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Let the Season of Indulgence Begin!

Martinborough, New Zealand? A sea of sundresses making their season debut mill about the town square early one Sunday morning in November.

Cloudless skies and a warm, but breezy spring day greet more than 10,000 festivalgoers who have arrived for Toast Martinborough â?" it is perfect weather for sipping good wines and noshing on fine finger foods.

In the New Zealand wine festival calendar, Martinborough is the antipodean equivalent of May Day. New vintages have just been released, it is the height of spring, and the Christmas holidays filled with beach days and barbeques are just around the corner.

In Martinborough, the hustle and bustle of Wellington seem a world away, yet this quaint, Kiwi oasis lies just over one-hour north of New Zealandâ?Ts capital city. At the heart of the Wairarapa Valley, this normally subdued town is home to some of the countryâ?Ts finest small vineyards.

As in much of New Zealand, serious wine production in the Wairarapa is only about thirty years old. But thanks to excellent Pinot Noir growing conditions and a small band of dedicated winemakers, viticultural progress in Martinborough has been swift and fruitful.

The Wairarapa Valley also happens to be home to lush, green fields, fresh air that smells like sun-drenched flowers, and laid-back, friendly people â?"- many of whom have traded in the frenzied city for small town life.

Because the region is populated by urban refugees, Main Street in Martinborough (as well as other Wairarapa towns like Greytown, Featherston, Masterton and Carterton) has great restaurants, adorable boutiques and a sophisticated air. These transplants arrive with a well developed palette; the perfect market for local wines â?"- and wine festivals!

Each vineyard participating in Toast Martinborough hosts an individually themed, all-day party: a top Wellington or Wairarapa restaurant creates dishes to perfectly pair with the wines being served.

Guests at this movable feast are shuttled on festival coaches from one vineyard to the next, enjoying one sublime tasting menu after another, while local bands serenade, swing, or salsa them throughout the day.

It can be tricky to call a wine festival â?ogood, clean funâ? but when I attended Toast Martinborough 2004, people seemed to be just genuinely enjoying themselves. Couples canoodled between the vines, groups of friends â?" old and new, chatted and soaked up the sunshine. Everybody danced â?"- so relieved to let their hair down after a long, Wellington winter.

Vineyards offered their own unique spirit to the celebration

Craggy Range Winery featured the food of their very own restaurant, Terroir. I had their grilled lamb cutlets --which just about melted in my mouth, with their 2003 Te Muna Road Vineyard Pinot Noir. I noticed that Craggy Range attracted a decidedly younger than crowd than other vineyards; girls danced bikini-clad to Kiwi favorite, DJ Mikey Havoc. A quintet of costumed young men even braved the heat in polyester leisure suits and wigs â?"much to the amusement of onlookers.

Martinborough Vineyard was more picnic-like, with family-oriented crowd enjoying the bandsâ?T golden oldies while Chameleon Restaurant served Thai beef salad and a hot smoked Chinook salmon. Both the Martinborough Vineyard and Burnt Spur labels were featured. Surprisingly, even before noon, the relatively uninebriated crowd boogied enthusiastically, setting the tone for a day of carefree merrymaking.

Ata Rangi Vineyard separated each of New Zealand culinary legend, Ruth Prettyâ?Ts, dishes into individual booths by appropriate wine pairing; steak and kidney pie with the 2002 Pinot Noir, whitebait (a tiny, native fish beloved by Kiwis) fritters with 2004 Sauvignon Blanc or Craighill Chardonnay. I had a coq au vin pie with the Pinot Noir. Meanwhile, friendly wine stewards work the crowd with baskets of bottles, never letting a glass go empty.

Later in the afternoon, the crowd did tend to get a bit sloppy, but all in the name of good fun: entire buses burst into impromptu sing-alongs; people offered the friendly application of sunscreen to anyone within reach.

Perhaps my favorite moment of the festival came when I spotted a couple of very well-heeled, middle-aged ladies laughing so hard that they literally flew backwards in their chairs. Far from being embarrassed, the ladies lay there, legs akimbo, giggling until tears rolled down their cheeks.

Some of the vineyard labels, like Ata Rangi, Te Kairanga and Murdoch James are likely to be unfamiliar to those outside of New Zealand: The Martinborough region may be best known for its Pinot Noir, but it is beloved because its boutique wineries tend to be more concerned with craftsmanship than commerce.

Far from the Montanas and Matuas of the Marlborough region, Martinborough winemakers focus on quality, which may never produce enough quantity for significant export. And itâ?Ts beginning to pay off: the 2002 Murdoch James Cabernet Franc won in its class at the Air New Zealand Awards, Palliser Estateâ?Ts 2003 Sauvignon Blanc took home the gold from Cuisine Magazine, and many speculate that things look promising indeed for the 2003 Ata Rangi Pinot Noir.

At the end of a long day of sunshine, sampling and sipping, tipsy throngs reconvene in the Martinborough town square where each vineyard kiosk sells wine to new converts and old fans. Helpful officials make sure festivalgoers find the appropriate bus and make their way home safely.

The Toast Martinborough Festival somehow creates a Brigadoon-like feeling of timelessness that transports one to a carefree country life, if only for the day; the environment is congenial yet casual, decadent yet dignified, rollicking yet romantic and above all, completely delicious.

If You Go:

Toast Martinborough Festival Website:

www.toastmartinborough.co.nz

Tickets cost NZ$50 and are available from the beginning of October.

Toast Martinborough 2005 will be held on November 20th.

TranzMetro rail provides service from Wellington:

www.tranzmetro.co.nz

Martinborough Hotel offers luxury accommodations.

www.martinboroughhotel.com

Wairarapa Valley Information Site (including information on Martinborough Wineries)

www.wairarapanz.com

BIO:

Victoria Dew is an American born writer living in Wellington, New Zealand.

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