Gin Garden Party

By Joelle Thomson

For a small town, Martinborough has a lot of gin distilleries and the newest is opening its doors to host a gin garden party on Saturday 18 November, the eve of this year’s Toast Martinborough.

The brand is Lighthouse Gin and the tasting will be hosted by head distiller Rachel Hall.

Lighthouse Gin is a well established brand and it now has a brand new distillery and home at The Runholder; the new cellar door, distillery and restaurant of Te Kairanga Wines on Martin’s Road. 

The garden party will be held in the Te Kairanga cottage, which was the former cellar door for Te Kairanga Wines and Martinborough Vineyard wines.

This year’s gin garden party will include food prepared by Runholder head chef Tim Smith alongside an afternoon of Lighthouse gin and tonics and cocktails, all of which will be designed by Hall.

Local beers and Te Kairanga wines will also be served during the afternoon for those more inclined to grape and grain. The event will be followed by a dinner at The Runholder on Saturday evening from 6pm onwards with food prepared using local produce from the Tora Collective, Clareville Bakery, Olivo and Scotty’s Meats.

Tickets for both events are available from https://www.iticket.co.nz