Marlborough is New Zealand’s largest wine region, famous for its Sauvignon Blanc and scenic Marlborough Sounds. Discover both on this full-day small-group tour as you visit several Marlborough wineries, indulge in expert-led wine tastings, tuck into a kiwi style BBQ onboard the vessel before setting sail on a cruise through the Marlborough Sounds, accompanied by a delicious seafood tasting platter.

Full day Marlborough wine tasting tour from Blenheim or Picton, including Marlborough Sounds cruise
Go behind the scenes with a tour and tasting at several Marlborough wineries
Sample classic Marlborough wines such as Sauvignon Blanc
Sample fresh seafood as you cruise around the Marlborough Sounds
Great-value tour includes hotel pick-up and round-trip transport
Small-group tour limited to 10 people ensures a personalised experience
Enjoy a delicious BBQ lunch onboard the vessel before departure

What's Included

Wine tasting
Air-conditioned vehicle
Local taxes
Seafood Cruise
Lunch

Food and drinks (except wine and BBQ lunch & seafood tastings specified)
Enquire about our add-on pick up & drop off from Picton subject to availability and surcharges apply

Meeting and Pickup

Meeting point

Blenheim isite Visitor Information Centre
8 Sinclair Street, Mayfield, Blenheim 7201, New Zealand
9.30am Pick up from Blenheim (Blenheim i-SITE) 5pm Drop off Blenheim (Blenheim i-SITE)

Start time

10:00 AM

End point

This activity ends back at the meeting point.

What To Expect

Begin your wine-fuelled day tour with pick-up from your central Picton or Blenheim hotel, and admire the sloping vineyards and distant mountain peaks as you drive into the heart of the Marlborough wine region, where 75% of New Zealand’s wine is produced.

Listen as your guide explains the popularity of its signature Sauvignon Blanc wine, and learn how its unique combination of soil and climate help create its distractive taste. Along the way, stop at several different wineries and cellar doors, where you’ll have chance to stroll around the vineyards, peek inside the wineries, and enjoy wine tasting.

After a morning of wine tasting, continue to the magnificent valleys of the Marlborough Sounds, tuck into a kiwi style BBQ onboard the vessel before setting sail for a scenic sightseeing cruise around the Marlborough Sounds, accompanied by a platter of fresh local seafood and a glass of Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc.

After soaking up the spectacular scenery, return to shore, where your driver will be waiting to take your back to your hotel.

Marlborough Region

3 hours • Admission Ticket Free

Marlborough Sounds

3 hours • Admission Ticket Included

Additional Info

Confirmation will be received at time of booking
Not wheelchair accessible
Children must be accompanied by an adult
A maximum of 10 people per booking (larger groups by arrangement)
A minimum of 4 people

The afternoon cruise is subject to favorable weather conditions
Most travelers can participate
May not be suitable for cruise ship guests, as the times for this cruise may not align to meet the callback time to the cruise ship. Please confirm your callback time before booking.
This tour/activity will have a maximum of 10 travelers

Cancellation Policy

You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.

For a full refund, you must cancel at least 24 hours before the experience’s start time.
If you cancel less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time, the amount you paid will not be refunded.
Any changes made less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time will not be accepted.

Cut-off times are based on the experience’s local time.
This experience requires good weather. If it’s canceled due to poor weather, you’ll be offered a different date or a full refund.
This experience requires a minimum number of travelers. If it’s canceled because the minimum isn’t met, you’ll be offered a different date/experience or a full refund.

Traveler Photos

Featured review

Maree_L

the tour was amazing, heather was fantastic and took us to extra places because we had more time. Every winery was amazing and the lunch was also delicious. The cruise was beautiful and relaxing and we had such a good group. Would definitely do it again amd will recommend to others

Reviews

4.5

61 reviews

Total review count and overall rating based on Viator and Tripadvisor reviews

Reviews by Viator travelers.

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Showing 1-9 of 61 reviews

Fantastic tour

Maree_L, Jan 2021

Response from Host, Jun 2021

Hi Shane, thanks for your great review - we hope to see you again soon.

Wine tasting and mussels

Douglas_C, Feb 2020

A fantastic day! Visited some quality wineries in the morning and spent the afternoon cruising the Marlborough Sounds while enjoying a never ending supply of freshly steamed Green Shell Mussels! Not to be missed!!

Wine and Mussels

Jeremy_L, Jan 2020

Lovely day out tasting wine at three wineries (a bonus stop for bubbles) lunch and then a nice cruise on the Sound finishing with some fresh green shelled mussels. A stop at the chocolate factory on the way home. Heather was great company and looked after us. Highly recommend this trip.

Fantastic day out

Roving11009819336, Jan 2019

Entertaining, friendly, informative, magnificent staff, really interesting, cruise, I cant recommend this trip highly enough, a great way to spend your time and money in Marlborough

Good 2 wineries and boat cruise...

Sarah W, Apr 2018

Good 2 wineries and boat cruise around the sounds with mussels was good. Would have loved to go to a 3rd winery.

This was a wonderful tour. After I...

Gregory_B, Mar 2018

This was a wonderful tour. After I was picked up in Picton by Matt right on time, we picked up others on the tour at various places along the way, giving me the chance to see a lot of the local countryside. We then visited to two Marlborough wineries - the larger Marlborough icon Cloudy Bay and the smaller, family-run Wairau River Winery. We were given a good range of quality wines to taste at each. Throughout the winery leg of the tour Matt provided excellent commentary on the region and its wines. We then drove to the Slip Inn in Havelock for lunch before boarding the boat for a tour of that part of Marlborough Sounds. Matt then skippered the boat and provided informative commentary about the spectacular scenery we passed and the local mussel farming industry, while Lexie kept the freshly cooked greenshell mussells and local wine including some we had tasted earlier coming until we had eaten our fill.

AMAZING DAY - On the water and on...

Owen_K, Feb 2018

AMAZING DAY - On the water and on land this was by far our best tour! Mussels, Clams, Salmon, Wine, Lunch - A

I booked this tour for my wife's...

Les L, Apr 2017

I booked this tour for my wife's birthday. Graham picked us up in a Mercedes van at our hotel in Picton he's a retired gentleman who does this on a part-time basis. We only had one other couple on the tour. I know this area is known for Sauvignon Blanc, but we prefer Chardonnay and let Graham know. He took us to two wineries the first was Cloudy Bay which is owned by the holding company which owns Louis Vuitton. It was a beautiful setting and the woman that conducted the tasting was delightful. The grounds were very green and peaceful. The second winery was Wairau River Winery, which was smaller and family owned. The lady doing the tasting was also very nice and offered more tastings that I'm sure she was supposed to. We then drove to Slip Inn for lunch outside on the water-excellent. We boarded the boat for a tour of the sound with a group of others. The captain was a nice young man and the views were beautiful. Graham cooked the mussels and everyone gathered around with wine and ate them. The captain's commentary was very interesting about growing the mussels. I'm not a big fan of them, but it was a very fun day. Graham was an excellent and friendly guide and told us a lot of interesting things on the tour. Highly recommend!

Matt was very professional and...

Judith M, Apr 2017

Matt was very professional and personable. We enjoyed visiting his families' vineyard, as well as several of the Marlborough wineries. The mussel boat ride was great - the scenery, the wine, the food, and learning about the mussel growing industry knew nothing about it before!. All well done