My friend Mr Gill confessed on this page last week his passion for the “utterly delicious” Patagonian toothfish. I can reveal that he shares his appreciation with a 10-metre colossal squid, which wouldn’t let go of the toothfish in its maw when it was dragged to the surface by a New Zealand trawler. The squid is now preserved in the national Te Papa museum in Wellington, where it has shrunk to a mere four metres. So always share your toothfish, Adrian, or the consequences could be painful.

For my part, I wrote last week about the Pacific fault line, which runs a toothfish’s throw from my mother-in-law's house in Wellington. Heading southwest, this seismic fault ploughs under the Cook Strait to the South Island and the inland seas known as the Marlborough Sounds, before zipping past one of the most ambitious vineyard investments ever made in New Zealand.

There can’t be a wine drinker who hasn’t enjoyed Marlborough sauvignon blanc. These are not good times in this region, however. Overproduction has led to a catastrophic drop in prices. At Cafe Le Cupp in Blenheim, Marlborough’s main town, the growers smother their sorrows in latte and lamingtons.

Blenheim lies at the coastal end of the Wairau Valley, where the vineyards enjoy a benign microclimate. Most growers avoid the upper reaches of the valley, where late spring frosts threaten the grapes in infancy. Enter Dr Damian Martin, a rugby player who went to France as a young man and came back with a French wife, a passion for wine and a doctorate in the science of how vines get nutrients from the soil. He became inspired by a huge outcrop of flat farmland at the point where the Pacific fault line crosses the upper valley. It appears to have been raised from the river bed by some distant earthquake. He concluded the soil structure would give exceptional character to wines made there.

He has persuaded investors to sink tens of millions of dollars into this unique site, and has built a powerful pump house to sprinkle the vines as a protection against frost. He called the site Winegrowers of Ara, because he imagined dividing it up between different growers. (At 1,600 hectares, it’s bigger than Bordeaux’s largest wine commune, Margaux, which is a patchwork of rival vineyards.) But in the present financial climate, there’s only one grower: himself.

He produces sauvignon blanc and NZ’s new great hope, pinot noir. Majestic sells his Resolute range, the middle of his three quality levels, for £19.99. I find them pure, savoury and refreshing — perfect with toothfish, though perhaps not shrunken squid.

LIQUID HUNCHES

Spy Valley Pinot Gris 2008 (£10.75)

An intensely aromatic take on pinot grigio from a winery just across the river from Ara (Bibendum; bibendum-wine.co.uk).

The Ned Waihopai River Sauvignon Blanc 2008 (£7.49, until Wednesday only)

Scintillating flavours from another neighbour (Waitrose).

Clocktower Pinot Noir 2007 (£8.24 special offer)

From the same winemaker as The Ned, it’s an elegant bargain (Marks & Spencer).

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