Blenheim

Travel Advice for Seniors: Blenheim

Our purpose in stopping in Blenheim was to tour the famous Marlborough Wine country and enjoy some wine tastings. Marlborough is largest wine growing region in New Zealand and home to world-class sauvignon blanc.

First a word about our boutique hotel, Hotel D’Urville. It is situated in the remodeled Art Deco Public Trust building and the rooms are just stellar. We stayed in one that had what looked like kiwi feathers on the lap covers (of course it was imitation as kiwis are protected). The rooms were very nice, and breakfast was included.

Upon arrival at Blenheim, we decided to take ourselves out for a special dinner. We chose Harvest Restaurant, which is in the countryside. We were seated in a nice, homey dining room and chose from a chef-curated menu of uniquely New Zealand dishes. We asked for wine pairings with our main dishes and were not disappointed. We had the lamb and the rib eye, which were both outstanding. The restaurant also has a nice outdoor area, but it was a little cold to sit outside. Highly recommended though it was a fairly long cab ride out of town and back.

We only had one day to visit wine country, and we took full advantage. The vines here were planted around 1973 as the area was perfect for winemaking and by the 80’s exceptional wines were being produced, some saying that the Sauvignon Blanc here is the best in the world. Marlborough has about 168 wineries and we were to visit three, which is quite enough tastings in one day to do them all justice!

We visited the world-famous Cloudy Bay winery, Fromm and Forrest Estate.  Fromm is an organic, boutique winery.  Forrest Estate was founded by two doctors, and Cloudy Bay is very well-known for putting New Zealand on the map for its Sauvignon Blanc.

The tour also included lunch at one of the wineries, which never disappoints. We were given a choice of menu items that were paired with wines and ate outside since it was a nice day. It was nice to go tasting with a small group, as it made for good conversation all day, and everyone got more talkative as the day (and the tastings!) went on. No one was a wine connoisseur, so it was pretty relaxed! A side note here, if you get a chance to go on a wine tour, make sure that lunch at a winery is included, it will likely be some of the best chef-created food you will have on your holiday!

We capped off our wine-touring day with a visit to a local boutique chocolate factory, Makana Confections, which has an outstanding collection of chocolate sweeties. Most of which did not make it home for the gifts we intended because they were so good, we decided not to share!

Side note: If you intend to purchase wine, I like to purchase wine that you cannot already get in the US. A lot of Cloudy Bay is readily available in the States, so be sure to ask at the winery before you purchase. Also, make sure that you have the extra luggage weight available and make sure that you are under the alcohol limit for customs.  Cheers!

Where we stayed: Hotel D’Urville. Lovely boutique hotel, great rooms, breakfast was included.

How we got there: Private Chauffeur for the two-hour ride from Nelson to Blenhem. This was part of a four-week private tour through New Zealand. We began in Auckland and ended in Queenstown.

General Accessibility Information: Major tourist sights, hotels and transportation in most major cities are accessible. Further, some parks or parts of parks are accessible. Call in advance to verify and make specialty arrangements.See our sections on specialty apps and accessible travel for more on accessibility assistance.