Blenheim, 20 miles south of Picton, is a sleepy service town surrounded by some of the most fecund and highly regarded vineyards in NZ – Marlborough wine country. It's also the country's largest producing wine region with over 50% of the national grape crop.
Gary and Jackie were coming in to do shopping and offered us a lift. Our first impressions of hinterland south island was a similarity to Switzerland and France where the meadows meet the mountains. In the foreground there were orchards and fields of vines, European influenced chalets set against the backdrop of hills.
Blenheim itself is functional with old colonial buildings peeping out between modern shops and office buildings but everywhere there are wine bars, cafés for wine and in the supermarket wine tastings from a local producer. It jollied up my shopping trip. And yes, we did succumb to a couple of bottles of local produced grape juice. Must be good for you – it's made from fruit. If it's fruit why not have it for breakfast?
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