Martinborough Wine Tours

Guests from the USA plunging the pinot noir at Te Hera Estate this week.

Thanks to Andy at Palliser Estate our guests got to taste some pinot noir berries picked today. Harvest 2024 has begun.

www.facebook.com/PalliserEstateWines

Summer starts on Friday. Matthew and Lee at Olivo olive grove today with guests from Germany and Hamilton.

Happy Philippines supporters on Lee’s wine tour today.

Michael and Islay from Toronto got to plunge some 2023 pinot grapes and taste the last of the 2022 pinot from the barrel before it goes into a tank while visiting Te Hera Estate with Martinborough Wine Tours today.

We took 33 English cricket supporters to the Cape Palliser lighthouse today after morning tea, coffee and scones at the Land Girl. Then after fish and chips at the Lake Ferry Hotel they finished their day at Tiwaiwaka Wines and experienced the Martinborough "doughnut" - rain all around but the sun shining in the wine village.

Nice to get a mention in Joelle Thomson's latest book.

Matthew and Barb Hyde from Destination Wairarapa hosted Carlos Bagrie and Nadia Lim at Toast Martinborough today.

Our Labour Day Saturday afternoon Wine Tour was slightly different to usual because we went to a wine festival AND we had one of our guides onboard our tour!
It was Trinity's husband Graeme's birthday so she surprised him with lunch and then a wine tour.
The group of 10 did some fun wine education and tank and barrel tastings with John Douglas at Te Hera, then went to the Big Sky/Stad_ko event further down Te Muna Road - sun, music, food and great wine.
Tastings at Palliser Estate and Hamden Estate rounded off what we hope was a fun day.
https://www.facebook.com/stadkowines
https://bigskywines.co.nz/
https://www.facebook.com/PalliserEstateWines
https://www.facebook.com/TeHeraEstate
https://www.facebook.com/Hamdenestate

At the Tour Operators Open Day at the MFC today.

Jim, Betsy, Ken and Terri from California did our "Martinborough in a Day" tour today.
After a tour of the town they did an olive grove wander and olive oil tasting with Helen at Olivo.
Then Wiremu welcomed them onto the Hau Ariki marae.
After a cuppa it was off to Poppies for lunch and wine, and after lunch they met Poppy at her winery.
Then tastings at Ata Rangi with Julia, and at Palliser with Amanda where they also got to visit the cellar.
Then out to Te Muna to see the terrace view from Escarpment Vineyard and a pinot noir barrel tasting at Te Hera Estate before ending the day at the Martinborough Hotel with Lighthouse, Reid + Reid and Dr Beak gin flights.

Yesterday Matthew took his tour group to Ata Rangi's beautiful new tasting room which had been formally blessed in the morning.

Martinborough Wine Tours guide, and new Community Board member, Karen Krogh makes the first purchase from Nick at Nga Waka's spectacular new cellar door.
https://www.facebook.com/NgaWakaWine

Absolutely amazing tour with Matthew yesterday! Matthew is a wealth of knowledge in the area, van was very comfortable, we had a very fun day!! Winery’s where so much fun! Lunch at poppies was amazing! Can not recommend this company enough!!! Full day tour was a great choice!!
Thank you Matthew for an amazing day
Highly recommend!
Michelle n Dave

A big thank you to Mark Gillespie and Escarpment Vineyard for our first tasting experience and tour of their wonderful new winery on Te Muna Rd in Martinborough.
https://www.facebook.com/escarpmentvineyard

Nice to get a little mention in the latest Cuisine magazine's section about the Wairarapa.

Last weekend Trinity took Sandra's group from Auckland to Te Hera Estate for a pinot noir barrel tasting with winemaker John Douglas.

Amy and Gavin, and Bridgie and Brady did our Ultimate Wine and Food tour at the weekend. They started with a cheese and beer tasting at C'est Cheese in Featherston, did wine tastings at Ata Rangi and Palliser Estate, had the Chef's Menu lunch and dessert at Moy Hall, plunged some grapes and tasted various stages of the pinot noir at Te Hera Estate, did beer flights after a quick tour of the Martinborough Brewery, and finished the day with a taste of each of Martinborough's 3 gin brands at the Martinborough Hotel. They also took home some gifts of cheese, chocolate and wine.

Trinity hosted a tour group at the weekend who got to pick grapes and do some plunging at Te Hera Estate.

Beth and Keely did our Ultimate Wine and Food Tour today. They tasted cheese at C'est Cheese, olive oil at Olivo, had lunch at Moy Hall, tasted wine at Palliser Estate and B Wines, and tasted beer at the Martinborough Brewery. And they even got to pick some pinot noir at Te Hera Estate

Trinity and the guests on one of today's wine tours enjoying the Escarpment wine and tasty (and free!) BBQ at Parehua Resort.

We took a group of 20, who were staying in Greytown, to Cape Palliser lighthouse on Tuesday. Morning coffee at Kitcheners cafe in Martinborough, fish and chips for lunch at the Lake Ferry Hotel, and ended the day with a wine tasting, in the sun and next to the vines, at Hamden Estate. Great day.

Nice feedback from Helle, one of last weekend’s guests from Auckland:

“The best wine tour I’ve been on. Didn’t know much about Martinborough region or wine before, super interesting. Small group (there was 8 of us) and lunch was delicious and plentiful. We even got a couple of bottles on the table for free! We went on a rainy day but it didn’t affect the experience at all. I would highly recommend doing it, it’s a full day trip and definitely worth it”.

One of our end of year functions included someone whose son has just started working at Poppies. So Poppy organised a surprise winery tour, with bubbles!

It's end of year party time. As well as having its own end of year dinner at Tonic Bistro, Martinborough Wine Tours is in the middle of a week where it is hosting five groups' Christmas functions. On Friday Matthew and Trinity hosted the staff from Wellington property management company Comprendé. Here they are with Trinity enjoying the beer and sun at the Martinborough Brewery.

Martinborough Wine Tours and Martinborough's vineyards, cafes and restaurants require all guests to present a valid My Vaccine Pass. Guests may also be required to show ID.

We hosted 7 officers from the USS Howard, the first US Navy vessel to come to NZ since 2016. At Nga Waka vineyard GM Mick Hodson read out a message to them that had been sent from the US by Nga Waka owner, and former US Marine, Jay Short. He then told them that Jay wanted to give them a case of wine so they left with 6 Nga Waka Pinots and 6 Chardonnays. No wonder they're smiling!
https://www.facebook.com/NgaWakaWine/

8 out of the top 10 Pinot Noirs from across New Zealand in New Zealand Wine Rater's September tasting were from Martinborough:
https://winerater.co.nz/

Wine Rater Our intention is to provide an independent, objective, and reliable assessment of New Zealand wines. Our goal is that, based on the integrity of our assessments, consumers of New Zealand wine throughout the world can make informed buying decisions. Furthermore, we wish to provide wine producers and....

Nicole and Jason did our Ultimate Wine and Food tour today. They started with cheese and a beer at C'est Cheese in Featherston, then learnt about winemaking from Te Hera's John Douglas where they tasted pinot noir from the barrel. Then after a look at the view from Eacarpment and a drive through Te Muna Valley it was on to Margrain Vineyard for a wine tasting before doing the Chef's menu at Moy Hall for lunch. After lunch a wine tasting at Palliser Estate was followed by a quick taste of Craggy Range wine at the Wine Bank before ending the day with a beer tasting and some food at the Martinborough Brewery.