Hop n Grape Tours - Marlborough Wine Tours - Daily Wine Tours in Marlborough, NZ

Wine and Beer Tours, Marlborough

Marlborough Wine and Food Festival

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The Marlborough Wine and Food Festival is an amazing celebration and a chance for people to come together.

Often there are over 8000 people at the festival so this year if you would like to do something epic with your friends the day before the festival or the day after the festival then we encourage you to be organised and secure your tour in advance.

If you are planning on a trip to Marlborough this summer, why not get a group together and do your own Marlborough Wine tour around Marlborough’s Wineries and vineyards.

There are over 40 wineries and vineyards to choose from we can visit your favourites and discover some new favourites on this all day Marlborough wine tour.

Great atmosphere in the beautiful Marlborough summer weather. On Private tours

Private wine and food tastings

  • Get insights from your winemaker/tour guide
  • Tailored and flexible tour experience
  • You choose the start and finish time of the tour
  • Visit only your favourite wineries
  • Tasting fees included
  • Delicious gourmet lunch at a vineyard restaurant 
  • Great for families, or solo tours, or groups of any size. 
  • Complimentary collection and drop off at your accommodation in Blenheim/Renwick

You can get behind the scenes for a private tasting, or journey through historic buildings and vineyards. Or take a drive through the Awatere Valley and soak up Marlborough’s stunning scenery.  

We can focus on boutique, or organic wineries, breweries, combine fine wine and food… anything is possible with a private wine tour.

You can see everything and taste everything.

Is the Marlborough Wine and food festival long enough

Marlborough Wine and food festival

If you are thinking of coming to Marlborough this summer and would like to arrange your own Wine and Food tour then Call us to find out what we can offer.
Hop n Grape Tours 0211574094
info@hopngrapetours.co.nz

What to expect on a Full Day Marlborough Wine tour

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A Marlborough wine tour with Hop n Grape tours will make you jump with joy.

Jumping for joy to celebrate joining a full day Marlborough Wine tour
Jumping for joy to celebrate joining a full day Marlborough Wine tour

What time do you get collected?

You will be collected between 9.30-10.15 am depending on your accommodation location. We collect guests from Picton and all around Blenheim and Marlborough. We have enough time to introduce ourselves and the plan for the day. If you have any special requests we can do our best to accommodate these.  We love taking people to their favourite wineries or to taste their favourite varieties. Drop off may vary from 4.30 to 5.15 pm.

Hop n Grape tours have a fleet of buses vans and Private tour vehicles
Hop n Grape tours have a fleet of buses vans and Private tour vehicles

Free Marlborough wine trail map

Safety is very important to us, so we provide a briefing on the health and safety part of the tour. Everyone receives a free Marlborough Wine trail map which lets you know where we are going.  We discuss the itinerary and ask if there are any special requests.  

We are the ONLY wine tour with a WINEMAKER as your guide

This is the ONLY wine tour with a WINEMAKER as your guide. The team of tour guides are all wine-trained specialists, who have either a New Zealand degree in Winemaking/Viticulture or an extensive work experience in the wine industry.  This means we can take you to the best wineries and explain the process in as much depth as you enjoy.   We open doors to places you can’t go without a winemaker.

The inside of the van after a full day wine tour is often very fun
The inside of the van after a full day wine tour is often very fun

How many wineries do we visit?

You will visit 5-6 wineries on Full Day Marlborough Wine Tour and Private Tours. You can taste world famous and boutique wines of Marlborough. As you may know, Marlborough has far more to offer than the delicious Sauvignon blanc.  It is the region with the largest plantings of Pinot Noir in the country as well as world class Chardonnay, Riesling, Pinot Gris, Merlot and Méthode Traditionnelle sparkling wine.  There are also new varieties to taste including Arneis, Grüner Veltliner and Albariño. 

Friends enjoy drinking Sauvignon Blanc in a famous vineyard
Friends enjoy drinking Sauvignon Blanc in a famous vineyard

Experience behind the scenes of a modern working winery

We also normally incorporate a visit to an organic vineyard/winery plus we can visit the large famous wineries like Cloudy Bay.  We take our participants behind the scenes of a modern working winery, where they can capture the best behind the scenes winery photos. 

Winery and vineyard visits are the highlight on the Full day Marlborough tour
Winery and vineyard visits are the highlight on the Full day Marlborough tour

How many wines will I taste on the Full Day tour?

We also do an informative vineyard stop, where our participants can get insights from their winemaker or tour guide. We organise a gourmet lunch at a very nice vineyard restaurant (at own cost) that can accommodate different dietary requirements.  Our tours include all tasting fees, where our participants can taste about 25 different wines. We also provide FREE collection and drop off from Blenheim and Renwick areas

Wine tasting at Witherhills Winery on a Private wine tour with friends.
Wine tasting with friends at Witherhills Winery on a Private Marlborough Wine tour

Our Marlborough Wine tour was the 2020 Traveler’s Choice Winner

We at Hop ‘n Grape Wine and Beer Tours focus on customer experience and satisfaction, and the reviews that we have been getting reaffirms the hard work we put in  every day. We are a consistent TripAdvisor awardee of Certificate of Excellence since 2016. Recently we were pronounced as 2020 Traveller’s Choice Winner. It means, Hop ‘n Grape Wine and Beer Tours is in the top 10% of attractions worldwide. We are proud but keep our feet on the ground.

Winner of the Travellers Choice Award selecting this tour being in the top 10% of tours in the world.
Winner of the Travellers’ Choice Award

We look forward to hosting you and making the most your time in Marlborough with an exceptional, interesting and fun tour.  

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Cloudy Bay Wine tasting

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Hop n Grape tours visits Cloudy Bay wine tasting on request. We love the friendly staff and the beautiful tasting room. The Cloudy bay vineyard wine tasting includes 4 wines. The Sparkling Wine, Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. For someone looking for something special the Te Koko Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc is one of my personal favourites.
To book your Marlborough Winery tour to Cloudy bay wine tasting call us today.

Cloudy bay is always a favourite with international visitors
Visitors love the sunny tasting room at Cloudy bay

Cloudy Bay wine tasting and cellar door on Jackson road is always a favourite stop on the wine tour.

Cloudy Bay Marlborough Wine Pioneers

The winery is named after Cloudy Bay, a body of water explorer Captain James Cook came across during his voyage to New Zealand in 1770. Cloudy Bay work together with nature to transform and enhance its quality and obtain the pure, aromatic flavours of the New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir. They also offer other varieties of amazing wines. As you enter the estate, you will see a beautiful building covered with virginia creeper giving the winery an established european feel.

Cloudy bay tasting room in winter is warm and inviting. Guests enjoy the open fire during the wine tasting.
Winter wine tasting inside the Cloudy bay tasting room

Group Wine Tasting inside Cloudy Bay Tasting room

The cellar door is spacious and inviting which is located at the winery itself, in the heart of the Marlborough wine region. Cloudy Bay is a beautiful place to enjoy a delicious glass of wine in a vast courtyard. The raw bar offers different treats that can excite your taste buds while enjoying their range of wines and the beautiful garden overlooking the vineyards. The green lawn is extensive, with huge shade trees interspersed. It is a great location for a family get-together, with ample room for the kids to run around. The view of the vineyards, with the mountains in the background, is absolutely breathtaking. It is the perfect place to chill, relax and create memorable moments with family and friends with their naturally beautiful surroundings. If you want a sophisticated and memorable experience, Cloudy Bay is definitely a place to visit.

Is Cloudy Bay worth the money?

This is a funny question but one I get asked alot. It has many facets so to keep it simple I will just say Yes. A wine is more than the contents of the bottle. It’s the memories and the emotion attached to that time. Cloudy bay has created a lot of memories for a lot of people. When they visit the tasting room people tell stories of drinking Cloudy bay with family or enjoying Cloudy bay at special restaurants. You can tell the brand is special to them.

Yes, I might be able to show them Sauvignon blanc that they enjoy, that are from little hand made vineyards. As they haven’t heard of them, and there is no history associated with these new vineyards. It creates a different experience. A new one! On a Marlborough Wine tour there is room for the new and the old. Finding new favourites to compare with the old favourites and making new memories.

Wine tasting at Cloudy Bay outside in the Courtyard. Everyone enjoys the famous Sauvignon Blanc.
Sitting outside in Summer provides beautiful views of the mountains, vineyards and gardens

Cloudy bay vineyard tasting

Hop n Grape Wine and Beer tours visits Cloudy Bay on request. We love the friendly staff and the beautiful tasting room. The Cloudy bay wine tasting includes 4 wines. The Sparkling Wine, Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. For someone looking for something special the Te Koko Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc is one of my personal favourites.
To book your Marlborough Winery tour call us today.

Can we visit Cloudy Bay when we are in Marlborough?
Yes. Join a tour with Hop n Grape and we pick you up from your accommodation and take you there. Call of email for more info.
0211574094

Cloudy Bay Winery

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Visit Cloudy Bay’s Website

The Best Winery tour

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The best winery tour will take you inside the hidden gems of Marlborough.

How will you know you enjoyed the very Best winery tour?

Hunter Tasting room inside.

There are over 40 wine tasting establishments in Marlborough. On a Full day Marlborough wine tour you will only have time to visit about 5 or 6 wineries (if anyone tells you that they will take you to more wineries than this, tell them, NO Thank-you!)

Making your Winery tour the very Best.

Wine tours are meant to be relaxing, fun and informative, with quality wines and not a rushed university pub crawl. The best winery tours in Marlborough don’t allow you to rush through, they want you to relax and immerse yourself into their ambiance.

Vineyard Pergola

With that in mind, we only have time to visit the best. At Hunters, the ambiance is either in their outdoor established garden or in winter its infront of their open fire. Wineries need more than great ambiance for us to stop on a wine tour. There is loads of brilliant wines in Marlborough. Even some of the large Wine producers can produce some decent quality wine. The reason we stop at the little family owned wineries like Hunters is more than their exquisite wine. Its their Passion. Its their staff and its their story.

Family owned and operated Vineyard and Winery

Hunter’s Wines is a fiercely independent, family-owned business with a very fine beginning. Its first vintage in 1982 achieved six medals at the National Wine Show. It was definitely a good start. At present, they have won more than 200 gold medals at different national and international wine competitions. They started the whole Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc international story. They remain innovative when it comes to new varietals, new winemaking processes and seeking the best for their wines.

Wine Tasting in tasting room and outdoor wine tasting in the Garden

Wine tastings inside their beautiful cellar door as well as in their picturesque gardens. Visitors have the option to wander through their native garden, visit their resident artist in his studio or stay in the Cellar Door garden with a glass or bottle of wine, paired with local and international artisan meats and cheeses. The cellar door hosts and the rest of the team are friendly and knowledgeable. They guide visitors with their award-winning wines and varietals. Even having the ability to retell the history of Hunter’s Wines. Hunters have a large variety of wines open for tasting every day from their popular Méthode Traditionelle Sparkling Wine MiruMiru™ to Riesling, Pinot Gris, Gewürztraminer, Chardonnay, Rosé, Pinot Noir and of course their world famous Sauvignon Blanc and Kaho Roa Sauvignon Blanc. It is the perfect place to relax and great way to enjoy the experience.

Do yourself a favour and book a tour so you can indulge and be taken to all the hidden gems in Marlborough.

Hunters Staff photo by Wine barrels
The family and winery team

Restaurant and Tasting room

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  • Wairau River lunch
    Marlborough locals love the food wine and atmosphere at Wairau River Restaurant

Wairau River restaurant

A great restaurant and tasting room in the heart of the Marlborough wine region. One of the best things about booking a Marlborough Wine tour with Hop n Grape is that they take care of all the bookings. One of the most important bookings is lunch. We are lucky to have a great relationship with Wairau River and are lucky enough to visit them regularly for wine and lunch.

Pioneers of Wine and food

It was in 1978 when Phil and Chris Rose established their vineyards on the banks of the Wairau River. Now, all five Rose children are highly engaged to Marlborough and along with their partners are involved in the family wine business.

Tasting room tours with Hop n Grape

At Hop n Grape Wine and beer tours, we love to visit Wairau River both during the Marlborough wine tour with guests, and also on our days off with friends and family. This really shows the quality of the wine and the staff. Visitors to the region love the generous portions and quality of food. Locals love the atmosphere and the award winning wines.

The Wairau River Cellar Door and Restaurant and tasting room is one of Marlborough’s original wine tourism destinations which was successfully launched in 1991. It is an amazing place to visit.

The inside of the restaurant is beautiful and cosy, and the courtyard next to the vines is stunning. The entire place is neat with a fantastic setting and a friendly atmosphere.

Family Winemakers

The attention to detail both in terms of the quality of food and wine is exceptional. Today, it is being managed and run by the eldest daughter Pip Rose. Working with her are her younger sister Caroline Rose and her partner Tane Malcolm who are the head chefs. The menu focuses on fresh Marlborough ingredients and changes with the seasons.

Wairau River’s Cellar Door is the perfect place to taste the wide range of their award-winning wines and learn more about Marlborough and its grape growing history. The cellar door hosts are friendly and knowledgeable.

Book a Wine tour
Visit Wairau River’s Website

Hop 'N Grape Wine Tours Marlborough is the top provider of winery tours in Picton and Blenheim. If you are looking for a private wine tour, small group wine tour or a luxury wine tour, we can guide your through New Zealand's finest wine region - Marlborough - and let you indulge in an unforgettable wine tasting experience.