Guide

Eat & Drink

If you’re a foodie with a passion for matching cuisine with great quality wine or beer, or just love to eat and drink, then Marlborough will surprise and delight you and your tastebuds.

World-class wine, multi-award winning craft beer and boutique gin distillers, paired with local produce and gourmet cuisine means eating and drinking in Marlborough requires a thirst, an appetite and a belt with plenty of notches...

Check out the interactive wine map here and locate cellar doors with ease.

Eat

Marlborough is a foodie haven, with plenty of gourmet produce on offer from land and sea. Take a Marlborough Sounds seafood tour, visit the many local markets or head to one of the eateries to sample seafood delicacies and locally-grown foods, to pair with Marlborough wine, beer and gin.

Taste Marlborough's delicious gourmet food
Drink

With more than 120 wineries and more than 30 cellar doors to visit, a Marlborough wine tour is a must. Take a guided tour, self-drive or bike. Approximately 2/3 of wine produced in New Zealand comes from Marlborough, and 85% of New Zealand's sauvignon blanc is from the region. Boutique gins made right here in the region are available to tickle your tastebuds.

Explore the Marlborough wine region

Stephanie McIntyre

“We are so spoilt in Marlborough when it comes to great food. We’ve got crayfish from the east coast and salmon, oysters and mussels grown in the Marlborough Sounds."

My insider guide to Marlborough

Greenshell™ Mussels

When visiting Marlborough, why not take yourself on a foodie adventure and taste locally grown Greenshell™ Mussels. Seventy percent of New Zealand’s Greenshell™ Mussels are grown here in the Marlborough Sounds as this environment provides a perfect growing space for them.

Join a local seafood cruise and head to the farms to taste these fresh seafood delicacies while matching it with a glass of award-winning wine. Learn more about they ways in which the mussels grow and are harvested from the locals themselves.

Take a drive to Havelock, also known as the Greenshell™ Mussel capital of the world and have a bowl of freshly farmed mussels at the local restaurants/eateries. Visit Mills Bay Mussels or The Mussel Pot and be sure to try them in all kinds of ways! Or journey further into the Sounds, stay at a seaside lodge and enjoy a bowl over dinner with a view.