Do you dream of bungee jumping in Queenstown or tramping your way through the Southern Alps? If so, stop in Marlborough along the way, and if not, spend all your time here. The region offers so many great vineyards against an amazing backdrop; Marlborough is certainly the hidden jewel of New Zealand and is a wonderland for wine-lovers.

Amid the crisp frost of a New Zealand winter's morning, I set off on my first ever wine tour.

The Marlborough wine region is located in the top of the South Island, in the Wairau Valley. It is New Zealand's largest grape growing and wine making region with 65 wineries, 290 grape growers and 4054 hectares in grape production.

A Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc is perhaps the best Sauvignon Blanc you will ever taste. The area has established for itself a reputation for being synonymous with this wine, and over half the national crop of New Zealand are Sauvignon Blanc grapes, with the remainder being Chardonnay, Riesling and Pinot Noir and more.

The main centres of Marlborough are Nelson, Picton, Havelock and Blenheim. Picton is the main commercial port and this, along with Havelock, proves a great startimg point for exploring the Marlborough Sounds. The Sounds area is made up of three main bodies of water - the Queen Charlotte, Keneputu and Pelorus Sounds. It is a collection of drowned river valleys, so is bordered with lush, green forested hills which rise almost vertically from the water's edge. The views from the highest points are truly spectacular and were a highlight not only of the area, but of New Zealand itself. On a sunny day, with the sun glistening off the water and a light breeze rustling through the trees, I wonder if any sight in the country has been so perfect. The cliffs, caves and hamlets in the coastline opposite seem near enough to touch and explore from the opposite side, but sea kayaking and boat tours are the most popular ways for tourists to explore the area.

Nelson is on the outskirts of the Marlborough region and is probably the most picturesque of all the towns. Nelson, like a lot of New Zealand's towns and cities has a very English feel, with street names like Trafalgar St and Collingwood St. Nelson is a great location to discover what else the region has to offer, like Abel Tasman National Park, Golden Bay and the Nelson Lakes.

Blenheim is probably the nearest village to many of the larger wineries. A flat, uninteresting place with plain and homely accommodation, it is hardly what I expected from New Zealand's 'flagship wine region'. But this is exactly where it has its charm. It is a friendly spot with no heirs or graces. The host at the motel tells of the nearby restaurant with a really good dinner deal, and leaves fresh milk in your room. He also gave good advice on the various wine tours available.

The wine tour I decided on was the 'Highlands Tour', and my guide for the day was
Terence, or Terry as he soon became known. It was our own private tour; due to the fact that it was low season, it worked out that the only people on it were myself and my travelling companion. Terry asked us which wineries we wanted to visit, and so off we set on what would become not only a great wine tour, but an opportunity to get to know Terry really well, and considering that he has lived in Blenheim his whole life he was a fountain of information.

Marlborough is young compared to other world-renowned wine regions, like Bordeaux in France or Chianti in Italy which are centuries old. Before it was famous for its wine, it was famed for its citrus fruit. Even today lemons are grown, and even in back garden of the motel.

There are conflicting ideas over when vines ere first grown in Marlborough. Darryl Woolley, the Chief winemaker for the Nobilo Wine Group said in an interview in 2001 that there were four Marlborough winemakers in the period 1853 to 1873. Cynthis Brooks, however, in her book 'Marlborough Wines and Vines' said that it was 1873 that pioneer wine makers David Herd and Charles Empson planted the first Marlborough vineyard. Empson died soon after the first harvest in 1875, but Herd went on to win prize after prize for his red muscatel wine. The winery survived until 1931, and during this time, tiny operations came and went, with prohibition and poor prices making it impossible to survive.

It was 1963 that the first significant exports of wine occurred from New Zealand, and it was ten years after this when Montana planted the first vines in Marlborough. Montana, now New Zealand's largest and perhaps most famous winery, first considered Hawkes Bay in the North Island as a location, but found that it was too expensive. Scientist Wayne Thomas suggested Marlborough to them, and soon after, Montana founder Frank Yukick bought 4000 acres of prime grape growing land and planted their first vines on 11 August 1973. Coincidentally, the farm and vineyard of Herd and Empson was in the same area that Montana planted their first vines.

Drought destroyed much of the first crop, but this did not discourage them. They replanted successfully in 1974, and in 1977 Yukick bought shares in Penfolds in Australia, and the following year, they bought land in Marlborough. In 1979 another Australian winery Corbans arrived. Both bought land on the Rapaura river banks, which Montana have since taken over.

Montana set the trend for a plethora of other vineyards into the Marlborough region. Te Whare Ra, Marlborough's first boutique winery, was founded in 1979. Te whare ra is Maori, and translates to 'The House in the Sun'. Next to come were Hunter's.

I felt a particular pull towards Hunter's winery after Terry told me about its Irish roots. The late Ernie Hunter, an Irishman, established the vineyard in 1979 and started the vineyard in 1982. Jane Hunter explained to me how it was difficult to get the vineyard off the ground. "It was very difficult to establish then because wine was a new thing in New Zealand and especially in Marlborough. Interest rates were high and the winery business struggled to survive in those early days".

Since it was established, the vineyard has grown to two and a half times its original size. Its annual output has grown to 60,000 cases of wine, half of which is exported. The main importers are Great Britain, the US, Sweden, Hong Kong and Ireland.

Jane came to Marlborough in 1983 as National Viticulturist for Montana Wines. She comes from a family background heavily involved with wine, with her father, two uncles and two cousins working in the Riverland area of South Australia, where she comes from.

Hunter's have won more than eighty awards, both nationally and internationally. In 1991 they won the Marquis de Goulaine Award at the International Wine and Spirit Competition for their Sauvignon Blanc, which has only been bottled for four weeks.

Jane won the Inaugural Women in Wine Award in 2003 at the International wine and Spirit Competition. This award was very close to her heart, and showed to Jane that all her hard work over the years had paid off and made her recognised in her field. She said that she needed a lot of 'perseverance through the tough years. We never cut corners on quality, even in years when the weather hasn't been the best-we have cut volume rather than quality.'

In 1984, Hunter's were the first vineyard to open its own restaurant. 'We opened our restaurant in 1984 - the first of its kind in Marlborough. It does contribute to our sales and we can have specific functions, e.g. Opera in the Vines, to draw people in. If we have a good chef, which we have now, it certainly adds to our reputation of fine wines and food.' Since then, a lot of other vineyards have opened restaurants including Montana, Herzog Winery and Luxury Restaurant, Clifford Bay and Allen Scott Wines. I visited the Montana restaurant, and it was a great experience, something not to be missed while visiting the region. The food was flawless and quite reasonable, and they recommend particular wines to have with particular dishes. They also have comfy leather couches and roaring fires, and even a cat called 'Pinot', which combine to make it a rustic, romantic affair.

Cloudy Bay came to Marlborough in 1985, and is probably New Zealand's most famous winery. Their first Sauvignon Blanc established the area's reputation as a top wine producer. Cloudy Bay's Sauvignon Blanc is made in commercial volume and is very good value for money. Released as a matured wine, Cloudy Bay Te Koko is a full-bodied, alternative style of Sauvignon Blanc. It is fermented with naturally occurring yeast in French oak barrels. The wine then goes through another fermentation and remains in yeast barrels for at least eighteen months before bottling. The first vintage was 1996 and this was released in 2000. Te Koko comes from the original Maori name for Cloudy Bay, Te Koko-o-Kupe. Cloudy Bay also produce excellent Chardonnay, Gewurztraminer, Pinot Noir and Late Harvest Riesling wines. Visiting the winery is quite an experience, as all the oak barrels are visible from the wine tasting room.

Lawson's Dry Hills is one of the newer vineyards, and was founded in 1995 by Ross and Barbara Lawson. They had actually been growing their own grapes since 1980 but had been selling them on, so they wanted to give wine-making a go. Their first vintage was a Gewurztraminer which was managed by Ross Lawson from an old tin shed at the back of their property. Their Gewurztraminer has since gone on to be recognised as one of the country's finest, and put Lawson's Dry Hills on the map. They also make an amazing Sauvignon Blanc, personally the best I have ever tasted, as well as Chardonnay, Pinot Gris and Pinot Noir. Visiting the winery was a great treat; they sell New Zealand trinkets such as Possum fur scarves, rugs and dusters, and also sell a 40 year vintage Brandy. The host, Sue, is a great character and makes the visit worthwhile.

Although Marlborough is much more than it's Sauvignon Blanc, it certainly is its defining feature. The great English wine writer Oz Clarke sums up why it is so distinctive. 'No wine anywhere in the world has tasted like them. No previous wine has shocked, thrilled, offended, entranced the world before with such brash, unexpected flavours of gooseberries, passion-fruit and lime, or crunchy green asparagus spears…an entirely new, brilliantly successful wine style that the rest of the world has been attempting to copy ever since'.