Village to Village (V2V), a charity founded in Blenheim five years ago, is a testament to the indispensable role played by RSE (Recognised Seasonal Employer) workers in sustaining Marlborough’s wine industry.
As in many other viticulture and horticulture areas, growers here have come to rely on their diligent seasonal employees whose wages have a significant impact on their lives back home in places like Fiji, Vanuatu, Tonga and Samoa.
When Tracy Atkin and Sarah Bates founded V2V they saw the potential to broaden that impact beyond just the workers and their families and into the wider island communities.
Today V2V, with the help of major sponsors like Cloudy Bay and Alapa Viticultural Services, supports RSE workers wanting to create small businesses and helps provide high school scholarships.
The charity also provides solar cooking stoves as a safe and healthy alternative to open fires, and works with agencies such as Unicef, ChildFund and New Zealand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, to co-found major community projects such as school bathrooms.
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After nine years in Queen Street, Tango’s Shoes & Accessories has recently moved a short distance across Blenheim to slightly larger premises in the commercial complex at 1 Market Street.
The move has allowed for a slightly expanded product range which, besides the shoes, includes bags, wallets, scarves, jewellery and caftans along with dresses, knitwear, pants and tops.
Tango’s was started by Melanie Dowling more than 20 years ago. Today she owns three shops in the North Island, including the group’s headquarters in Whitianga, with two more in the South Island, Blenheim and Mosgiel, near Dunedin.
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The MacFusion, a pasta and salad bar with a strong emphasis on local, healthy ingredients, has just opened its doors on the corner of Scott Street and Kinross Street, the former location of Thai 9 restaurant.
The new eatery offers a range of pastas, including blue cheese and brisket, garlic chicken, pumpkin and bacon, and seafood. And if none of them quite tickle your fancy, you can build your own by choosing from a wide choice of ingredients.
Similarly, customers can also personalise their salads. And the healthy vibe continues when it comes to drinks with the headliners being smoothies and fresh juices.
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The Fancy Cow Restaurant & Bar, a one-stop food, wine-making and brewing enterprise on Rapaura Road, has just added a cellar door to showcase the talents of owner and winemaker Ant Moore.
Moore’s range spans sauvignon blanc, pinot gris, grüner veltliner, chardonnay, pinot noir and rosé. The wines are all made from Marlborough grapes except for the pinot noir which is sourced from Central Otago.
Cellar door host Miriam Benda will also be talking to visitors about a similar collection of wines, plus sparkling wines, under the slightly more exclusive Moore & Moore label, described as a collaboration between Moore and his sons Tom and Will.
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