Blenheim and Marlborough Tours
Private Tours
Take a luxury wine tour to discover the hidden secrets of wine making at vineyards of your choice. Let the experts guide you on matching local reserve wines with gourmet foods.
Or we would be happy to create your own private tour around some of the scenic attractions of the Marlborough area. We have wines and nature in abundance and scenic flights to view everything from altitude.
Let us put together a holiday that will be really Memorable!
Cruise Ship Shore Excursions
JADE WINE TOUR
Our JADE WINE TOUR will depart from the I-Site in Picton. Shuttle buses are provided free from the quay to the I-Site (a distance of 2 kms from the large ship quay) and departure times are worked around the times that ships dock and passengers are allowed to disembark. You will be returned to the Shuttle terminus a minimum of 1 hour before the last shuttles leave for the ship. We do not compromise on an earlier return to port !
The default start time is 9.30am but this can vary for ships with later arrivals. You will be advised of the your tour departure time a few weeks before the date. Our minibuses will depart the I-Site and carry you the 25 minutes to the Wairau Valley – home of the world famous Sauvignon Blanc varietal. Your local guides are full of history and discussion along the way.
- Wine tasting at 4 – 5 cellar doors ( as time allows )
- Scenic Drive with heaps of photo opportunities
- Stop for lunch at a cellar door restaurant – if time allows (own cost)
- Taste hand-made chocolates at the Chocolate Factory
- Stop at the Lookout for pictures with your beautiful ship (if time allows)
Tour price is NZ$ 195 pp
This includes all standard Tasting Fees. Some wineries have additional fees for their reserve wines.
Please contact us by email prior to your arrival in Picton on a Cruise Ship.
Itinerary
The Marlborough vineyards are the home of Sauvignon Blanc and some of the country’s most vibrant and flavourful wines. Enjoy the taste of the many aromas, textures and flavours of our world famous Marlborough wines, on a guided tour of this exceptional region.
Take the free shuttle buses or follow the 5 minute walk from the ship to the Picton i-site where your local guide will be waiting with our comfortable minibus. Our small groups offer a more personalised and rewarding experience.
Start your tour with visits to some beautiful cellar doors to taste the wines which make Marlborough famous. Then spoil yourself with regional seafood and other delicacies during our lunch stop (own cost and time permitting) at a vineyard restaurant.
For the tour after lunch, we select a range of the large, through to the small family-run wineries, where you can taste the zesty Sauvignon Blancs and a wide variety of our other tasty cultivars. Visit the cellars to experience the rich aromas of wine maturing in French oak barrels and hear how our grapes are processed into our unique multi-award winning wines for which the valley is so famous.
Tasting the hand-made gourmet chocolates at the Chocolate factory is a brilliant way to end this exceptional day and arrive back in Picton at least 90 minutes before your ship’s departure.
TripAdvisor
“Mike, our driver / tour guide, was friendly, knowledgeable and efficient. Couldn’t have been better. We went to 4 vineyards, a craft shop and a chocolate factory. Great value for us as we were quoted almost double the price for the tours offered on our cruise ship. (If you are on a cruise ship, get off early and book a Jade Tour from the Tourist Info Center).”
“Thank you for forwarding the photos of our day tour with you in Picton. We enjoyed the tour immensely and it was one of the highlights of our cruise. We are glad we took the opportunity of doing this tour with Jade and not through the ship excursions. The Highfield and Framingham wineries were certainly the high points of your tour. The winery where we had lunch was also good. By the time we got to Giesens we were literally “wined-out”. The fact however that you managed to cram six wineries and a visit to the chocolate factory into your tour (against only two on offer by the ships excursions) speaks volumes for your knowledge of the area and wineries to visit, and not to mention that you were a very entertaining tour guide. Wish you and all at Jade Tours continued success.”
You will be issued with a Voucher to confirm your prior booking and payment
