high on a hillside, straight across from the A.J. Hackett Bridge and the original bungy jump. The ride up was quite challenging, especially in a tour van, and I did not have a good ride up. Neither did Rita as I was in her lap the whole way up. We stopped and watched the thrill seeking bungy jumpers. Crazy people! The wine was pretty good, but the bubbles they had were not served correctly. One bottle was flat and the other was warm. They were also pouring the sparking wine in a regular wine glass.
The tour ended with a stop at a fruit stand and rose garden along the roadside. After the tour, we hopped in the car and went to a boutique market recommended by Tammy. We went in searching for rabbit to go with our thyme, but ended up with venison and some artisan bread. We also stopped to pick up something to stop the terrible itching from the sand flies.
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