October 21, 2021

THE DUKE STILL MAKING HISTORY

If you are travelling in the Bay of Islands, stay at the iconic Duke of Marlborough Hotel located on the waterfront in the historic village of Russell. Perfect for those seeking a Bay of Islands hotel, it offers an outstanding restaurant, accommodation, and event venue, and of course Boulder Bay wines.  The Duke is a hotel steeped in history.  Refreshing rascals and reprobates since 1827, it holds New Zealand’s first liquor licence, and it was the first hospitality venue to sell Boulder Bay wines.    

For the third year in a row, Boulder Bay Wines attended the Northland Supplier’s Day held at The Duke of Marlborough in Russell on 29th September 2021.

The goal of Supplier’s Day is to create a venue for local vineyards, and food and specialty goods producers to come together to showcase their products and tell their stories to attendees representing local tourism and hospitality. The day was held in conjunction with QRC Tai Tokerau Resort College which is located in Paihia in the Bay of Islands. QRC Tai Tokerau undertakes training of Northland students studying either tourism or hospitality and many of these students were present on the day, expanding their knowledge of local vineyard and produce offerings. These students may one day be the face of Northland hospitality, so it is a good way to foster relationships at an early stage in their careers. Also in attendance were regional restaurant owners and chefs, and it was great to share with them the story of our unique Boulder Bay Vineyard on Moturoa Island. Many of the attendees live in the region and are aware of Moturoa Island which is central to the Bay of Islands. The Duke’s staff recounted telling Boulder Bay-drinking diners about the vineyard’s unique setting, at the same time being able to point out to sea in the general direction of the island!

This year vineyard owner Paul Duffy and vineyard manager Murray Reid were both in attendance and were able to provide two different perspectives of operating an island vineyard. On the day, the event was arranged a bit like speed dating. There was a dedicated area for each vineyard to set up and you had 8 minutes to tell your vineyard’s (abbreviated) story while your audience had 8 minutes to sample your wine and ask questions. When the 8 minutes were up the audience moved on and the process started all over again! Boulder Bay promoted its 2021 Rosé and 2019 Syrah and both received excellent feedback.

The event concluded with a suppliers’ dinner which was sponsored by The Duke of Marlborough. We would like to take this opportunity to recognise how helpful The Duke has been to Boulder Bay Wines since the vineyard’s inception, as well as the support it provides generally to local restaurants, vineyards and specialty food producers. It’s great to be operating in such a supportive environment with other like-minded businesses.