Private Driving Wine Tour (hele dag) in de Marlborough-regio

This was the second wine tour we have done. Like the first one, it was fantastic. We were lucky enough to have the same guide, Hamish, who was friendly, knowledgable, and was casually waiting for us in the hotel foyer at the appropriate time. We visited 4 wineries, had a great lunch, and even got an impromptu personal tour of the Essential gin distillery. Highly recommended!

We were met at Picton port , a little delayed to find driver who was waiting at gangway of our ship . But did not have a notice with company or our name on . Any way it was only slightly late and we had many apologies from a very helpful and knowledgable man . We had sent up on email an itinerary to suit us . We went first to Omaka aviation museum , even if you don’t particularly go for old planes , this is a must . Beautifully presented and all early abd more modern exhibits displayed in settings with corresponding uniforms ,posters , and stories I believe this was the collection and set up of a New Zealand film director , a real surprise . For those real aficionados one can pre book a flight in a few different aircraft this is available on their website . After wards we went to 2 different vineyards and had a delicious reasonably priced lunch with their wine . We drove through huge vineyards with very sophisticated picking machines and many many acres of planting . We saw some beautiful scenery along the coast and the driver was very informative . We had chosen after lunch to visit a favourite “ bodega “Yealands which has as they all do a tasting area . Each one charges a small charge which is if you can carry wine back or want to have it shipped ( same price to buy In UK ) so either buy it back home or have it sent ! The grounds of this vineyard have many acres along the coast and a track through , well worth doing , and chickens to feed along the way , grain supplied ! We arrived back at Picton around 17.00 having left at 09.30 . Tours are not cheap but between 2 independent traveller it was the way to go . Well recommend this company and their high standards and profesional friendly and well versed drivers .

First off, our driver Hamisch made the tour. He was personable, informative and just a lot of fun to be around. We saw 6 different wineries and met some amazing people and wine makers. They had our tour planned perfectly, but always made sure we were seeing what we wanted and were open to slight changes if we wished. Hamisch even helped book us dinner reservations and had lots of suggestions for other things to do in the region.