New Zealand is famous for the wine produced in the Marlborough Region on the South Island. This region is responsible for producing 77% of New Zealand’s wine. This was a great spot after spending so much time on New Zealand’s coast the last few days.
We knew the Marlborough Region had to be a stop on our road trip. This is the part of the trip that was too far in the future to do a lot of research and we never seemed to get around to it in the days leading up to it. We did a lot of “winging it” for these few days, but want to share what we loved.
Logistics for visiting the Marlborough Region
The AirBnB we found was in the town of Renwick. It just so happens to be the PERFECT location if you want to do some wine tasting. I thought it was closer to everything than the larger city of Blenheim. It didn’t appear to have many hotels in that area, so it’s a good time to jump on the AirBnB train. Use this link to save money on your first booking.
There are some bus tours that will take you around if that is your style. I recommend using bikes. There are lots of place in the area that will rent bikes out for the day (some have tandem bikes). Our AirBnB let us use two for free and we took full advantage.
Check the calendar ahead of time while planning. We arrived on Anzac Day which meant lots of the vineyards were closed. New Zealand has strict alcohol rules on Good Friday, Easter Sunday and Anzac Day (all fell in the same week this year).
The Vineyards We Visited:
Cloudy Bay Vineyards
This was our first stop. We had flagged it as a “must go” on our google map but we don’t remember where we heard about it. It’s supposed to be one of the most famous in the Marlborough Region. The place is gorgeous. They have a beautiful outdoor seating area with food. We split a tasting here and only liked their Sauvignon Blanc. It’s rare for us to dislike much, but it just wasn’t great for us. The views definitely made up for it.
Giesen Wines Cellar Door
We visited this spot while on our bicycle tour the second day. We each just had a glass here because the tasting room was very busy and it seemed to be lots of Rieslings. While it was the busiest place we went, we found a table out back in the sunshine and we had that area to ourselves. Their Sauvignon Blanc was my favorite.
Gibson Bridge Vineyard
This place was walkable for us from where we stayed. It is a small storefront, but the owner is an interesting man with lots of stories. They only do tastings, no glasses. We went ahead with it before realizing that they mostly do Pinot Gris. Turns out, we loved it. It’s the only place we bought a bottle to take with us. I was pleasantly surprised.
The Vines Village
This isn’t exactly a vineyard, but a marketplace that also sells wine from the local places that don’t have their own tasting rooms. We went here for lunch and glasses of rose. They had some amazing salads. You can pick up some snacks to take with you if you are touring around the area for the afternoon.
Forrest Estate Wines
This place was our favorite. Once we arrived here, we decided we were done and just stayed here a little longer. They do a tasting of seven wines, so we shared it. There were two we had never tried – an Albariño and a Petit Manning. We grabbed bean bags chairs and sat in the sunshine until they closed at 4 watching the flow of tandem bicycles come in and out of the parking lot.
If I was going to recommend one to stop at, it would definitely be Forrest Estate. We loved this area and had the best weather – lots of sunshine. There are so many places to check out in this small region.
Cheers!
