Marlborough wine tours from Blenheim collect you at your door in Blenheim or Renwick, and the first cellar door is minutes away. Pick a half-day, a full day with a lunch stop, or a private day for your group.
The most-reviewed full day in the region. Your guide collects you from central Blenheim or the i-SITE at about 9.45am, the tastings are in the fare, and a lunch stop at a winery is yours to order and pay for.
From $127 per person
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
A winemaker drives and guides. Lawson's Dry Hills, Allan Scott, Ant Moore and Framingham are on the plan, then lunch at Saint Clair at your cost and chocolate at Makana. Every tasting fee is paid.
From $124 per person
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
Six hours from your Blenheim door, timed for a 10am first pour: four cellar doors, a walk in the vines, bottled water and snacks in the van, and a winery lunch you choose and pay for.
From $159 per person
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
A half-day with the stops named in advance: Saint Clair, Hunter's, Allan Scott and Framingham, with Makana chocolate between them. Tasting fees are in the fare; food at the lunch stop is yours.
From $121 per person
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
An afternoon that starts with lunch. Your host books a table at a winery, you pay for the meal, then up to four cellar doors follow with the standard tastings paid. Pickup is from central Blenheim.
From $118 per person
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
The day with everything in the fare: tastings at Cloudy Bay, Allan Scott and Clos Henri, a two-course lunch at Saint Clair, and chocolate at Makana. Six guests at most, collected from Blenheim or Renwick.
From $340 per person
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
Meet at the Blenheim i-SITE, 8 Sinclair Street, at 9.15am. Winemakers host the tastings, a two-course lunch is in the fare, and you are back by 4.30 to 5pm. Adults only.
From $220 per person
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
Wine in the morning, the sea in the afternoon. Be ready at your Blenheim accommodation by 9.15am for tastings and a light lunch, then a seafood cruise on the Sounds with salmon and mussels.
From $185 per person
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
Four hours from your Blenheim or Renwick hotel: three or four tastings in the fare and a long lunch stop, 90 minutes at a vineyard restaurant where you order and pay for what you like.
From $110 per person
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
A private day for up to four, from your hotel, motel or campervan site at 10am. Clos Henri, Rock Ferry, Bladen, Huia and Saint Clair, standard tastings in the fare, and infant seats if you need them.
From $228 per person
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
The lowest van fare from Blenheim. A 10am pickup, nine guests at most, and four wines to taste at each of three or four cellar doors, all in the fare. Lunch is not part of it.
From $98 per person
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
An afternoon from central Blenheim at 1.30pm: three hand-picked wineries with every tasting in the fare, and back in town at 5.03pm. There is no lunch stop, so eat before you go.
From $104 per person
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
An afternoon from your Blenheim door at 1pm, or 12.30pm from May to October. Four wineries and the standard tasting fees are in the fare; there is no lunch stop, so eat first.
From $112 per person
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
A working winery from behind the scenes, a talk in the vineyard and time for questions, with every tasting fee paid. The day starts at 10.30am; lunch mains run about NZ$25-40 at your cost.
From $124 per person
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
A morning from your Blenheim accommodation, the railway station or the i-SITE. Four wineries, standard tastings in the fare and a walk in the vines. Bring one small bag, not a suitcase.
From $107 per person
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
Two winery tastings from the Blenheim i-SITE at 9.15am, a lunch stop, then three hours on the Sounds with fresh seafood and a glass of Sauvignon Blanc. Tea and coffee on board are in the fare.
From $181 per person
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
A driver-guide, the cellar-door tastings in the fare, and a lunch stop at a winery you choose from. Eleven guests at most.
Check availabilityIt is a seat in a small van, bought per person, that collects you in Blenheim and brings you back at the end of the day. A driver-guide takes you from one cellar door to the next, and you taste without anyone in your group having to drive. Compare every Marlborough Wine guided tours before you pick one.
Blenheim sits on the edge of the vines. NZ Winegrowers says Marlborough has more than 30 cellar doors, almost all within a ten-minute drive of each other. From a Blenheim hotel you reach the first tasting in minutes, not half an hour.
Most of these days run in the Wairau Valley, the region's largest and most planted valley, with some stops in the Southern Valleys. You share the van with other guests: between six and fifteen on the shared days, or your own group on the private day.
Almost every listing collects you from central Blenheim at no charge, and most of the Hop n Grape days add Renwick. A couple of tours meet at the Blenheim i-SITE on Sinclair Street instead. You never pay a transfer from Blenheim.
On every van tour here, the cellar-door tasting fees are inside the fare. You do not queue to pay at each counter, and you do not wonder whether a pour is free. Bottles you buy are extra.
You can take a morning, an afternoon, a full day with a lunch stop, a full day with lunch paid, a private day, or a day that ends on a boat. From Picton, the choice is narrower.
No transfer means more of your hours go on tasting. The full days are back in Blenheim by late afternoon, so you still have the evening.
If you are choosing where to stay, or which town to start from, this is the difference that matters.
| From Blenheim | From Picton | |
|---|---|---|
| Pickup | Free, door to door, in central Blenheim (and Renwick on many) | Central Picton or the Picton i-SITE; some Blenheim days charge a surcharge to collect you |
| To the first cellar door | Minutes | 20 to 30 minutes by road |
| Half-day fares | $98 to $121 | $98 to $112 |
| Full-day fares | $124 to $340 | $127 to $185 |
| Lunch in the fare | On the Gourmet Gold day and the Marlborough Tour Company day | Only on the wine-and-cruise day |
| Cruise-ship passengers | Several days say their timing does not suit ships | Shore excursions timed to the ship |
| Best for | A night or more in wine country | A day off the ferry or the ship |
If you are staying in Blenheim, start from Blenheim: the choice is wider and the pickup is free. If you are only in Picton for the day, read Marlborough wine tours from Picton instead. For the fare-by-fare view, see what each fare buys.
Jimmy's Classic Marlborough Wine Tours runs the one private guided day from Blenheim. You book seats for up to four, the van is yours, and the driver collects you from your hotel, motel or campervan site at 10am, or at Seymour Square under the clock tower. It costs $228 a person, the standard tastings included.
The day spends about an hour at each stop: Clos Henri, Bladen, Huia and Saint Clair, with 90 minutes at Rock Ferry. A tailor-made private tasting at Mahi can be added at extra cost. If you are travelling with a baby, it has infant seats and room for a pushchair.
Other operators take private bookings on request, so ask them if your group is larger than four.
Tastings at Cloudy Bay, Allan Scott and Clos Henri, a two-course lunch at Saint Clair and chocolate at Makana. Six guests at most.
Check availabilityA half-day gives you three or four cellar doors in about four hours, from $98. Take it if you want the afternoon free, or if you are new to tasting. The afternoon half-days have no lunch stop, so eat first.
A full day gives you four to six stops and a lunch in the middle, from $124. Wine Marlborough says a typical day takes in three to five cellar doors, with each tasting taking 40 to 60 minutes. That is the pace of a full day here.
For the full comparison, including the bike days, read which tour fits your day.
Want a different way to go? Compare every tour on Marlborough Wine Tours.