Hi Midships , I realise I'm a bit late to this party but in case it's of any interest (and for anyone else who stumbles randomly across this thread, as I did) I thought I'd share a few thoughts, given my multi-decade obsession with NZ wine (and some local experience too, given I grew up in Marlborough and my family is still based there).

In order of your travels, I would enthusiastically second the suggestion of checking out a winery or two in Waipara valley. It's a region that punches above its weight in terms of quality and interest - particularly good pinot noirs and chardonnays - and its relative proximity to Christchurch means there are some nice vineyard restaurants too, for those looking for pleasant daytrips from the city (which is what I'd suggest you do, rather than visiting as part of a longer driving day heading north).

Ones I've enjoyed in the past are:

• Pegasus Bay ( https://www.pegasusbay.com/ ) - probably the most established quality producer, some great wines incl pinot noir, rieslings and chardonnays, plus their sauvignon/semillion blend is a refreshing departure from bog-standard NZ sav. Used to have a great restaurant but that seems to be gone now
• Black Estate ( https://blackestate.co.nz/ ) - striking modern cellar door and excellent restaurant on a hillside. Slightly more adventurous and therefore more variable wines but generally excellent
• Greystone ( https://www.greystonewines.co.nz/ ) also makes some great wines - again, primarily pinot noir and chardonnay. Haven't tried their restaurant.
• Pyramid Valley and Bell Hill are other very well regarded producers with cult-like followings (particularly for their chardonnays) but which don't have cellar doors, so if you can find anything of theirs I'd give it a go. Vino Fino ( https://vinofino.co.nz/ ) is the best wine store in ChCh if you wanted to stock up some bottles for picnics or for drinking in your accommodation, and their staff know their stuff.

In Marlborough, the wine industry has expanded very substantially over the years, to the extent that it dominates NZ's production in terms of volume (well over 80% of the national total). Unfortunately, hand in hand with that has been a much more commercialised approach, with the result that Marlborough is now mostly larger producers who are primarily obsessed with the cash cow that is sauvignon blanc with a bit of a sideline in pinot noir, chardonnay and sparkling if you're lucky.

The wine trail ( https://www.marlboroughwinenz.com/vi...wine-trail-map ) is arguably a lot less interesting now than it was, say, 20 years ago, but with a bit of effort you can still find some interesting stuff. With that specific goal in mind, my thoughts would be:

• Cloudy Bay ( https://www.cloudybay.com/en-au/visit-us/marlborough/ ) has become one of those very big operations I mentioned, but it's well-run, the wines are high quality (at a price!) and I've heard their raw bar is good
• Hans Herzog ( https://www.herzog.co.nz/ ) is an iconoclastic Swiss winemaker who emigrated to NZ 20+ years ago and who, through sheer obsessive attention to deal and labour-intensive by-hand techniques, manages to produce an extraordinary range of wines from an eclectic array of grapes quite unlike anyone else in NZ. Visiting is by appointment only but that would probably be my #1 recommendation for Marlborough
• Framingham ( https://framingham.co.nz/ ) as others have said is an interesting producer, particularly known for their rieslings, and worth a visit
• Astrolabe ( https://astrolabewines.co.nz/ ) is probably the most impressive producer of sauvignon blanc, plus a range of other interesting wines (eg their chenin blanc), and have recently opened a small cellar door / wine bar in Blenheim itself, which I hear good things about and is on my list to visit: https://smalltownwinery.co.nz/
• Villa Maria ( https://villamariawines.com/au/visit-us/ ) is one of NZ's biggest producers and has had a rocky road of late commercially, but in addition to their mass-market wines produces some very impressive reserve and single vineyard wines. They recently re-opened the cellar door, which usually has a broad range (including some non-Marlborough) for tasting - some exceptional chardonnays, cabernets and syrahs in addition to the sav/pinot noir duopoly which usually reigns in Marlborough. Plus they often have some older, back-vintage wines both for sale and for tasting, especially if you express a bit of interest and knowledge.
• Saint Clair ( https://saintclair.co.nz/ ) has a bewilderingly large range of wines (including some from other regions), but there are some real gems (particularly the Pioneer Block and Reserve wines) in there if you can wade your way through the more basic ones. They also have a fairly well-regarded restaurant, though I've not been there in a long time - it tends to book up.
• Other ones of interest are Te Whare Ra, Spy Valley, Clos Henri, Nautilus and Wairau River (primarily for their restaurant, recently re-opened with a very respected local chef at the helm). Meanwhile there's a new cafe / wine bar in the old railway station called Fidelio ( https://www.fidelio.co.nz/ ) which is very wine focused and has lovely staff who are genuinely interested in wine.
• Other restaurants of note in Blenheim are Frank's Oyster Bar (never made it, but I hear great things: https://www.eatatfranks.co.nz/ ) and Gramados ( https://www.gramadosrestaurant.com/ ) which, implausibly enough, is a Brazilian restaurant with excellent food and a gregarious and extremely hospitable owner.

I'm much less familiar with the Nelson wine trail ( https://static1.squarespace.com/stat...il+2024-25.pdf ), but I know it produces some excellent wines and is more boutique in scale. Neudorf is the pre-eminent producer, and definitely worth a visit. My other favourite wine from Nelson is Seifried Estate's 'Sweet Agnes' riesling dessert wine, which has an amazing balance of sweetness and acidity plus you can buy very well-aged examples (I recommend the 2014) from the cellar door. Otherwise, a lot of the more interesting producers don't have cellar doors, but on the upside there's a lot more in the way of interesting restaurants so you can get your wine fix that way.

Hope this is of some interest - hit me up with any questions!