Full Day Martinborough Wine Tour

We arranged for a private wine tasting tour with Richard. We could not have been more pleased. I selected a few wineries to visit; he suggested a few then scheduled the whole day for us, including lunch at a great restaurant, Poppies. He arrived on time, explained a lot about the region en route, was an excellent driver (over a mountain pass in heavy rain), and was a pleasure to be with. His humor was infectious. It was our pleasure to frequent a business that treats customers well and makes the whole experience enjoyable. He is the kind of guy you’d want as a neighbor or friend.

This proved to be a brilliant trip/tour, both in its content, as well as our Guide and driver - in addition, a Martinborough wine tour from Wellington is perfect in terms of duration and distance. The weather happened to be appalling the day we went, with the possible threat of the Remutakas being unpassable due to snow/ice, but we were very lucky. Our driver, Ross, was impeccable in terms of his knowledge, driving, and presence. He told us that he had a background in wine/food, so, naturally, he clearly knew a tremendous amount about NZ wine, not just Martinborough wines. I don't believe that we could have chosen 3 better places to try tasting the wines at, and the vineyard staff that presided over the tastings were, of course, marvellous. Lunch at Moy Hall was a great, great choice - even though the restaurant was absolutely packed, the staff coped admirably, and we certainly didn't have to wait around for our food, which wouldn't have been entirely surprising. If one is interested in Martinborough wines, I wouldn't have changed a thing.

Spent an excellent day with Ross from xplor tours in Wellington Very personable and entertaining Great local knowledge and obviously nurtures great relationships with the vineyards we visited Would 100% recommend to anyone

Lovely trip to a gorgeous area. Our guide tailored our experience to meet our needs. The half day was more than enough time.

Our driver from the Xplorer tour organization was friendly, on-time and knowledgeable about the Wellington and Martinborough areas. We learned a lot about the history of the area. Though not a wine person, our driver did a good job of driving us around and taking us to places that he thought would enhance our experience -- especially the lookout over Wellington CBD. The wineries themselves were not what we were expecting, but the overall experience was fine.

We understood when booking that we would be collected from the cruise port but later we were told to make our own way to Christchurch. As we hadn’t been there before we left our ship at 9.00 for an 11.00 pick up but never got to our first vineyard until 12.00. The three vineyards offered good quality wines. Lunch at Waipara Springs was ok we’ve had better. We later discovered we had been charged for the shuttle. Joseph our guide was very informative.

A great tour with Explor at Wellington. We were on a cruise and I had booked the tour directly and thought we needed to go into town to pick up the tour, this is because the cruise companies tell people it’s not possible for passengers to walk in the port area, that is NOT true as Explor can pick up at the ship and have a pick up point that we missed (our fault) No matter Richard the owner came into town,picked us up and gave us a tour anyway. A friendly guy who obviously loves his job and is great fun and likes a joke. His local knowledge is top notch. Definitely recommend Explor.Simon & Bev

It was a nice way to spend our day. If you are doing this tour from the cruise port, follow the instructions. Kevin was prompt and we found him very quickly. Poppy's was a wonderful lunch spot. We received a nice variety of tastings at each winery. I recommend this trip.

We weren't crazy about the wines, but the lunch was great and the views fabulous. Enjoyed the day for sure.

Beautiful scenic drive & great wines. Stopped in the park where The Lord of the Rings filmed the Rivendell scenes. Driver was very good & informative.