Last Updated on July 7, 2025
A visit to the Villa Maria Cellar Door in Marlborough New Zealand
While exploring New Zealand’s South Island a visit to the renowned Villa Maria Marlborough Estate Winery Cellar Door is highly recommended. Nestled in the heart of Marlborough, a region celebrated globally for its exceptional wines, the valley boasts ideal conditions for viticulture, with its fertile soils, crisp winters, and sun-soaked summers. Marlborough is especially famous for its Sauvignon Blanc, a flagship variety that has cemented the region’s reputation on the world stage.
Founded in 1961 by Sir George Fistonich, with a small parcel of land, Villa Maria has grown to become one of the larger wineries in New Zealand. The winery began exporting wines in 1988 with one of the principal markets being the United States of America. Villa Maria was the first winery in the world to replace cork stoppers with screw capes as part of its drive to sustainability.
Villa Maria was bought by Indevin Group, a New Zealand wine company in 2021 as part of their drive to produce world-class New Zealand wines.
The wines range from blends of quality wine; the private bin range and cellar selection to single vineyard wines, hand-picking grapes to ensure the best quality, the Woven range Taylors Pass and Attorney a rosé wine made from pinot noir grapes, are key examples of this.
The Villa Maria Marlborough Estate Winery is situated just outside of Blenheim, where vineyards stretch in all directions. The Cellar Door welcomes guests to sample the many wines available to purchase directly from the shop there. The view from the cellar door is stunning, with vineyards as far as the eye can see.
Wines available to taste and purchase at the Villa Maria Marlborough Estate also include those produced by the Villa Maria Wineries located in Auckland and Hawkes Bay, in New Zealand’s North Island.
As a fan of Sauvignon Blanc, I was delighted by the opportunity to sample a variety of wines at Villa Maria, from blended offerings to those crafted from single vineyards. Staying true to its commitment to excellence, the winery produces its single-vineyard wines only when the grapes meet Villa Maria’s exacting standards. While I had enjoyed Villa Maria wines before, the visit revealed the impressive depth and diversity of its range, offering a new appreciation for this iconic label.
We started with the Private Bin 2024 a blended Sauvignon Blanc; this wine is readily available in the UK. The wine is shipped from New Zealand and bottled on arrival. It has the classic smell and fresh taste of a Sauvignon Blanc with natural acidity and fruitiness.
Next, we sampled the 2022 Cellar Selection: another blended Sauvignon Blanc from the Marlborough Valley sub-regions. This is made from higher quality grapes with more depth to the taste. There is a citrus note to this wine with a crisp acidic finish.
We followed with Clifford Bay 2022 a blended Sauvignon Blanc from vineyards in the cooler coastal regions of the Awatere Valley. This wine was zingy and fresh to the taste. Clifford Bay contains eighty to ninety per cent sauvignon grapes.
The highlight of the tasting was the Wairau Valley 2024 Sauvignon Blanc, a masterful blend crafted from grapes cultivated in the diverse conditions of the Wairau Valley, a region celebrated for its outstanding vineyards. This wine exemplified the hallmarks of a superb Sauvignon Blanc, delivering a vibrant burst of fruit flavours that showcased the valley’s rich winemaking heritage.
The single vineyard wines from the Villa Maria take the range to a higher level, quality is key to these wines, and some are produced in organic vineyards picked by hand rather than by machine.
A highlight for me was sampling the 2022 Attorney Rosé, a light-coloured, dry rosé from the Attorney Vineyard, in the Southern Valleys region of Marlborough. Attorney wine is made from Pinot Noir grapes. This wine evokes summer days with a note of strawberries and summer fruit.
The different soil the vines are grown on has a noticeable impact on the taste of the wine. The Seaspray Sauvignon Blanc 2024, a single vineyard wine, we tasted next reflects the stony sandy conditions it is grown in with a mineral zingy taste.
The Taylors Pass Sauvignon Blanc 2023 wine is produced from grapes from the Taylors Pass vineyard, located on the banks of the Awatere River. The grapes are hand-picked to ensure the highest quality. This wine has a natural acidity with strong mineral notes. I liked this wine so much that I bought a bottle to drink on my travels through New Zealand.
The final Sauvignon Blanc of the tasting was the vintage Woven 2021 Sauvignon Blanc. The first release of this outstanding Sauvignon Blanc from the Icon range of wines from Villa Maria. This is an exceptional Sauvignon Blanc. The vineyard is in the Fairhill area, with the vines surrounding the Villa Maria Marlborough Estate Winery. The vineyard is organically managed with the grapes harvested by hand, this produces a complex Sauvignon Blanc with layer upon layer of flavour.
The full Villa Maria range of wines includes Chardonnay wine in addition to red wines from Pinot Noir, Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon grapes. My tasting session concentrated on the full range of Sauvignon Blanc wines.
A visit to the Villa Maria Marlborough Estate winery in Marlborough is a great experience and one I would recommend if you were considering wine tasting on a trip to New Zealand.
The Cellar Door for Villa Maria Marlborough Estate is open from Monday to Friday, 11.00 am to 4.00 pm and is at New Renwick Road, Fairhall 7201 New Zealand
For more information on Villa Maria Wines
Major UK stockists of Villa Maria Wines:
Private Bin Sauvignon Blanc 2023 – Morrisons, Majestic Wines, Asda, Sainsbury’s, Waitrose, Tesco
Cellar Selection Sauvignon Blanc 2023 – Majestic Wines, Sainsbury’s, Morrisons.Reserve Clifford Bay 2023 Sauvignon Blanc – Sainsbury’s
Seaspray Sauvignon Blanc 2022 – Majestic Wines
Single vineyard Taylors Pass Sauvignon Blanc 2023 – Asda, Ocado
Not all the wines I tasted during my visit to the Villa Maria are currently available to purchase in the UK.
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