Summer dreaming – where wonderful wine meets fabulous food

PRESS RELEASE: 18 DECEMBER 2023

The Marlborough Wine & Food Festival has taken a delicious leap forward this week, confirming more top chefs and – in a ‘festival-first’ – adding pop-up restaurants to the programme.

Wine Marlborough Ltd General Manager Marcus Pickens is delighted to announce Michael Meredith, Matt Lambert, Andy Hearnden and Sam Webb are firmly on the festival menu. These award-winning, celebrated chefs are set to inspire, entertain and share a few new culinary tricks in the Culinary Pavilion throughout the day.

“The Culinary Pavilion is a destination in itself, a place to sit back and see these super chefs work their magic with amazing local Marlborough produce and artisan foods,” Marcus says.

“Matt Lambert is an absolute legend with New Zealand kaimoana and will demonstrate the preparation of locally grown Ōra King Salmon.

“We are also very excited to bring Michael Meredith to Marlborough, to see what he does with local produce and food products.

“Andy and Sam will put on an excellent show – Andy’s 10 million social media followers love his home cooking videos, so don’t miss the chance to see this dynamic duo in real life.”

Andy will team up with top Marlborough chef Sam Webb – from Frank’s Oyster Bar and Eatery – in the Culinary Pavilion, something Sam is looking forward to.

“Andy and I have been friends forever and we are really looking forward to putting on a great show for people. We will find the perfect local food producers to partner with so the products will be something home cooks have access to and will enjoy preparing too,” Sam says.

PRESENTING A FESTIVAL FIRST – POP-UP RESTAURANTS

For its 37th year, the Marlborough Wine & Food Festival is adding a new type of culinary experience to its classic festival menu – pop-up restaurants.

The idea to innovate comes from Dion Brown, Deputy Chair of Feast Marlborough, who has been a member of the festival committee for the past 11 years. Dion is delighted to announce pop-up restaurants by:

·       Gramado’s Restaurant & Bar, which will serve dishes incorporating its signature Brazilian flavours, paired with Giesen wines.

·       Frank’s Oyster Bar and Eatery will also be on site showcasing some of Marlborough’s best produce.

A third pop-up restaurant will be announced in the near future.

“Chefs are busy planning their festival menu – they are very clever, very resourceful and know exactly how to create a signature dish that will work at this kind of scale where they might make as many as 1,000 servings,” Dion says. 

“The idea is to have everything set up for a chef, the equipment and space they need, and they can just walk in and do what they are so good at.”

2024 will be the first time Sam has brought Frank’s to the festival.

“The focus will be on oysters, in a snacky way with loads of flavour, and the turnaround will be fast so you don’t queue too long,” Sam says, adding that Andy will join him for a ‘cameo’ appearance and a spot of oyster shucking at the pop-up restaurant, after their Culinary Pavilion show.

BRINGING FOOD TO THE FORE ALONGSIDE GREAT WINE

Dion first got involved with the festival as a committee member when he worked with Cloudy Bay Clams and could see the opportunity to showcase Marlborough’s fresh foods and artisan products.

“Marlborough produces fantastic food, and our producers leap at the opportunity to show it off at the festival. For some smaller producers, who rely on cellar door and market sales, this is their chance to impress a large crowd and visitors to the region, and they do exactly that,” Dion says.

Dion’s advice to a Marlborough Wine & Food Festival newbie is to have a good wander for the first hour, having a taste here and there, before deciding to settle in a little longer at a particular winery, food producer or music zone.

“There is such a huge variety of wine and food on offer, and the festival is famous for its atmosphere, so take the time to look around and then come back to your favourites,” he says.

For the ‘festival regulars’ – and there are lots of these – Dion challenges them to try something new.

“It’s our job as a festival committee to keep things fresh. We bring back the ‘best of the fest’ each year, but we try something new each time and every festival has a different line-up of wineries and food producers.

“You have the chance to talk to the person who grows the grapes, makes the wine or both. Winemakers love talking about their craft, so ask them ‘what’s new’ and you might just find a new favourite varietal or a brand-new release.”

MASTERCLASSES SET TO INSPIRE

Masterclasses are back for the 2024 festival, but have increased to four, as allowed by the larger festival site at Renwick Domain.

Wine Marlborough Events Manager Loren Coffey says wine education is a key part of the festival programme.

“Expanding the Masterclass offering means we can continue to deliver popular wine and food pairing classes and introduce more intimate and in-depth winemaking-focused Masterclass experiences, targeted to suit our wine enthusiast attendees,” Loren says.

Ngarita Warden is Wine and Spirit Education Trust (WSET) teacher and research winemaker for Bragato Research Institute. She is also one of the masterminds behind the Masterclasses, working with winemaker and wine lecturer Nadine Worley, cofounder of Fugitive Wines.

A Méthode Marlborough Masterclass will see winemakers pour a selection of Marlborough sparkling wines, while explaining the long and detailed process required to make them.

“Traditional méthode sparkling winemaking is such a fascinating process and the masterclass is a great way to show how individual winemakers create their own style. Marlborough’s growing conditions have a lot in common with classic sparkling producer areas, including Champagne, and we love to bring people’s attention to this,” Ngarita says. 

The Unlock your Hidden Winemaker Masterclass will be led by some of Marlborough’s top Pinot Noir producers, guiding guests through the art of blending to create their own unique glass of Pinot.

Ngarita says Masterclass hosts enjoy this class as much as the participants, who put lots of care into creating their blend and leave the class with a great festival story.

From the Mountains to the Sea is the fourth and newest Masterclass, where participants will enjoy a range of local Marlborough, wild-caught and sustainable foods, paired with lesser-known, full-bodied local red wines.

“Hunting and fishing enthusiasts will love this class, as will anyone interested in wild game and locally harvested seafood,” Ngarita says.

The Wine and Cheese Pairing Masterclass, which sold out quickly, promises ‘the best of the best’, with two judges from the 2023 Marlborough Wine Show sharing six award-winning wines, paired with some of the region’s best cheeses presented by the cheesemaker.

There’s a reason this classic combo is an annual winner at the festival, says Ngarita.

“Some people assume every wine will go with every cheese, but they just don’t. So there are many nice surprises in the class and people leave feeling confident and inspired about how to put the perfect wine and cheese together.”

ABOUT THE CHEFS

Michael Meredith

Michael Meredith is an award-winning New Zealand chef based in Auckland. His restaurant, Mr Morris, uses local, seasonal produce to create a modern Pacific and New Zealand experience and in 2021 won Viva’s Best Restaurant in Auckland award.

Michael’s first Auckland restaurant, Meredith’s, was the go-to destination for innovative dining for a decade. In 2011, Meredith’s was awarded supreme winner of the Cuisine Restaurant of the Year Awards. This year, Michael opened Metita in the Sky City precinct this year, focusing on showcasing Pacific region cuisine.

Meredith’s dine-by-donation evenings raised more than $340,000 for charities. Michael was also the co-founder of Eat My Lunch, an organisation providing meals to pupils in low-decile schools.

He has been a consultant chef for Air New Zealand and an ambassador for Miele for the last 10 years.

Matt Lambert

Born and raised in New Zealand, Lambert marries a passion for incredible produce with innovative cooking and impeccable plating techniques he has honed both at home and abroad.

The winner of the Best Food Artist category of the 2019 Best Chef Awards, Lambert held a Michelin star at his successful New York restaurant, The Musket Room, from 2013 to 2020. Lambert also competed on the Food Network’s Chopped and appeared on CBS New York and NBC New York.

Upon returning to New Zealand, Lambert became executive chef of The Lodge Bar Group, which operates fine-dining restaurants in Queenstown, Auckland and Australia.

Andy Hearnden and Sam Webb

‘Andy Cooks’ and ‘Sammy Sweetheart’ went to school together in Auckland, spent time together in Europe, lived and cooked together in Melbourne and love hanging out, cooking great food.

Andy and Sammy will put on a fantastic live cooking demonstration in the Culinary Pavilion, joined by a great local food producer. 

Sam Webb is the owner of three restaurants in Marlborough – Frank’s Oyster Bar and Eatery, Sammy’s, and Roots Gin Shack + Tasting Room. Frank’s opened in May 2022, offering a smart place to enjoy casual, delicious local fare using the best Marlborough has to offer.

Andy was helping his mum in the kitchen from age three. He enrolled himself into chef school as soon as he was able to leave school and hasn’t looked back. He has cooked in Auckland, London, Singapore, Sydney and Melbourne restaurants, and knows the business side of hospitality having managed restaurants, cafes and bars in airports.

FESTIVAL FACTS

·       Saturday 10 February 2024

·       Renwick Domain on Uxbridge Street in Renwick

·       This is strictly an R18 event

·       There is on-site parking, and the site and facilities are mobility-friendly

·       Taking buses is encouraged, and bus tickets are available now

·       General Admission, VIP Retreat and The Lounge tickets are on sale

·       A Standard General Admission ticket grants access to the Culinary Pavilion

·       In addition to the free demonstrations in the Culinary Pavilion, tickets can be purchased for a 50-minute Masterclasses

·       Exhibitors, wineries and entertainment are described on the festival website, with more detail to come: marlboroughwinefestival.com/

 

To discuss media opportunities, or to request copies of photos, please contact:

Stephanie Gray: 020 4052 4015