I joined a group of Marlborough winegrowers who had seized the initiative to expand on their pinot noir story; a narration that turned out to be more of an adventure really with a 4WD tour coined the 'The Marlborough Pinot Noir Safari' taking us up into the hills of the Awatere and Southern valleys and through the back country routes of Awatere, Brancott, Omaka and Waihopai valleys to discover, in their words, "the special sites that are putting Marlborough Pinot Noir on the map."