Marlborough
is bustling. It is a pleasure to see the
shops busy and roads buzzy with private, commercial and farming vehicles
jostling in the traffic, and importantly, many young people and their families
everywhere. Good restaurants, such as Herzog, Gibb’s, d’Urville, and Highfield are
well supported by a host of excellent cafes.
The Marlborough wine industry has breathed a great deal of life into
this rural town, and its personnel number many who have travelled widely,
tending vines and making wine all over the world. Almost all of the people who are involved in
making wine in Marlborough are acutely aware of the need to keep abreast of
what the rest of the wine world is doing and taste widely to benchmark for
their own work as well as avoiding the dreaded ‘cellar palate’. That’s why the ‘wine options’ game has become
so popular.
It was a privilege to be invited to conduct the first round of the
Marlborough Wine Options 2010 on Friday 16 July. The organizing committee including Cath from
Mudhouse, Brett from Nautilus, Janine from Cloudy Bay,
Rebecca from Lawson’s Dry Hills and the indefatigable Anna Colman acquired the
use of The Woodbourne Tavern (‘The Woody’) as a venue to hold over 20 teams to
contest the first game. It was as to be
expected, a spirited affair and very closely fought game.
The winners were Marcus Wright and Rebecca Wiffen from Lawson’s Dry Hills
with Scott Allen of Fresh Choice – Springlands and Inus van der Westhuizen of
Hunter’s, calling themselves “Truckin’ Beers Hours Later”, who scored 100
points out of a possible 150. Runner Up
was the “Nautilus” team on 95 points and third place after a tie-breaker “The
Reserve Bench” on 90 points. ‘The Boot’
for last place went to “The Speculators”, a team from Mount Riley,
who only scored 60 points. Winner of the
Individual Prize for ‘last man standing’ was Mike Collins, the viticulturist from
Nautilus Wines.
The wines served were:
William Fevre Chablis ‘Domaine’
2008
Spade Oak Gisborne Viognier 2007
Donnhoff Schlossbockelheimer
Felsenberg Riesling Spatlese 2006
Yalumba ‘The Signature’ Barossa
Cabernet/Shiraz 2005
Produttori del Barbaresco
Barbaresco Riserva ‘Ovello’ 2005
Villa Maria Reserve Marlborough Pinot Noir
2007
Trapiche ‘Tributo – Felipe
Villefane’ Malbec 2003
Following are the teams’ scores and placings:
|
Team
|
Name
|
Score
(max 150)
|
Place
(after tie)
|
|
1
|
Hogs
Heads
|
75
|
14th
|
|
2
|
The
Riojan Rollers
|
85
|
9th
|
|
3
|
The
Only Way is Up!
|
85
|
10th
|
|
4
|
Red
Rockets
|
80
|
12th
|
|
5
|
White
Buckets
|
85
|
11th
|
|
6
|
World’s
Fastest Indevins
|
70
|
17th
|
|
7
|
Nautilus
|
95
|
2nd
|
|
8
|
Truckin’
Beers Hours Later
|
100
|
1st
|
|
9
|
The Products...
Terraza Malbec Reserva 09
Colour: Profound cerise with florid, rubicund highlights.
Aroma: Freshly crushed violet...
$26.90 750 MLS
Grands Bois Viognier 11
Robert Parker described the 2009 vintage of this wine as perhaps "the finest value in Viog...
$25.05 750 MLS
Breaking News 
|
16-May-2012 - RT @Wellington_JAG: One of the most amazing wine experiences of my life with @regionalwines & Christopher Canan tasting @DOMAINEGUIG ...
|
|
16-May-2012 - Absorbing read...the full gamut of emotions from envy to schadenfreude. Click Here
|
|
12-May-2012 - Free Mt Difficulty wine tasting starting in 10 mins. Plus we have 20 fill your own taps as of yesterday...great... Click Here
|
|
12-May-2012 - Free Mt Difficulty tasting starting in 10 mins until 4 pm today. We now have 20 beer taps too...gerat day to be... Click Here
|
View More...
Library Tasting: 1992 – 1994 Cabernet and Shiraz From Several CountriesThursday 17th May, 6.00pm start, Cost $50.00 pp Limit 22 places. Upstairs Tasting Room, Regional Wines and Spirits, 15 Ellice St, Mt Victoria. Booking    Craggy Range 2010 Prestige Release with Steve Smith MWTuesday 22nd May, 6.00 pm start, Cost $30.00 pp, Limit 80 places
Venue: The Boatshed, Taranaki St Wharf
Bookings: With Regional Wines, Tel: 385-6952 Burgundy Tasting - Maison Drouhin 2009Thursday 31st May, 6.00pm start, Cost $35.00 pp Limit 30 places. Upstairs Tasting Room, Regional Wines and Spirits, 15 Ellice St, Mt Victoria. Booking
Contact & Enquiries
Main Line: - 04 3856952
Orders Line: 04 3849735
Fax Line: 04 3828488
Hours: Mon – Sat 9am –10pm
Sunday & Public Holidays 11am - 7.30pm
Need Help?
Try our FAQ Section
If you can't find what you are after, give us a call or pop into the store!
People! Who we are
We're a talented mix of people who love what we do, and we've been doing it for over 20 years! Click here to find out more
Copyright © 2010 Regional Wines Limited
|