Variety spices up festival day
Cloudy Bay Clams’ Aaron Piper working alongside chef Michael Meredith at last year’s Marlborough Wine and Food Festival’s Culinary Pavilion. Photo: Supplied.
Reporter William Woodworth continues his series talking to some of the people who help make the Marlborough Wine and Food Festival a success. Here, he speaks with Marlborough chef and Cloudy Bay Clams’ general manager, Aaron Piper.
While finding fine wines and tasty dishes will be paramount for Aaron Piper, connecting with familiar faces keeps him coming back for Marlborough’s Wine and Food Festival.
“For me, it’s the people that make the festival as great as it is,” he says.
“The food and wine industries meld together wonderfully, and the team puts on a great show, but it’s because you’re surrounded by friends, family, colleagues and acquaintances which makes the day.
“Whether it’s with vineyards, restaurants or personal connections having worked in the same circles over the years, it all really come together so nicely.”
Aaron hopes festival guests will use the day to get out of their comfort zone, to dig a bit deeper into what has become the region’s biggest social event.
“I’ll pop in and see a couple of friends like Sander from Kaiaka Catering in the VIP tent and Fran, the Boom Chef.
“I’m always interested to see what our namesakes in Cloudy Bay Vineyards do, and the Vinyl in the Vines Groove Garden was plenty of fun last year so I’ll be back there too.
“A real magic part of the day is exploration, whether it’s between the different entertainment stages, exploring new wines and cuisines, so spreading yourself around the event and taking the time to chat with friends and future friends is what the day’s all about”.
https://marlboroughwinefestival.com/