Where do Kiwis go to sample some of the most famous New
Zealand wines and local artisan foods? Why, the Marlborough Wine and Food Festival, of course! This annual festival regularly attracts over 8,000
wine lover internationals and locals to the famous Brancott Estate.
Having just celebrated its 30th anniversary, the Marlborough Wine
and Food Festival is New Zealand’s original and longest running wine festival.
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via Flickr by Aidan |
Brancott Estate is now famous for their
groundbreaking efforts in planting Sauvignon Blanc grapes in Marlborough; at
the time, the region was considered to be too cold for grapes and was viewed as
an unwise risk taken by (what was then known as) Montana Wines founder, Frank
Yukich. The wine variety quickly took off, and the region is now world-renowned
for their deliciously crisp Sauvignon Blancs.
The Marlborough Wine and Food Festival offers a variety of
activities and events to take in – wine tutorials from the region’s leading
winemakers, the Supreme Food and Wine Matching Competition, tastings and sales of
Marlborough’s award-winning wines, the Fashion in the Vines competition and a
bevy of New Zealand’s top musical performers. In addition, the Culinary Pavilion hosts a variety of cooking demonstrations led by some of New
Zealand’s hottest celebrity chefs. The 2014 Festival featured Josh Emett,
Sachie Nomura and Nick Honeyman!
Have you attended the Marlborough Wine and Food Festival?
Let us know in the comments below!