Located at the top of the South Island, Marlborough is New Zealand’s largest winegrowing region, accounting for 75% of the country’s total wine production.
It has been said that there is no wine anywhere in the world that tastes like the wine of Marlborough. The balance of extraordinary purity and intensity of flavors — set around impressive aroma, distinctive fruit characteristics and balanced acidity — is superb. These are stylish, exciting wines that surprise and delight.
What is it that makes the wines of Marlborough so distinctively exquisite? As with any of the great winemaking regions of the world, the answer lies in a magical synergy of climate and soil, underpinned by the vintners’ desire to express this unique terroir.
In the northeastern corner of the South Island, bounded by the Pacific Ocean to the east and towering mountain ranges in the hinterlands to the north and south, a broad alluvial plain stretches from the coastline, gradually rising into narrow valleys with favorable northerly aspects. It’s a diverse landscape of spectacular natural beauty and bounty.
In past centuries, Maori hunted Moa and cultivated vast Kumara crops in the year-round sunshine. Early European settlers established New Zealand’s pastoral industry on the fertile rolling downs of the river valleys.
In 1873, long before the modern-day vintners recognized the extraordinary potential to produce great wine in the region, pioneering Scottish farmer and grape grower David Herd planted Marlborough’s first vineyard. It was to be another 100 years before that vision took root with the development of commercial viticulture.
Today, Marlborough is recognized as one of the premium wine regions of the world. As New Zealand’s leading wine region, it draws international acclaim that far outweighs its size.
In the span of just a few decades, winemakers have embraced this small, geographically diverse region, exploring the nuances offered by its landscape to craft exhilarating flavors in many different wine styles.
Each expresses the indelible mark of place that is uniquely Marlborough.
On sale this week, you can taste the unique terroir of Marlborough and and its neighboring regions in our exclusive Oceanian Collection available only through our Cyber Circle email savings program or try a specific Marlborough wine at Vinesse at any time.
