Winding through New Zealand is the classic wine trail. One of the stops along the way is Martinborough. The small town seems like... a small town. Ha ha. It actually reminded me of Ellensburg, WA (minus CWU).
The vineyards, although not as expansive as photos I have seen of places in Napa or Yakima, were idyllic with their long rows of groomed grape vines basking in the hot sun. Trina had been to Martinborough before, and was a great guide. We went to Margrain Vineyard for lunch at their cafe, and then did a tasting of some of their wines.
In all honesty I don't really like wine... Maybe I am just not used to it, but I did enjoy trying different kinds and hearing about the different grapes and processes used to create different flavors. Out of the 8 or so we tried I even found 2 I didn't hate! That is a good start right? ha ha.
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| First wine tasting.. here goes nothing! |
After our little indulgence we headed to Castle Point. I was honestly surprised how far out it was, but enjoyed all the changing scenery along the way. The more rural it got, the more sheep there were haha. After all my time in the cities I was starting to wonder how true New Zealand's reputation for sheep was, but rest assured... I can now confirm there are millions of sheep in rural New Zealand.
Castle Point is on the North Island's south east coast, and was beautiful. Since a picture is worth 1,000 words I will let the photos speak for themselves.
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| Rocks up on the hill embedded with tons of shells! |
Absolutely beautiful. I will have to watch for New Zealand wines at Trader Joe's
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