Lovely winery in the heart of Marlborough. Excellent wines and perfect food from their Number 11…read morerestaurant. Very nice staff. Dine inside or out by the vines

Am touring for a trade group of wine distributors. Came by for a tasting -- admittedly without a…read morereservation -- and was promptly seated outside. Wairau was at maybe 1/3 capacity. Waited at our table for 20 minutes without service while staff faffed about. Walked inside to inquire about table service and the bar tender said he wasn't sure if our server might come by. He didn't offer to inquire further or help in any way, so we left. Lacking in service. Wairau lost out on a couple cases today. No need to return when there are several excellent wineries within 500 meters.

Delicious lunch and wonderful wine tasting We had lunch at…read moreRock Ferry after a lovely wine tasting. The food was delicious - our open steak sandwich and our tarakihi was cooked perfectly and presented beautifully. It was quite reasonably priced too.....

An absolutely delightful lunch spot! We came without reservations and luckily we were able to get a…read moretable--it was quite crowded around noon. The wines are fine (we've honestly had better in the region) but the food was so delicious. We had the fish of the day and chicken lentil salad. Wonderful combinations of flavors and textures. Do not miss this place.

We came to this winery on the recommendation of an employee of another winery, saying that they…read moreoffered really nice wine and cheese antipasto platters. We arrived just before they stopped serving, but they let us order anyway. Located in a lovely old chateau, we decided to go up to the top of the tower while waiting for our platter. From the top, there are panoramic views of the entire valley. After enjoying the view, and taking our photos, we went below for our wine tasting. They do charge $5 for the tasting, but the cost is refunded upon purchase of wine. I was quite surprised how lovely the wines were here. The chardonnay and sauvingnon blancs were lovely and we bought several bottles to take on our way. The platter of food was completely delicious and very filling. The freshly baked bread was absolutely scrumptious, a wonderful accompaniment to the antipasto platter. Sitting at an outdoor table in the warm sunshine, sipping the wine and eating delicious food served to create an afternoon to remember.

We wanted snacks for our Marlborough wine voyage so we stopped in Picton Village Bakkerij before…read moreheading out. It's right beside The Villa (a backpacker hostel). If you couldn't tell by the name, it's Dutch influenced. We dropped in on a Wednesday (around 11:45am) and there was a lot of people coming and going. There's a few tables to sit at outside but that's it. Service was friendly and patient. A variety to choose from including hot pies, scones, quiches, sandwiches, pastries, buns and breads. Their award winning carrot cake ($5.50 NZD small) looked good. The drink menu is small and off to the side. - Flat white ($4.00 NZD large) - pretty mediocre but expected given you're not getting this made at a coffee shop. - Moroccan lamb ($4.90 NZD) - this is one of their "out of the ordinary" pies. Moroccan lamb sounded good but the sauce and seasoning didn't combine well with the lamb. However, the crust was excellent. - Sausage roll ($2.00 NZD) - the sausage itself was a bit too salty but the pastry was flaky and had a good texture. - Roast beef, relish & cheese ($6.90 NZD) - came with lettuce, roast beef, cheese, tomato, red onion and tomato relish. The kaiser bun it came on was fresh and had a great chewy bite. The roast beef slices could have been fresher but the tomato relish was pleasant. - Cherry almond tart ($4.80 NZD) - filled with sweet dark cherries and sweet ground almond filling. This one is one of their award winning pastries. This was good. I really liked the fruit on top. Solid bakery to grab a few things to snack on. Really close to the pier so a perfect stop before you head off.

My husband and I planned to stop at the bakery because I read such wonderful reviews about the pies…read moreon TripAdvisor. Well, it was a very unpleasant experience. It was 2:45pm and my husband walked in with his parents and nephews. He came back with some cold pizzas, one lukewarm pizza, and a brownie. I asked where was the coffee and he said the lady said, "No" when he asked. He shared the lady was rude and rushed. I was confused! They didn't close until 3:30pm, so what what was the issue!? I walk in and see the same lady being extremely polite to the customers who arrived after 3:00pm. She served them coffees, heated their pies and pizzas. It was very sad because my husband and his family are Indian. The other customers were not, so it makes you wonder if that was the reason this experience was horrible. I really wish our niece and nephew didn't experience this! And I highly recommend they learn how to be BETTER to ALL of their customers. Last thing, my husband speaks English so there was NO miscommunication.

Local chocolate factory in Blenheim. They make everything in store right in front of you. You'll be…read moreable to see how they make their mouthwatering chocolate if you go there in the morning. They do packing in the afternoon. Don't forget to try a few samples while you're there. They will give you "samples of the day" right when you walk in. Tip: they also have every flavor in the back so you just have to ask nicely! If they are not busy, they can grab any flavor you want to try. We've tried caramel coated with chocolate, and Pinot Noir truffle. Both were fantastic!

While touring the vineyards of the Marlborough region, we ran across the Makana Boutique Chocolate…read moreFactory and decided to stop in. The store is essentially one room divided into a kitchen, where you can see the chocolates being made and a showroom/store. The staff offered us a few samples of some of the chocolates. They were amazing! We ended up getting a box of chocolates made with macadamia nuts. This was a good stop and something fun to do. My only problem is that the chocolates were expensive. I think the box we got was around $25. Others were less, but still. I would still come here again though.

Our fourth winery (out of six) was at Wairau River Wines. This was our least favourite…read more Oddly, this place only had standing room for tasting. There's a restaurant inside that I read has good food but it's pricey. Starters and mains (hello soufflé). Only open for lunch from 12:00pm to 3:00pm. Our server, an older lady, was terrible. She was caught up with some other party coming in and ignored us. We waited it out but should have just left. Not very informative or helpful and she was stingy with her pours. The wine tastings are complimentary but there's only four options. A small, sad list. - Sauvignon blanc 2017 - a little bit drier than the norm but not bad. - Pinot gris 2017 - a little more spice and punch to this pinot gris. - Gewürtztraminer 2017 - decent but nowhere near the quality that we had at Wither Hills. - Rosé 2017 - good with an off dry finish. Do yourself a favour and avoid WRW. So many other wineries to choose from, don't waste time here.

A wonderful place to spend the afternoon on the Marloborough region of New Zealand.The Maori (I…read morethink) lady behind the tasting counter was super lovely as can be, and so were ladies in the dining area. I had the smashing Green Mussel Chowder with smashing Pinot Noir I purchased and it was fantastic! Cannot go on more because running out of Kiwi superlatives. Just go there for lunch if you happen to.be in the hood