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 2017 vintage of Deutz Prestige Cuvée has left a lasting impression on judges of the 2023 Marlborough Wine Show, sponsored by QuayConnect.

Careful work to ensure winemakers were able to make the best of a ‘vintage of two halves’ paid off, resulting in the wine being awarded the Vitis and Winemakers Champion Sparkling trophy at the Show in both 2022 and 2023.

Winemaker Laura-Kate Morgan told us about some of the crucial decisions that set this wine up for success…

Lawson’s Dry Hills has had their focus on Pinot Noir recognised, winning the De Sangosse NZ Champion Pinot Noir 2020 & Older trophy at the 2023 Marlborough Wine Show, sponsored by QuayConnect.

Senior Winemaker Marcus Wright says the team has been working hard to improve their Pinot Noir in recent years, and to receive the trophy for The Pioneer Tilly’s Single Vineyard 2020 was particularly rewarding, as it was the first vintage under the new regime.

He shares a little about the wine and what makes it special…

Stoneleigh Riesling 2023 has been named the Orora Limited Champion Riesling of the 2023 Marlborough Wine Show, sponsored by QuayConnect.

Winemaker Tim Mills says the trophy-winning wine is made with care to ensure balance and a showcase of flavours from the vineyard.

He shares some insight into what went into making the wine after a vintage that posed many weather-related challenges…

Jeremy McKenzie saw the potential in Marlborough Chardonnay many years ago, and has been working on perfecting the variety ever since.

He and his team at Isabel Estate picked up two trophies for Chardonnay at the 2023 Marlborough Wine Show, sponsored by QuayConnect. In this ‘Q&A’, he shares some insight into the winner of the Bragato Research Institute Champion Chardonnay, 2020 & Older trophy, the Isabel Estate Marlborough Chardonnay 2020.

He also delves into the key characteristics of the Marlborough sites capable of producing world-class Chardonnay…

Encompassing Omaka, Fairhall, Brancott, Ben Morvan and Waihopai Valleys, the Southern Valleys are known for having varied soils and an ability to produce particularly good Pinot Noir and aromatics.

Ara Winemaker Jeremy Tod shared a little about the winning wine and how it felt to have it recognised among some high quality competition…

Gewürztraminer is the relatively new kid on the block for Mount Riley Wines, but it caught the attention of judges at the 2023 Marlborough Wine Show, sponsored by QuayConnect, and was awarded the champion Gewürztraminer of the show.

Chief winemaker Matt Murphy says he and his team were thrilled to pick up the Wine Brokers New Zealand Champion Gewürztraminer trophy at the show, which adds to a growing list of trophies won by the company at the show in previous years.

It is the sixth variety for which Mount Riley Wines has won a trophy in the Marlborough competition since it began in 2011. Below, Matt shares the story of their Gewürztraminer and how the 2023 vintage came to be a winner…

One of the most sought-after trophies at the Marlborough Wine Show, sponsored by QuayConnect, the NZ Wine Centre Legacy Award, was this year won by Tohu Wines.

Sponsored by Marlborough Research Centre (MRC) and awarded to the Tohu Rewa Méthode Traditionnelle Blanc de Blancs 2011, 2014 and 2016 vintages, the Legacy Award is designed to celebrate wines with the highest scores from three vintages within a 10-year period and a minimum gap of two years between each wine.

Saint Clair Family Estate took away the Move Logistics Champion Other White Wine at the 2023 Marlborough Wine Show, sponsored by QuayConnect.

Their Pioneer Block 28 Camp Block Pinot Blanc 2020 was the trophy winner, after the 2019 vintage of the same wine picked up the same trophy last year.

We caught up with their senior winemaker, Stewart Maclennan, to find out a bit more about the trophy-worthy wine…

Alongside taking the QuayConnect Champion Wine of the Show at the 2023 Marlborough Wine Show, sponsored by QuayConnect, Isabel Estate had big success with Chardonnay, picking up two trophies with the variety.

Taking home the Bragato Research Institute Champion Chardonnay, current vintage trophy was the Isabel Estate Marlborough Wild Barrique Chardonnay 2022.

Chief winemaker Jeremy ‘Macca’ McKenzie shares the story of the wine, the icon variety of the Estate…

Catalina Sounds has once again nabbed the WineWorks Alternate Style Sauvignon Blanc trophy at the 2023 Marlborough Wine Show, sponsored by QuayConnect.

Winemaker Matt Ward shared with us a little about the wine of the moment, their Sound of White Sauvignon 2022, and about experimenting with our most famous drop…

Isabel Estate continues to make a stellar impression with Pinot Noir, taking out four awards with their Marlborough Pinot Noir 2021 at the 2023 Marlborough Wine Show, sponsored by QuayConnect.

As well as being crowned the QuayConnect Champion Wine of the Show, it picked up the Coterie Wine of Provenance, Wine Marlborough Ltd Champion Wine from the Wairau Valley subregion, and the De Sangosse NZ current vintage Champion Pinot Noir trophies.

Isabel Estate Chief Winemaker and Marlborough Manager, Jeremy ‘Macca’ McKenzie shared a little insight into what goes into making this champion wine, as well as some thoughts on the success of the Marlborough wine industry as it celebrates its 50 year anniversary…

Marlborough Wine Show’s principal sponsor, QuayConnect has been a key part of the Marlborough wine industry for nearly a decade, and has supported the show for much of that time. We caught up with their General Manager, Jaron McLeod, to find out a little more about why the industry, and in turn the show, is so important to the company…

Now in its 37th year, the Marlborough Wine & Food Festival is renowned for its well-crafted blend of award-winning wine, excellent food, inspirational chef demonstrations and masterclasses matched with carefully selected entertainment.

With the full list of exhibiting wineries, food producers and masterclass hosts close to being finalised, Wine Marlborough Ltd General Manager Marcus Pickens is delighted to announce some very tempting entertainment offerings.

Four pioneers of the Marlborough wine industry have been presented with Wine Marlborough Lifetime Achievement Awards at a celebration dinner in Blenheim.

James Healy, Dave Pearce, Tessa Anderson and Murray Gibbons were recognised at The Marlborough Wine Celebration Evening, which also celebrated 50 years since the beginning of the modern Marlborough wine industry.

This year was the first year that four recipients have received the award in one year, each having demonstrated tireless dedication to the industry for the best part of five decades.

Over 550 wines are to be tasted over the coming days as judges get to work at the 2023 Marlborough Wine Show, sponsored by QuayConnect.

Chief Judge Stu Marfell says the high number of entries is a testament to the calibre of the show, indicating its status as a key event for the region’s wine producers.

AFTER MORE than 40 years driving trucks, much of it transporting wine, Murray Gibbons is ready to hang up his keys. Murray never set out to be a truck driver, or a business owner for that matter, but when opportunity came knocking, he didn’t shy away. The only problem has been slowing down in an ever-expanding industry, he says. “I’m no businessman; just a truck driver who somehow ended up with a trucking business,” Murray says from ‘HQ’ – his tongue-in-cheek reference to the humble portacom tucked away on a corner site in Riverlands Industrial Estate, which houses operations for his company, Bulk Wine Distribution.

“I don’t know how many times I’ve tried to leave the industry, or slow down, or downsize, but I’ve failed miserably every time,” the 67-year-old says. “Somehow I ended up buying land, more trucks, wine tankers then a tanker wash.” His work has adapted to meet the needs of an ever-evolving industry. “If there’s one thing that’s constant in the wine industry, it’s change,” Murray says.

Dust off your hats, dig out your best summer dress and mark your calendars – ‘Locals Only’ tickets to the 2024 Marlborough Wine & Food Festival will be available for purchase from Monday 9 – Friday 13 October.

These tickets are released to locals before anyone else and will be offered at a special ‘locals only’ price from the Blenheim i-SITE or – for the first time – online via the Marlborough Wine & Food Festival website. Numbers are limited, so get planning with your friends and whānau to ensure you don’t miss out.

Congratulations to Callum Haynes from Matua Wines who is the 2023 Tonnellerie de Mercurey Marlborough Young Winemaker of the Year. The competition was held on 13th September and the winners were announced at the Awards Dinner the same evening.

Callum, 29, was thrilled to take out the title “I really wanted this and have worked hard to get here” he says.

The New Zealand wine industry is embarking on a major workforce research project, taking stock of the current roles and skills across the sector to identify workforce gaps and plan for the future needs of the industry.

Wine Marlborough Ltd General Manager Marcus Pickens says this is a critical and exciting project for the industry.

“This is a collaborative project that will help us ensure that New Zealand continues to have a strong, capable and thriving wine industry made up of healthy people and businesses,” he says.