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.

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.

We'd mistakenly booked the wrong day, but they were accommodating…read more It's a beautiful site. I thought the restaurant is a little pricey. The beef tartare was bland. The fish was excellent. The cheese board was $$$. Wine amazing. Not much of a gift shop, which was a little disappointing.

For $79 pp we purchased a wine tour wristband @ were given a map.. Vans stopped at 26 wineries &…read moreliquor themed venues. Vans came every :30. It took :20 minutes to get to Blenheim for our first winery. A wine museum, gift shop, gin distillery, confectionery, vine village, beer garden ... we drove through magnificent wine country with rolling hills, sheep & of course vineyards. Our driver was knowledgeable sharing info about the area, wines & stops. There were people running to the van @ he was frequently running late. We had time to stop at two wineries for :30 and one for an hour lunch. At the end of the day they checked that everyone made it back to the port. We were told that we shouldn't have an issue getting lunch at any stop. We wouldn't need reservations today. However, there were cruise ships tours & Viacor tours that tied up many kitchens & wine tastings. We would have like to make more stops.

We spent a fantastic day visiting wineries, amazing lunch, and chocolate factory with Cam and his…read moreteam on our private tour arranged by Hop 'n Grape. We were picked up in a great coach at the port (shore excursion) and taken to several wineries in Blenheim and the Marlborough area. We had an amazing lunch and tasting at one local vineyard they put together for us. Additionally, we had many great tastings throughout the day, learned about New Zealand's wine making industry and living in this beautiful part of the country. Cam made this visit so personal and tailored it to our group. We met with winemakers and a local brewmaster. If you go to wine country, Hop n Grape will not disappoint. It was one of the highlights of our trip to New Zealand

From the owner: Located in the heart of Marlborough Wine Country, 15 minutes from Blenheim is The Vines Village -…read moreMarlborough's Artisan Hub. Discover the Cafe, Wine Cellar, 6 Artisan Stores and sample the best of Marlborough's art, craft, food, wine and design, and family-friendly activities nestled amongst 4 hectares of tranquil lakeside grounds. Bike Hire, Free Wifi, Dog Parking, Kid's Treasure Hunt & Regular Family Events Loads of free parking - buses, campervans, car with trailers and bikes all welcome. Cruiseboat visitors and bus friendly. EXPLORE. RELAX. TASTE

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.....

An absolutely delightful lunch spot! We came without reservations and luckily we were able to get a…read moretable--it was quite crowded around noon. The wines are fine (we've honestly had better in the region) but the food was so delicious. We had the fish of the day and chicken lentil salad. Wonderful combinations of flavors and textures. Do not miss this place.

We stopped by for lunch and a little wine! Great outdoor…read moreseating. Wonderful menu for lunch and DESSERT!!! We also enjoyed several of their wines. Service was excellent and helpful. I highly recommend.

Awesome Really…read morechatty friendly staff and very knowledgeable with great wines. There is an excellent restaurant which we had to give a miss and a little gift shop area.

This winery is owned by a doctor who created fruit focused wines & wines lower in alcohol content…read more The grounds were beautiful Jan gave us 3 free complementary samples of delicious wines. She was knowledgeable, friendly and generous. I really enjoyed the Forrest rosé it was creamy summary and had strawberry flavors. TheSauvignon Blanc was quite good as well and the Forrest Albariño was smooth & zesty. My husband enjoyed his doctors Riesling but preferred the Forrest Petit Manseng. We were told that we can get some of these wines in and 400s of dollars contract and shipped to the United States.

Third winery stop (out of six) was at Forrest Wines. Lucky us, we managed to bump into the same…read moremassive bus tour group. The outside is where most of the seating is; a bunch of bean bags looked loungy. Service is friendly and helpful. There's a couple of tasting options. You can get 2 free bar tastings per person otherwise, you have to pay. There's a tasting tray (7 wine tastes) that seemed the most popular. There's also a small food menu: picnic hamper, platters, cheese and proper crisps (aka. chips). Didn't see anyone eating here. - The Doctors' bubbles for Beth 2010 - you don't see bubble reds often. Interesting, sweet and different. - Forrest sauvignon blanc 2017 - you can smell the guava. Much softer and subtle than other blancs we tasted. - The doctors' rosé 2017 - very light - Forrest albariño 2016 - pretty different; we've never had an albariño before. It's a little salty. - The doctors' riesling 2016 - way too sweet for our tastes. - Forrest pinot noir 2014 - this one had a dry finish. - Forrest petit manseng 2017 - this would be a good dessert wine. You can smell the mango. Not as sweet as the riesling. This one was our favourite out of the seven. A couple different wine types that may peak your interest. 3.5 stars.

We came to this winery on the recommendation of an employee of another winery, saying that they…read moreoffered really nice wine and cheese antipasto platters. We arrived just before they stopped serving, but they let us order anyway. Located in a lovely old chateau, we decided to go up to the top of the tower while waiting for our platter. From the top, there are panoramic views of the entire valley. After enjoying the view, and taking our photos, we went below for our wine tasting. They do charge $5 for the tasting, but the cost is refunded upon purchase of wine. I was quite surprised how lovely the wines were here. The chardonnay and sauvingnon blancs were lovely and we bought several bottles to take on our way. The platter of food was completely delicious and very filling. The freshly baked bread was absolutely scrumptious, a wonderful accompaniment to the antipasto platter. Sitting at an outdoor table in the warm sunshine, sipping the wine and eating delicious food served to create an afternoon to remember.

Our fourth winery (out of six) was at Wairau River Wines. This was our least favourite…read more Oddly, this place only had standing room for tasting. There's a restaurant inside that I read has good food but it's pricey. Starters and mains (hello soufflé). Only open for lunch from 12:00pm to 3:00pm. Our server, an older lady, was terrible. She was caught up with some other party coming in and ignored us. We waited it out but should have just left. Not very informative or helpful and she was stingy with her pours. The wine tastings are complimentary but there's only four options. A small, sad list. - Sauvignon blanc 2017 - a little bit drier than the norm but not bad. - Pinot gris 2017 - a little more spice and punch to this pinot gris. - Gewürtztraminer 2017 - decent but nowhere near the quality that we had at Wither Hills. - Rosé 2017 - good with an off dry finish. Do yourself a favour and avoid WRW. So many other wineries to choose from, don't waste time here.

A wonderful place to spend the afternoon on the Marloborough region of New Zealand.The Maori (I…read morethink) lady behind the tasting counter was super lovely as can be, and so were ladies in the dining area. I had the smashing Green Mussel Chowder with smashing Pinot Noir I purchased and it was fantastic! Cannot go on more because running out of Kiwi superlatives. Just go there for lunch if you happen to.be in the hood