New
Zealand's Marlborough region: some pictures
We humans are
pretty visual creatures, so I thought it might be quite nice to try to
give you the feel of some of the wine regions I've visited by means of
some nice pictures. I always find I understand a region's wines a
little better when I've seen the vineyards, so here are some pictures
from New Zealand's Marlborough region, with a bit of annotation after
each one.
The Wairau Valley floor, looking over to the Wither Hills: this is the
heart of Marlborough, and this wide row spacing is typical.
The Awatare Valley, over the other side of the Wither Hills
Montana's Brancott Estate, Wairau Valley
Another view of Brancott
Wind machines are all over the place: frost is a real issue here, and
one way to deal with it is to use these propellers to get the
inversion layer (a layer of slightly warmer air above the freezing
lower layer) to mix in and raise the temperature. Helicopters are also
used for this.
This is the other option: to use sprinklers as frost control. The
vineyard pictured is part of the massive Winegrowers of Ara estate
which has been newly established.
Stoneleigh Estate's vineyard in Rapaura, another subregion
Awatare Valley
New plantings, Wairau Valley
Sauvignon Blanc, Rapaura
Frost damage
Sauvignon Blanc, Wairau Valley
Pictures taken,
November 2007
see also: My
guide to New Zealand wine, based on a visit in November 2007
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