It was a double win for Nautilus Estate at the 2024 Marlborough Show, sponsored by Quay Connect, with the team making an impression in both the Sparkling and ‘Other White’ Categories.

The Nautilus Cuvée Brut NV picked up the Winequip Champion Sparkling trophy, while the Nautilus Albariño 2024 picked up the title of Marlborough Wine & Food Experience Champion Other White Wine.

The company has been working hard at both varieties for many years, taking care to showcase the quality of grapes grown in Marlborough.

Winemaker and General Manager Clive Jones told us what makes these wines, and awards, special for Nautilus Estate…

Clayvin Pinot Noir 2021 made big waves at the Marlborough Wine Show, sponsored by QuayConnect, picking up three separate category trophies.

Giesen Chief Winemaker Jeremy Tod said a great vintage had made an already special wine even more exciting, and the fruits of the harvest were really just starting to shine through now. This was confirmed when it picked up Vit Management Ltd Champion Organic Wine, Fruitfed Supplies Champion Southern Valleys Wine and De Sangosse NZ Champion Pinot Noir 2021 & Older at the 2024 Show.

He shared a little insight into the wine and what makes it so special…

The New Zealand’s longest-running wine and food festival is shaping up to be another ‘mid-summer stunner’ of exceptional experiences.

Loren Coffey, event manager of the Marlborough Wine & Food Festival, is delighted to announce celebrity chef Al Brown in attendance at the 38^th festival on 8 February 2025.

“We are excited to have Al Brown starring in the Culinary Pavilion. Celebrated for his innovative cuisine Al is a recognised, leading New Zealand Chef and a captivating entertainer.

“As an ambassador for Regal Salmon, Al will demonstrate how to create delicious salmon dishes at home in ways that bring out the best in this amazing kaimoana, fresh from the Marlborough Sounds,” Loren says.

“And a lot of people are going to be very excited to hear that Polly Markus, of Miss Polly’s Kitchen, is also joining us in the Culinary Pavilion. Polly’s passion for food and her talent for creating comforting, delicious dishes resonate with everyone. Her vibrant energy and love for cooking make her a favourite among food lovers.”

Alongside Polly and Al, some of Marlborough’s local culinary heroes will work with products from small-scale local food producers.

Eighty-six gold medals were awarded this year, up from 46 last year. The total number of entries was on par with 2023, with more than 500 wines entered into the Show. Trophy winners will be revealed at the Marlborough Wine Show Celebration Long Lunch on October 18.

Chief Judge Stu Marfell says the quality of entries this year was spectacular, with both Sauvignon Blanc and Sparkling varieties making a particularly strong impression.

More than 500 wines have been put forward for judging at the 2024 Marlborough Wine Show, sponsored by QuayConnect.

Chief Judge Stu Marfell and 14 local judges will this year be joined by guest judges Elaine Chukan Brown and Sam Kim, who will also be the Deputy Chair of the Show.

Judging will take place from 2-4 October at the Marlborough Events Centre.

Nothing says ‘summer in Marlborough’ more than festival tickets in hand, and dates on the calendar.

The Marlborough Wine & Food Festival has blossomed early, inspiring people to buy their ‘Early Bird’ and ‘Locals Only’ tickets before the first hint of bud bloom.

Congratulations to Nick Lamain from VinLink who was announced the 2024 Tonnellerie de Mercurey Marlborough Young Winemaker of the Year following the competition held on 31 July at MRC and NMIT in Blenheim.

Congratulations also goes to Ellie Hobbs from Rose Family Estate who came second and Ruby McManaway from Yealands who came third.

25 years ago, on Bastille Day 1999, Adele and Daniel Le Brun released Cuvée No.1, the first Marlborough Méthode Traditionelle from their company No.1 Family Estate.

The Young Winemaker Competition provides a fantastic opportunity for future winemakers 30 years or under to upskill, grow in confidence, widen their network and start making a name for themselves within the industry. The winner of the regional competition will compete in the National competition against other regions. We are pleased to introduce you to the contestants competing in the Marlborough competition taking place on Wednesday 31st July.

Framingham Wines is pleased to announce today that it has been recognized in Tripadvisor’s® Travelers’ Choice® Awards Best of the Best for 2024, ranking amongst the top 10% of things to do worldwide.

Organic Winegrowers New Zealand (OWNZ) is thrilled to announce dates for the main event of Organic Wine Week (OWW). Down to Earth will take place at Prefab Hall in Wellington on 17 September 2024 and at Brad’s Warehouse in Auckland on 19 September 2024.

During the week of 27 - 31 May, the Marlborough Wine industry shared their initiatives on Instagram using⁠ #WellnessWeek2024 and #MarlboroughWine.

Marlborough’s 2024 vintage could have been “dialled up” for winemakers, says Blank Canvas co-owner Matt Thomson of low yields, warm days, ultra dry conditions, and an autumnal shift to cold nights in March. “You couldn’t have asked for better from a timing point of view.”

Recognising that great wines begin in the vineyard, the Young Viticulturist of the Year competition celebrates the future of viticulture. We are pleased to introduce the Marlborough viticulturists competing in the Marlborough competition this 4th July 2024.

With the ‘electrification’ of wine, AI, vineyard redevelopment, understanding the wine industry’s workforce and automation in agriculture just some of the conference sessions on offer, WinePRO promises to be a world-class event at the Marlborough Lines Stadium 2000 in Blenheim from June 25 to 27.

“The Marlborough wine industry has been extremely kind to me,” says James Healy, 32 years after he pulled up in an iridescent green Holden Premier packed with his family and belongings.

James had cut his oenological teeth with Corbans in Auckland and Gisborne, but found his people and place at Cloudy Bay when he started there in 1991. Experimentation was embraced, the work was “vital and free”, and his colleagues – including viticulturist Ivan Sutherland and winemaker Kevin Judd – were kindred spirits in crafting wines. “It was just a perfect bunch of people together,” says James, who was awarded a Wine Marlborough Lifetime Achievement Award in November last year, for his extraordinary contribution to the region’s wine industry. “If you had an idea, you just tried it out on a few barrels. You just did it. Which fits completely with how I feel. As soon as you start getting to, ‘we’ve always done it like that’, I feel like shooting myself.”

When Tessa Anderson raised the idea of a Wine Marlborough Lifetime Achievement Award, she never dreamed she would one day receive one.

“I would like to reiterate that it was for services, not for consumption,” she says with a characteristically warm laugh, having been recognised for 27 years telling extraordinary stories of the Marlborough wine industry – including as wine reporter at The Marlborough Express, a longstanding editor of Winepress magazine and Winegrower magazine, and the author of two books – Jane Hunter, Growing a Legacy, and 50 Years, 50 Stories, which was released this year to commemorate a half century of wine in the region.

Dave Pearce loved chess as a kid, which perhaps explains his habit of looking ahead before making a move.

It’s the kind of considered foresight that saw him and a handful of others launch the groundbreaking Screwcap Initiative in 2001, and made Grove Mill the world’s first carbon neutral winery in 2006, having already pioneered the use of a eucalypt woodlot for winery wastewater.

Years later Dave adopted the term “the bleeding edge” to describe the times people considered him “crazy” for bypassing the status quo. “I spent I don’t know how many years being ‘an idiot’ because I thought carbon zero was a good idea,” he says. “It’s great to be at the bleeding edge, but generally you bleed.”

A wine made only once every few years was this year crowned the Barrel Finance & Logistics Champion Sweet Wine at the Marlborough Wine Show, sponsored by QuayConnect.

Wairau River Reserve Botrytised Riesling 2022 picked up the trophy, after a warm, humid growing season resulted in optimal fruit to make the wine.

Winemaker Mary Schneier says to win the trophy with a wine they only have limited opportunities to produce was exciting for the team.

She shared a little about the wine, including what you might like to pair it with this summer…

One of Marlborough’s pioneering winemaking companies has picked up the trophy for the region’s flagship wine at the 2023 Marlborough Wine Show, sponsored by QuayConnect.

Wairau River Sauvignon Blanc 2023 was presented the WineWorks Champion Current Vintage Sauvignon Blanc trophy at the celebration evening, which was also a celebration of 50 years of modern winemaking in Marlborough.

Chief winemaker Nick Entwistle says the wine is made using grapes from their ‘Home Block’, the first vineyard block established by the Rose Family in 1978.

To receive the award in this milestone year was special for the team. He shared with us a little about what sets the wine apart…