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New Zealand WineriesPlan your own Wine TourNew Zealand Wineries, is a topic of great interest to me and my husband! We ensure we include a visit to a winery whenever we can, as we travel around the country. Whether you just enjoy a nice glass or two with a meal, or consider yourself a serious connoisseur, you could plan an entire holiday around visiting New Zealand wineries. We have so many wine areas with over 400 wineries, the length and breadth of the country. Each produces a range of wines, with their own special characteristics, due to the huge variations in climate and soil found in New Zealand.
New Zealand Wineries - Matakana Some wine growing areas are relatively young yet are producing extremely good wines.Where once the Waipara Valley outside of Christchurch was the southern most wine grown,now you will find a whole range of excellent New Zealand wineries as far south as Otago.The most southern wine growing area in the world, their Pinot Noir has been internationally acclaimed. The northernmost New Zealand winery is on the Karikari Peninsula only a short distance to the very top of New Zealand, and like so many of our vineyards, right by the beach!
Hawkes Bay Wine Tour
New Zealand Winery AreasMost areas lend themselves to a few days where you can take in some wineries, great food, enjoy beaches and nature, arts and crafts, and other local attractions. So have a look at my notes on wine regions which will give you ideas of holidays that incorporate the local wines, along with other New Zealand attractions and activities.Our most well known wine growing areas producing the bulk of New Zealand wines are:
Marlborough Hawkes Bay
Gisborne Canterbury Waipara, Akaroa, Banks Peninsula Auckland - including Waiheke Island which has a plethora of boutique wineries, Matakana just north of Auckland, and Kumeu. Waikato Wairarapa especially Martinborough Otago
Otago Winery I don't know about you but when I am in another country, the task of choosing wines, and wineries to visit, especially when confronted with a high number, is daunting.To help give you some direction I will give you an overview of New Zealand wineries you may enjoy visiting, and which I personally, can recommend. I will also make suggestions for well known wineries in areas I havent visited recently. Bookmark this page and come back, as I will add notes, as and when I have more personal experiences to tell you about. I intend making it my mission to be able to report back on as many New Zealand wineries as possible what a hardship! The New Zealand Winery ExperienceI find visiting wineries is not just about wine tasting, but often the other extraneous factors that make it an enjoyable experience. This may be the ambience created by the decor of the winery.It always amazes me how different they all are.The person who is giving you the samples often makes it a memorable occasion. I find the owners usually have such interesting stories,and are so fired about their wines, it is a great experience talking and hearing how they came to be doing this, and the highs and lows of their experiences. Which is why I love to go to smaller vineyards.
Many of our wineries have restaurants attached with great cuisine, so always plan to be visiting one which has food around meal times.In summer it also means dining al fresco. You can't get much better than that! Rather than give you exact dates as these will change from year to year, I have given you the month the event is held and you can click the link provided to find out full details of dates, cost, and a little about the event. New Zealand Wine FestivalsWe have a number of Wine Festivals, so you may like to plan your holiday to include at least one of these events.The better known annual events are:
The Auckland Food Show will have plenty of wine August Wine New Zealand Auckland Aug/September The Whitianga Scallop Festival seafood and wines August The Northland Lunch September Taste Bay of Islands Hot Red Hawkes Bay
Gisborne Wine and Food Festival
- October
Drink/ Driving Our drink driving laws allow only .8 milligrams so you are quite limited as to how much you can drink, before getting behind the wheel again. For this reason it is good to eat if you can. The other option can be a Winery Day Tour which can mean a relaxing, informative, interesting, social day with other like minded people from around the world.
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