Cloudy Bay

We woke up without too many aches and after a leisurely breakfast outside, we left the bright sunshine of Abel Tasman with some considerable sadness and drove via Waiketeriteri Beach (a lovely beach but much more crowded than Marahau) and the “low” road to the wine country of Marlborough. The drive was relatively easy with wonderful views on all sides. Much of the road was straight and there was very little traffic. The countryside was initially lowland farming countryside surrounded on both sides by mountain ranges. Gradually the farming country gave way to vineyards as far as the eye could see. We did not really stop until we reached Renwick, having bought $10 of the best ever fresh cherries directly from a grower in Motueka, a busy little town, which kept us going.
We found a very nice chalet to stay in Renwick (the Vintners Retreat) and then headed off to find Mahi wines. We first came across Mahi Wines when we went to a food and wine evening run by Gus Evans, a business contact, who owns the Butcher’s Hook in Fulham. He runs monthly evenings when he invites vintners to present their wines and “Jacky”, their very talented French chef, creates recipes to go with the wines.
The first event involved Brian Bicknell of Mahi wines and so it was nice to visit their vineyard and to catch up with him - and to stock up. We then bought some food at the supermarket for supper as we have all cooking facilities here and headed for that mecca of New Zealand wine, the vineyard of Cloudy Bay. Needless to say we participated in the wine tasting there and bought a few bottles including a very interesting sweet Gewurztraminer.
The location of Cloudy Bay is, unsurprisingly, as shown on the label, and by this time, the weather had joined with the wine and indeed become cloudy.
Another interesting day.