Experience Marlborough’s Subregions

Experience Marlborough’s Subregions

Trophy-winning wines of the 2025 Marlborough Wine Show, sponsored by QuayConnect, on display at Wine + Food Experience

MEDIA RELEASE: 5 MARCH 2026 

IMAGE: Rapaura Springs

A special display offering a taste of the best of Marlborough’s subregions has been set up at the Wine + Food Experience in the heart of Blenheim.

Four wines featured in the display are the first of many champion wines set to be showcased at the recently opened venue, having received trophies at the 2025 Marlborough Wine Show, sponsored by QuayConnect.  

They include the Fruitfed Supplies Champion Southern Valleys, Central Express Ltd Champion Wairau Valley & Interpack Champion Riesling, Circuit Logistics Champion Awatere & South Marlborough, and Winequip Champion Sparkling trophy winning wines of the show.  

Chief Judge Stu Marfell says the new display is another way to celebrate the amazingly diverse range of excellent quality wines Marlborough has to offer thanks to its unique subregions.  

“Marlborough is home to such a diverse landscape and in terms of wine offerings, we really punch above our weight on the world stage considering the boutique size of our region,” he says.

“We have these unique areas within the region that have their own soils and microclimates, almost creating individual personalities which shine through in the resulting wines.”

Since it began more than a decade ago, the Marlborough Wine Show has strived to celebrate the high quality and varied wines produced within the subregions. Having the Wine + Food Experience provides a new opportunity to share those wines directly with locals and tourists.

“It has enabled us to bring these award-winning wines directly to the people and share with them the delight we as judges experience when tasting them for the awards,” Stu says.

Image: Mount Riley Wines

Mount Riley Wines picked up both the Central Express Ltd Champion Wairau Valley and the Interpack Champion Riesling trophies for the Mount Riley Marlborough Riesling 2025.

Chief Winemaker Matt Murphy says the awards are a great celebration of Marlborough’s subregional wine story.

“I think the subregional story is a great one for Marlborough. The diversity between the subregions is not just nuance but actually pretty dramatic and can be highlighted to consumers really easily. On a global scale, our region is not large, but the diversity of soil type, topography and microclimate between the subregions means there are absolute tangible differences between them. It also means we can successfully grow quite a wide range of varietals which means for us as winegrowers, we should always be exploring other varietals,” he says.

To receive two trophies for the Riesling was a special result for the team.

“Riesling is such an amazing varietal, and we know we’re really lucky to have a couple of parcels of older vines which makes our job as winemakers that much easier. The Wairau Valley Trophy was especially pleasing - it’s the home of all of our Estate plantings and it was great to see the trophy go to a varietal which often flies under the radar,” he says.

The age of the vines, coupled with the flavour-pushing warmth in the Wairau Valley played a big part in the wine’s success, alongside careful vine and yield management, Matt says.

“[The wine] has a fantastic freshness, intensity of flavour and nervy acidity. 2025 will probably be remembered most as a generous yielding year, but we’re always judicious with crop loading on this wine, and I think that fruit intensity and weight likely helped it stand above its peers.”

Image: Marisco Vineyards

Image: Yealands

Winequip Champion Sparkling Wine trophy winner, Diamond Heart Waihopai Cuvée 2020, hails from the Waihopai Valley. Marisco Vineyards general manager - winery, Matthew Mitchell says the title was a welcome surprise.

“Surprised, but totally stoked, given the relative youth of our sparkling programme and the high level of competition within the class - this was a nice one to win,” he says.

The relative coolness of the valley, he says, adds a bit of magic to the wine.

“It anchors the fruit expression into an appropriate cool, low-key expression whilst preserving the all-important acid structure and freshness. It also elongates the harvest window, allowing our winemakers that little bit of additional time and headspace to fine tune their picking decisions.”

Judges of the sparkling class said there were some exceptional examples of the style entered into the competition for 2025, with a diverse range of styles tasted.

Champion Awatere and South Marlborough Wine trophy winner Yealands Reserve Sauvignon Blanc 2025 features intense aromatics of blackcurrant leaf, flowering thyme and citrus blossom, with a complex savoury note, says Chief Winemaker Natalie Christensen.

“The palate is powerful, with a lovely oyster shell texture and succulent briny finish,” she says.

Natalie and her team were thrilled to receive the subregional trophy for their wine, a recognition that celebrates their love for the Awatere, and their Seaview Vineyard.

“Sauvignon Blanc from the Awatere Valley tends to be herbaceous and structured, whereas Sauvignon Blanc from Seaview has a strong mineral edge, and a subtle saltiness. Wines from the Awatere tend to be less overtly tropical,” she says.

A key strength of the Marlborough wine region lies in the varied expressions achieved from the different subregions, Natalie says.

“Sauvignon Blanc especially is a variety that is a pure expression of a site and season, so is the perfect vehicle to articulate and showcase the diversity of the region. Marlborough is a great place to grow grapes and other crops, as we get loads of sunshine, cool night time temperatures and have a diverse topography.”

Image: Rapaura Springs

Rapaura Springs Global Marketing Manager Graham Boden and Rapaura Winemaker Mike Bann agree, saying Marlborough is one of the world’s best wine regions to grow many different varietals.

“As Marlborough is maturing as a region, so are many of the region’s vines and the winemakers. Local winemakers have learnt over time how to make their wines better through trial and error and I believe there is a real sense of place starting to show in the best wines,” Mike says.

“There is so much diversity in styles from subregion to subregion that we get to see and experience the different sights, soils, smells, and unique growing conditions; characteristics that Marlborough has to offer from the place and create the quality wines we deliver.”

Rapaura Springs’ Fruitfed Supplies Champion Southern Valleys trophy-winning wine, the ROHE Southern Valleys Pinot Noir 2024, is an example of such a wine.

“The word ‘ROHE’ means territory. The subregional clay rich soils of the Southern Valleys naturally restrict vine vigour and produce pinot noir fruit with concentrated flavours and supple tannins. This subregion sits inland, away from the Marlborough coast, with cool evening temperatures during the critical ripening period,” Graham says.

The resulting wine features dark cherry, red berry and violet flavours, complemented by chocolate and supple spice. Immediately enjoyable, it will continue to drink well for the next eight years, he says.

These four trophy-winning wines will be on display at the Wine + Food Experience until the end of March, before another fleet of award-winning wines takes its place.

Call in and visit for your taste and even take some home - 42 Alfred Street, Blenheim.