Martinborough Winery And Foodie Day Tour With Vineyard Lunch

Philip the guide had a good knowledge of the area and made the day very enjoyable. The wineries we visited were good with a tasting from the barrels at one. We had plenty of time to enjoy the lunch and were not rushed at any event.

Our tour leader was Phil and our experience was fantastic. He was slightly early of the prescribed pick-up time, he provided interesting commentary throughout the day, he was very familiar to the proprietors, vintners, and staff of the wineries, cheese shop, chocolatier, and olive oil producer visited on our tour. The lunch at the first winery was outstanding, both in the quality and quantity of the items on the menu. The cheese shop visit included tastes of various samples. The chocolatier visit included a test of eight samples of the various selections available with the guests attempting to identify the different options available in the shop. And the olive oil visit included a fascinating walk through the olive tree orchard while having the process of growing, trimming, harvesting and bottling the various olive types into oils. I cannot recommend this tour strongly enough.

Good communication right from the start. Phil picked us up from the hotel bang on time. He is very knowledgeable having grown up in the area and briefed well throughout the trip. Phil allowed us to modify the trip to suit our needs. The quality and variety of venues that we visited were superb. They were all very enthusiastic and passionate about their business and it showed in the quality of their products. The Vinyard (another Phil) and Olive oil choices were the stand outs for me. We did the full day, which I would recommend as I am not sure we would have got as much value for money on a half day trip.

Had a wonderful tour around Martinborough sampling local food and drink with a trip to 2 vineyards (Poppys and Blue Earth), a taproom, cheese shop and a local chocolate shop with a game of guessing the flavour. It was a great addition to our honeymoon and we even bought some cheese, wine and chocolate on the tour for later on our honeymoon. We even got to do an olive oil tasting which we had never done before and it was interesting tasting the different blends and qualities of oil. Just don't be persuaded to try an olive of the trees, they are very bitter and do not taste how you would expect. The local guide was very knowledgeable about the area and could answer any questions we had as well as being really friendly.

We had a wonderful day thanks to Gary our tour guide. He gave us a detailed history about the different locations we passed through. Explained the background of the wineries before we got there. He was very warm and friendly and a very safe driver. Highly recommend the tour, and enjoyable well spent day.

This was an amazing tour. Our tour guide was extremely knowledgeable and made the drive out to Martinborough fly by. The food, wine and olive oil were fantastic and complemented by the amazing landscape. We had a fab time, learning about Martinborough and its history.

This was a great experience. This was touring and discovering the area. A local cheeserie. Walking through a family owned vineyard talking to the vintner about all things wine, tasting the grapes off the vine if the time is right. A fabulous lunch. Then walking through an olive grove talking to the owner about all things olives and farming. Wine tasting, a brewery for the boys if needed and some chocolate to finish. Our guide Phil has been doing this for 15 years and has a great knowledge of the area and relationships with the people we visited. Something for people who want to know more about the places they visit.

My friend and i enjoyed an excellent day with Phil from zozo tours exploring the Martinborough region … we were taken to a cheese shop first of all with a delicious array of cheese mostly made on the premises … next was a vineyard for wine tasting and delicious food … after lunch it was off to a very small vineyard and olive trees .. Margaret , the owner of the property was very knowledgeable and she and her husband built this very successful wine and speciality olive oil business over the 29 years they had been on the property … to finish off the day our senses were put to the test with a blindfold chocolate test tasting and naming 12 or more speciality chocolates … it was an excellent way to finish the day …. Highly recommended … thank you Phil

This was a terrific day out with Phil from Zo Zo tours. He was very knowledgeable and informative about the wineries and towns in this area. The lunch that was included was in a beautiful setting, delicious and with wines to match the food made it a memorable day out. Absolutely recommend this tour.

Phil was fantastic, amazing experience walking through the vines and tasting the grapes. Lunch was delicious, everywhere you look so green and beautiful. Do not miss out on Martinborough when you visit Wellington.

We had a great tour with Phil this week. He was born and raised in the Wellington area and answered all of our questions about the area, including about the Martinborough wine region and industry. The producers we visited were passionate about their products, particularly Poppy (wine) and Margaret (olive oil), who gave us a fun and engaging explanation of their journeys and their products. Our vineyard lunch was especially tasty, and the scenery crossing the from the mountains into the valley was quite pretty. My impression is that ZoZo is serious about providing authentic Wellington-area experiences in a fun and laid back way. I definitely recommend them.

A fun and full day exploring Martinborough. Phil was lovely, personable, and kept us on time! A great variety of activities catering to the needs of the group. I recommend this tour, its low fuss and a fabulous way to see the region. Perfect for solo travellers.

Our guide,Phil, was excellent. Very attentive and knowledgeable. Great interactions. Vineyard and olive grove owners were very personable and handled questions very well. Wine tasting at Poppies was worth the trip.

This was a really excellent tour, led by Zozo's boss, Philip. A small group of 3, expertly driven by him over a high mount pass road, brought us into Martinborough. The wine tasting with Poppie was most illuminating, and she even brought out a bottle of here 2025 vintage of Gewertztraminer, which has yet to be released, for us to taste. After a very tasty lunch, in her cellar restaurant, we had a further tasting at "Blue Earth", of both some more delicious wines, and also extra virgin olive oil with Margaret Hanson. The tour also included a lovely cheese shop, and a chocolate shop/factory, where we had a blind tasting of 22 different chocolate bars. An all-day tour, it was the stand-out tour for us in the Wellington area. Strongly recommended.

A fantastic tour with such a personal touch—having a guide like Phil who’s from the region and meeting the producers really made the experience special. I loved the variety of tastings—wine, olive oil, cheese, and chocolate—and learning about the growing seasons for grapes and olives made it even more interesting. A delicious and informative experience!

I really enjoyed this tour. Simon was very knowledgeable and very helpful. He accommodated my requests. I highly recommend it to everyone!

I had a very good time during the tour and even though we did not get the see the olive farm we were able to visit a bee "farm" and see how they make honey instead.

Lots of interesting things to do. Met award winning wine makers, cheese crafters, creative chocolate concocters, olive oil growers, and enjoy wonderful tastes of fresh cooked foods for lunch. Take the 'guess the chocolate' test...it's fun! Full day. Personalized service. Small group. Wonderful 😊

Phil was an excellent guide and it was a top day in spite of ordinary weather. Lovely wines and the Juno olive grove was a highlight.

We loved touring the Olivo olive grove and sampling the award-winning olive oils. The vineyard tour, wine tastings, and farm-to-table lunch were all excellent. We also enjoyed the chocolate tasting and cheese tasting. Each host was enthusiastic and eager to share about their craft. You will see spectacular mountain scenery on the drive into Martinborough! Our Zozo Travel host and guide Phil is extremely knowledgeable about New Zealand, shared his knowledge freely, and answered all our many questions. The tour was not rushed and moved at a very relaxed pace. We learned a lot and enjoyed his company! We highly recommend this tour with Zozo Travel.

I have to preface I'm a wine tour guide in the US. I found this an outstanding tour that really provided great variety. My wife and I thoroughly enjoyed our day with Phil. He was extremely knowledgeable about NZ wine, culture, and surrounding. We thought the mix of wine, cheese, chocolates, and other activities a great mix vs. just hitting X # of wineries.

Fabulous trip. Lunch was excellent Simon or guide and driver was friendly and very knowledgeable. Cheese, wine and chocolate tasting all excellent

Excellent day out. Fantastic food and wine. Beautiful scenery. Delicious lunch. Phil was a great driver and guide. I strongly recommend this great tour.

Amazing day. Great scenery mixed with great food and wine. High quality trip, safe transport and a knowledgeable host.

What a fabulous day out. We saw so much and ate yummy food and tasted lovely wines. Phil was so informative about the area. The blind tasting of the different chocolate was fun.

What a fabulous day had by all! Our group of 19 ( 2 x Chartered Vans) loved their experience from tasting award winning cheeses , boutique wine tasting , sampling the local olive oils & blind chocolate tasting! A very professional company & Phil was a pleasure to deal with. Totally recommend. Raewyn from World Travellers Whangarei.

We had a wonderful day in Martinborough, enjoying lots of yummy food and wine. Phil was a great host, and we had plenty of time at each place we visited, so the day was very relaxed. I loved all the food and wine, and the scenery was stunning. I highly recommend this day trip

Picked up by Zozo owner Phil at the cruise terminal and headed to Martinborough winery district with commentary on Wellington and surrounding area. Stopped for a photo shoot at the top of the winding mountain pass and onto C'est Cheese shop for tasting of 5 cheeses and coffee. Really good dialogue on cheese manufacturing by the owner. Next was Moy Hall winery starting with an informative tour of the vines hosted by the owner (another Phil!). Inside for a fantastic lunch with four generous tasting wines. Next stop at Olivo olive estate and a tour of the grove with owner Helen and olive oil tasting. Back on the bus and a visit to a small craft beer brewery for a slider of 4 different beers/cider. Last stop was a chocolate shop where Phil offered the group little samples of chocolate flavours to guess which bars they came from. Overall an excellent, informative and relaxed tour well worth the price and highly recommended,

Perfect blend of different experiences in a small group…great local cheese, wine, and chocolate. A wonderful day learning about growing grapes and olives.

From initial booking to our hotel pickup to drop off, this tour was brilliant! Phil at Zozo Travel was very professional and friendly, and our guide, Aaron, was extremely knowledgeable about the region and its food and wine, which really enhanced our experience. All the tastings - cheese, wine, olive oil, more wine, and chocolate - were outstanding, and we received personal service at the venue. The lunch at Moy Hall was really delicious, as was their wine, as well as the experience at Blue Earth Olives where we walked among the olive trees and had a tasting at the owner's dining room table. Aaron also gave us lots of ideas for other must see places in Wellington, which was much appreciated. I highly recommend this tour!

What an experience. Cheese, wine, beer, chocolate and amazing food. Phil knows the area and gives a great commentary about the area and it’s history. Taking in small artisan produces with the produce makers personally introducing their wares. Phil knows the area so well and the businesses, he’s pretty flexible if a place is closed for the day. Totally recommend this tour even if you are not into wine.

Our guests loved this tour -- They couldn't stop talking about it upon their return to the hotel. They spent a full day on this tour and it was well worth it! From the Wine to the Food (and a brewery stop) they loved the day. Thanks to ZOZO for taking care of our Bucket List Events guests. We hope to return to Wellington again soon.

Great day out. Lots of interesting stories of the areas, food stops and fun day. Would definitely do this again and even going back to these places in November with gf’s trip

Phil does an incredible job of spotlighting small businesses in small communities that make incredible products that deserve wide attention. We are so grateful that we didn't let the rain deter us from taking the tour, as it was a delight. Meeting the individual staff at each location--sometimes even the owners--made it very special, and the offerings were delicious. Well worth the time and the money.

Amazing food quality for the tastings. The shop owners are friendly. Simon, the driver is also nice and knowledgeable.

Thanks Simon for a fabulous day - your are awesome as were the ladies from the USA! Spent a beautiful day eating and drinking NZ’s best - could not have been a more perfect day

The visit to the olive grove was lovely, very informative and interesting and the host, Helen, was very nice. The lunch at the vineyard was pleasant but spoiled by the tour guide who sat down with us uninvited and spent the whole time banging on about himself, as per the rest of the tour. The tour itself was interesting.

From the time we booked we received clear communication. We were picked up from outside the Amora Hotel in Wellington. On our way to Martinborough we stopped at two viewpoints. A word of warning the road to Martinborough is very windy. We stopped at a cheese shop where we had a number of different cheeses to try. The next stop was a local chocolate shop. We were given numerous samples and were invited to guess the flavour. We were given the option to eat lunch at the winery or in Martinborough. The wines were definitely enhanced by the addition of food (own expense). We returned to Wellington via the same road. After dropping off two guests in town our guide drove back to the cruise terminal to drop the rest of us off.

A fantastic trip to see a little bit of everything, well worth it and very much value for Money. Thank you. .

Fantastic. Phil is very knowledgable, accommodating & pretty funny. The cheese & chocolate tasting were awesome. Def recommend. 👌🏾👌🏾👌🏾

We thoroughly enjoyed our day trip to the Wairarapa with Phil. He was informative and made the day go well. The places we visited were great and it covered many things which we would never have done ourselves in a day trip unless we had a car and knew exactly where and what to do in this region. Would recommend this company and tour to anyone who wants a day out from Wellington to see and experience what this part of the country has to offer. It was a great day thank you.

We booked the Martinborough Wine and Food tour for our team Christmas party. From pick up to drop off it was an awesome and very personal tour. Our guide Phil was funny and engaging. Everyone left more knowledgeable, happy and full. We would totally recommend booking this tour.

Last week we had a wonderful day out with Phil who took us on an excellent tour of cheese, wine, beer, olive oil and chocolate. Phil was very knowledgeable in all aspects of the tour, and the operators we visited displayed clear passion for their profession, particularly the olive grove and olive oil makers we visited. The tour was the highlight of our stay in Wellington, excellent value, and I cannot recommend enough (or any other tour by Zozo).

Prefect Day of Food & Matching Wines including the Olive Oil Farm. Excellance in local knowledge & running small group tours. Travel with Phil and you get to know everything about Wellington & nearby Regions.

All aspects of the Martinborough Winery and Foodie Tour ran very professionally. From the pickup, commentary, tastings and lunch at Moy Hall, Olivo olive grove watching them pick the olives, Schoc chocolates, C'est Cheese platter with great coffee and Muirlea Rise vineyard for the banter and humor. The hospitality at each venue was exceptional, a wonderful day out certainly coming back.

It's hard to pin the tail on just one aspect of this tour. It was all smooth sailing and we learnt so much about the local area and history. The food was excellent, the wine was excellent, the cheeses were excellent, the Olive oil tour was excellent, the craft beer was excellent.......and you have to try the legendary 'Ghost pepper chilli' chocolate. Thanks to Phil for a superb day out in Martinborough.

For a 80th birthday celebration we joined Philip on this tour. We spent 8 enjoyable hours at a cheesery and deli, micro brewery, an olive grove, a chocolatier and a vineyard. The vineyard tour and gourmet lunch alone were worth the trip. The choice of venues is inspired and reflects the very best the region has to offer. This is a must tour for anyone wanting to experience fine food and wine with a knowledgeable and friendly tour guide.

We booked this tour as a day excursion from a cruise in early March, before the Covid-19 outbreak. Phil, our guide, was extremely professional and very knowledgable. We were able to see parts of this beautiful country that we would not of seen with the typical cruise excursion. He took us to an artisan cheese shop to sample a charcuterie, then we went to a chocolatier, we were able to sample many delicious chocolates, including spicy varieties. Next stop was a winery, then a brewery, an olive oil grove, the Wine Vault, and lastly a late, delicious lunch at Poppie's. This was simply an amazing day and we loved it.

This was such a great tour! Covered a little of everything for everyone of us! The guide was so nice, it was a nice intimate group so it felt personal and more welcoming then a larger one. We didn't feel out of place because we didn't know a lot about wine. The lovely lady at the winery we visited was so friendly and nice explained things with out overwhelming us with wine facts/rules/terms etc. Didn't make my wife feel bad when she only had one sip at the end and screwed her face up (she isn't really a drinker and dosent lIke any wine) the lady was happy we all experienced and tried it. never made any of us feel bad for being mildly clueless (we usualy drunk what we drunk, never branching out, or knowing anything other then we like that one etc) Loved and learned so much at the olive oil farm. Omg talk about passionate! Enjoyed tasting and learning some things I will be taking home and use! Everyone met and spoken with on the tour were amazing! It was my favourite thing about wellington! Deffently recommend covers a little of everything for all.