Five reasons to attend Toast Martinborough. Plus, your chance win tickets!

General Admission tickets for New Zealand's coolest wine festival, Toast Martinborough, go on sale Tuesday 17th September. Here are five reasons why you should attend, plus your chance to win one of two double passes.

With 10 vineyard sites each creating an experience, guaranteed to take festivalgoers to the heart of the wine community’s devotion, there’s never been a better time to experience Toast Martinborough. In need of a little persuading? Here are five reasons not to miss this year's festival, plus we're giving you the chance to WIN one of two double passes!

1. Toast Martinborough is the only time of the year you can visit the iconic Dry River Wines vineyard. 

2. You will have the opportunity to taste Rose & Smith, the masters of cooking with fire, at Vynfields Winery on their Toast debut. Rose & Smith's resident chef, Dale Keith, masters coal grills, fire pits and spit roast; transforming the best of Wairarapa produce and protein into fresh and modern meals.

3. Chenin Blanc is one of the cult wines offered at Margrain Vineyard – and it just got a lot more exciting! For the first time, Margrain has adopted a time-honoured Australian technique which involves cutting individual canes on the vines as the grapes approach ripeness. An agonising six-week wait sees the grapes shrivel and intensify in sugar, flavour and ripeness. Careful hand harvest and slow pressing allow Strat Canning, the winemaker, to produce the Cut Cane Chenin Blanc. This luscious dessert-style wine has all the intensity of a “sticky”, without the distraction of the flavours associated with the “noble rot”.

4. You can visit Escarpment at Peppers Parehua – Martinborough’s newest wine tasting boutique and wine bar collaboration. Enjoy handmade dumplings from Wellington’s House of Dumplings. And don’t miss the dumpling-making demonstration, with Vicky Ha, which will be matched with the very rare Escarpment Pinot Blanc. Stunning combinations all round.

5. You'll have the chance to head to Te Kairanga Winery to try their John Martin Pinot Noir 2017. This stunning pinot was awarded the ultimate accolade at the Decanter World Wine Awards, in London earlier in the year, where it was named Best in Show with 97 Points. Also returning this year is TK’s famous Rosé Tent, and Vintage Bar serving library wines from as far back as 2010.

To celebrate this truly iconic wine, food and music festival, we’re giving you the chance to win one of two double passes to Toast Martinborough 2019, on Sunday 17^th November.

The ticket includes:

• Wristband entry to Toast Martinborough Wine, Food and Music Festival.
• A tasting glass and lanyard.
• A festival programme.
• Your first Taste of Toast (vintage wines excluded).
• Access to hop on the free shuttle buses that circulate continuously around the festival circuit.
• Live music from over 20 of New Zealand’s best live entertainment acts at all festival sites, including in the Town Square.