On the way out from Mopueka, we decided to hit up two wineries. The first stop was at Seifried…read moreEstate. We dropped in on a Saturday morning (around 10:15am). First customers! Hilarious that you can buy a used oak barrel ($100.00 NZD/whole or $60.00/half). Wine tastings are $6.00 NZD/person and you get to sample 5 wines. Fee is waved if you buy a bottle. We got a few extras and ended up sampling 7 wines! - Aotea by Seifried sauvignon blanc - all the sauvignon blancs are solid in this area. This one was no different. - Seifried riesling - we ended up getting a bottle ($17.00 NZD). A drier, less sweet style that we really enjoyed. - Seifried pinot gros - Seifried grüner veltliner - quite close to a gewurtztraminer. We liked this one too. - Seifried zweigelt - we got a hint of strawberry. Decent. - Seifried syrah - this was pretty different. Hints of plums, prunes and black pepper. Would be a really good for a meat marinade. - Seifried winemakers collection "sweet Agnes' riesling" - this is their most popular and best seller. It's quite pleasant. Not too sweet; you could easily drink a whole glass. Good first winery. Bottles are quite reasonably priced.

Our second winery was at the Te Māina and Richmond Plains estate. Interesting that both are served…read moretogether under one roof! First time seeing that. We dropped in on a Saturday morning (around 11:00am) and were greeted by an enthusiastic, fantastic server (Jo). She's actually the first person to formally introduce herself. Very personable. They also sell Hogarth Craft chocolates ($12.00 NZD). We actually sampled these at the Nelson Farmers Market; pretty tasty if you like dark chocolates. Wine tastings are $2.00 NZD each and there was 8 types available (4 from Te Mānia and 4 from Richmond Plains). We tried half of the options. As always, fee is waived when you buy a bottle. - Blanc de noir 2017 - this is their award winning wine. Pretty unique as it's made with red pinot noir grapes but in a white wine style. We liked this best and bought a bottle ($22.99 NZD). - Blue moon sauvignon blanc 2016 - this one was interesting as the green capsicum was very prominent. - Pinot noir rose 2017 - pretty refreshing with a dry minerality. - Ice riesling 2017 - quite reasonable for a bottle. Light but closer to a riesling. We liked this spot. Two in one!

Delicious lunch and wonderful wine tasting We had lunch at…read moreRock Ferry after a lovely wine tasting. The food was delicious - our open steak sandwich and our tarakihi was cooked perfectly and presented beautifully. It was quite reasonably priced too.....

We arrived too late in the afternoon to eat but Hayden gave us a tasting session - we enjoyed it…read moresince we were the only ones there. We toured NZ in the winter and avoided all the crowds. He served us 5 different wines and we bought two bottles. The tasting room is quite new and well designed.

What an amazingly beautiful place. We stumbled upon this place looking for a place to relax, and…read morewow were we rewarded with a beautiful clear fall day and lovely hospitality. Wonderful wines, wonderful grounds, and we absolutely loved the charcuterie they served. Everyone with whom we interacted was friendly and knowledgeable. We brought back a bunch of wine from this vineyard and our friends were delighted. A must-go if you get a chance.

Went here for a wine tasting and had a great time. It's a beautiful, quite spot to enjoy an…read moreafternoon. The cheese board is also top notch.

Our fifth winery (out of six) was at Giesen Wines Cellar Door. This was our other favourite winery…read moreof the day. There's a restaurant inside with a very small menu: a vintage platter, cheese platter, kid platter and two desserts. As for the wine tastings, it's $5.00 NZD/person and you get 6 tastes. The best part is you can choose ANY of the options. All the expensive ones please! It's standing room only but has a smart layout. Service was fantastic as our server was friendly, knowledgeable and approachable. Very down to earth and knew when to leave us alone. - The fuder sauvignon bland - Matthews Lane - pretty decent but not worth the $45.00 NZD price tag. - The brothers riesling - this one was very, very sweet. - The brothers gewürtztraminer - almost heading into the territory of a riesling for sweetness. Full bodied. - Classic cuvee - you taste the Chardonnay at the end. - Single vineyard clayvin syrah - good mouth feel. You can taste the lingering savoury finish. - The brothers late harvest sauvignon blanc - a dessert wine for sure. Super good with tones of pineapple and honey to finish. It's sweet but would be perfect in small doses. We almost got a bottle of this. Definitely worth checking out Giesen.

Free tasting! Our vintner was very knowledgeable and lovely to talk with. She was able to…read moreaccommodate a tasting of entirely reds. They have a nice garden patio for lunch, but only had a meat platter, a cheese plate and mussels on the menu.

We went here while visiting some of the wineries in the area. We were based out of Blenheim, and…read morethis winery was about as far from there as you could get, but I wanted to come to this one because I remember seeing one of their wines at the store and thought they had a cool name for their business. We went there and sampled some of their wines. I got to try 5 different ones; they charge for this but not much. As we talked to them, we learned how they got their name. There is some secret defense facility that I guess supports spying somewhere nearby. They had fun with it though and used it to set their business apart. Their wines had messages in morse code on their labels, and they had a huge poster from a James Bond movie on the wall. The setting was nice. It's not on the main road, so it was very quiet and peaceful. In the end, we bought a bottle of the merlot/malbec, which was very good and is only available there. You can buy a case, which they will ship for free, but for them a case is 12 bottles. Too bad - if it had been 6, we would have done it. Bottom line, this place was great. If James Bond drank wine, this it what he'd drink. I couldn't have asked for more. I would definitely go here again.

Our second (of six) wineries we visited. Spy Valley was on our list as it had a fun spy theme going…read moreon. We dropped in around 2:00pm and the place was packed because of a huge bus tour. Luckily, they were packing up for the next spot. There's an outdoor backyard area with picnic tables to sit and do tastings at. Service was okay but not very informative. Our server didn't tell us much about the wines. At least the wine tastings are complimentary here. We ended up trying four. - Sauvignon blanc - nice balance, a little sweeter than the norm. - Pinot gris - a typical gris. - Gewurtztraminer - the bottles are cool as each one has a different morse code on it. This one translated to "spice". Decent but nowhere near as good as the one we had back at Wither Hills. - Syrah - this one had black peppery tones. Spy Glass was pretty average in our books. Not really worth the detour.

Lovely winery in the heart of Marlborough. Excellent wines and perfect food from their Number 11…read morerestaurant. Very nice staff. Dine inside or out by the vines

Am touring for a trade group of wine distributors. Came by for a tasting -- admittedly without a…read morereservation -- and was promptly seated outside. Wairau was at maybe 1/3 capacity. Waited at our table for 20 minutes without service while staff faffed about. Walked inside to inquire about table service and the bar tender said he wasn't sure if our server might come by. He didn't offer to inquire further or help in any way, so we left. Lacking in service. Wairau lost out on a couple cases today. No need to return when there are several excellent wineries within 500 meters.