Our guide to the best wines and wineries in Marlborough, New Zealand

Best wineries in Marlborough

Despite its significance in the wine world, Marlborough is a surprisingly young region. While at least one settler planted vines in the 1870s, it wasn’t until a century later that commercial wine production began. In 1973, Montana Wines (now Brancott Estate), at the time the country’s dominant wine producer, took a gamble on the then-untested South Island, planting the first large-scale vineyards on its northern tip. With its warm days, cool nights and free-draining soils, Marlborough proved ideal for several varieties, notably sauvignon blanc. It was Cloudy Bay, however, that put Marlborough on the international wine map.

Australian winemaker David Hohnen, of Cape Mentelle fame, launched the winery in 1985 with a sauvignon blanc that perfectly captured the intense tropical flavours and heady aromatics the region would become famous for. This success attracted further investment and solidified Marlborough's position as a world-renowned wine region. Today, Cloudy Bay continues to be a major player in the region, alongside Hunter’s, Greywacke, Jackson Estate, Vavasour and Villa Maria, to name a few. 

Best Marlborough cellar doors to visit 

The town of Blenheim is the perfect base to explore Marlborough’s 30-plus cellar doors, with many of them just minutes away. Here are our picks:  

The Crossings in Marlborough.

Cloudy Bay

You’d be remiss not to visit one of the region’s founding wineries, and the one that put New Zealand sauvignon blanc on the international map. Opt for the immersive sauvignon blanc tasting experience, which includes the current vintage as well as some aged examples, over shared platters and bites of food.

Framingham

Just 10 minutes’ drive from Blenheim, Framingham specialises in riesling, so it stands out from the region’s other, mostly sav-obsessed, wineries. Enjoy a tasting in its wood-panelled tasting room or sheltered courtyard, or take in some live music in its converted wine cellar.

Saint Clair Family Estate

As well as sauvignon blanc, chardonnay and pinot noir, Saint Clair Family Estate make everything from grüner veltliner to malbec, so it’s a great place to taste everything the region has to offer. Take the family and settle in for lunch at the Vineyard Kitchen, taking in views of the stunning Richmond Ranges.

Forrest

Its beautiful park setting, complete with a duck pond, picnic tables and bean bags, makes Forrest a more casual cellar door experience. In summer, relax in the sun over a tasting flight and a cheese board, or in winter, cosy up in front of the roaring open fire.

Clos Henri

If you’re looking for a French experience without leaving the country, you’ll find it at Clos Henri. The founding family hails from Sancerre, sauvignon blanc’s ancestral home, and the tasting room is housed in a 1920s-era chapel that overlooks the organic, high-density vineyards. Try their sauvignon blanc and pinot noir over a platter, or book in for the Sancerre to Marlborough Experience, which includes three wines from New Zealand and three from France.

What type of soil is in Marlborough? 

Marlborough enjoys a maritime climate, due to the influences of Cook Strait in the north and the Pacific Ocean to the east. Combined with its long, warm days, cool nights, low rainfall during harvest, and free-draining stony soils, conditions across the board are perfect for grape growing. There is, however, significant variation in both climate and soils across Marlborough’s three distinct subregions. In the Wairau Valley, soils are mostly old and gravelly, and sites vary from those inland that are cooler and drier, to the coastal sites that are moderated by sea breezes.

In the Southern Valleys (which includes the Omaka, Fairhall, Brancott, Ben Morvan and Waihopai Valleys), soils and meso-climates vary, but tend to be heavier and contain more clay than in Wairau. In the Awatere Valley, which stretches inland towards the Kaikoura ranges from the sea, conditions are cooler, drier and windier, and sites tend to have a degree of elevation. Because of this, budbreak and harvest tend to be later than in Wairau, but long, hot summers mean a wider range of styles can flourish here.

Marlborough wines 

Although Marlborough produces premium chardonnay and pinot noir, as well as pinot gris and riesling, sauvignon blanc is the region’s most important variety by far. It is almost solely responsible for putting not just Marlborough but all of New Zealand on the world wine stage, and today, almost 24,000ha are planted to it, representing 81 per cent of the region’s plantings, and 90 per cent of New Zealand’s total sauvignon blanc plantings.

Whitehaven Wines in Marlborough. 

Marlborough sauvignon blanc

Sauvignon blanc was first planted in Marlborough in the 1970s, and by the mid-1980s was receiving international acclaim. With its trademark zesty acidity, pungent aromatics, grassy characters and passionfruit overtones, sauvignon blanc from Marlborough is particularly distinctive, even by the grape’s usual standards. Subregional styles are also emerging, with examples from the Awatere Valley showing more herbaceous and mineral characters, and Wairau Valley producing styles that are riper, more tropical and more aromatic.

Marlborough pinot noir 

Marlborough’s relatively consistent weather patterns mean that pinot noir thrives here. Although plantings are much smaller than that of sauvignon blanc, making up around 2720ha, or nine per cent, they still represent the largest in the country. Wines typically display bright red fruit flavours, like cherry, plum and raspberry, on the palate, with the full red fruit spectrum accented by spice and lightly florals on the nose, balanced by subtle acidity.

Marlborough chardonnay

Marlborough’s cooler climate typically results in zesty, mineral chardonnays, notable for their strong nectarine, grapefruit and other bright citrus characters. Wines are made in both oaked and unoaked styles.

Marlborough pinot gris

Marlborough’s cooler climate produces tighter, more structured pinot gris wines than those made on the North Island, although they’re still closer in style to the wines of Alsace than those of Italy. Pristine and pure aromatics give way to white peach, red apple skin and cinnamon notes.

Marlborough gewürztraminer 

Highly regarded for their pure, fragrant aromatics and clean, balanced palates, plus classic varietal characters of rose petals, lychee, cinnamon and ginger.

Marlborough riesling

The region’s free-draining alluvial stony soils produce riesling that is typically aromatic, with lemon and lime characters. Late-harvest or botrytised styles also show honey and floral notes. 

Marlborough rosé

Most rosé in Marlborough is made from pinot noir, however there also some interesting examples made from other varieties including syrah and montepulciano.

Marlborough sparkling wine 

Marlborough’s high sunshine and cool climate produce sparkling wines that are crisp and structured with defined fruit characteristics. The region is the stronghold of production for both New Zealand and for the many French Champagne houses who make sparkling wine from Marlborough grapes. 

Marlborough itinerary

Marlborough, New Zealand’s sunniest region and one of its most picturesque, offers loads for the food, wine, or adventure-obsessed visitor. Blenheim is an obvious choice as a base to explore the region and is an easy flight from either Auckland (1hr 30mins), Christchurch (50mins), or Wellington (30mins).

As well as great cafes, restaurants, breweries and easy access to the region’s wineries, Blenheim is home to the Omaka Aviation Heritage Centre, which contains the world’s largest private collection of military aircraft. You can even take a 10-minute flight in a vintage biplane over the surrounding wine country. If you’d rather explore the region by bike, a popular option is the Golden Mile, which you can ride on your own or with a tour group, stopping off at wineries along the way. More adventurous riders may choose to mountain bike along the challenging Mt Vernon Traverse and take in the surrounding Wither Hills Farm Park; there are lots of options here for hikers too.

Another option for entry to the region is via the town of Picton (25mins drive from Blenheim), on the north coast. A three-and-a-half-hour ferry ride from Wellington, Picton is also a great base to explore the jaw-droppingly beautiful Marlborough Sounds. Covering 1500km of coastline, and consisting of ancient sunken river valleys, forested hills, sheltered inlets and sandy bays, visitors can go boating, fishing, swimming with dolphins, take a seafood cruise, or hike or cycle along the famous Queen Charlotte Track. Note this isn’t for the faint-hearted, with the complete track taking five days to walk and three days to ride. Luckily there’ll be lots of delicious wine waiting for you at the end.