Rediscover New Zealand's wine cred with a trip to some of the country's top cellar doors.
Where to even start using the best wineries in Nz? In the beautiful beaches of Northland towards the majestic Central Otago, New Zealand does indeed have some impressive vineyard landscapes, wineries and tasting rooms to understand more about.
First impressions do mean something along with a cellar door experience needs to be not only the chance to taste wine. Everything from your arrival and just how you're greeted to the food offering and overall hospitality experience should be area of the package. In case your plans to rediscover our beautiful Aotearoa include cellar doors, remember these businesses can decide to have your wine sent direct to your home.
A small tasting charge has become a necessary area of the price of conducting business for cellar doors. Fortunately, these charges are usually redeemable with a wine purchase.
The best wineries in Nz from north to south
Northland
Small but mighty, Northland has some fine wine producers and fun cellar-door experiences. Established in 1990, Omata Estate lies on the Kororareka Peninsula in the Bay of Islands near Russell township. It's planted with varieties that fit the place and native soil profile too – think: chardonnay and syrah, late-harvest viognier and rosé.
Be sure to try the sparkling wine, it's a treat generally sells out quite quickly. Staying for supper? The food menu is excellent and includes beautiful views. For something light, platters and cheese boards can be found. If you're keen to obtain off the grid, luxe glamping can also be on-site.
Auckland
Stretching from Matakana to Clevedon and over the water to Waiheke Island, the Auckland region is really a wine production hub. The landscape is mainly clay, sandstone and volcanic – very favourable for wine – and you may find excellent pinot gris and world-class chardonnay, plus cabernet and syrah within the south and also on Waiheke Island.
Positioned round the water, Man O' War, provides a premium cellar-door experience. Public spaces make the most of the locale and the mixture of sea air and delicious wines and food creates a great afternoon. Try the Gravestone Sauvignon Blanc Semillon, Pinque Rosé and Dreadnought Syrah.
Wairarapa
Part of Wellington province, Wairarapa is the southernmost wine region of the North Island. The place features a long history of farming now is really a mixture of beef and cattle pasture, seafood, vegetable and fruit growing, and – obviously – wine. The clay loams, gravels and limestone mean it's suitable to growing fine pinot noir, syrah and riesling.
Many great wine producers create some of New Zealand's best-known brands here and no trip to the place is finished without stopping in at Le Grá in Masterton. Meaning 'with love', Le Grá is really a family-owned business that's living up to its name.
In particular, the estate's rosé bubbles, a spritz-style sparkling wine made out of pinot noir, is amazing. It's known as Briomhar, meaning vigorous, and that is precisely what you receive from each moreish mouthful. Be sure to taste the entire range while there, but particularly the pinot noir, an award-winning drop with a intense and chronic finish, and the beautifully balanced pinot gris.
Gisborne
It might be challenging reach, but once you are in Gisborne, you'll be pleased you made the journey. A good option in Aotearoa to look for the sunrise, Gisborne's undulating hillsides with clay and silty loam soils underpin its fuller-bodied white wine styles. Sparkling wines are another from the region's hallmarks, with syrah and merlot gems to become discovered too.
Of course, there are a variety of producers in the region to recommend. One you should supplment your list is Matawhero, owned and run by husband-and- wife team, Kirsten and Richard Searle, who purchased the home in 2008 within the region's wine pioneers, Denis Irwin. Today, the pair showcase the very best of the location, producing single-vineyard, dry-farmed pinot gris, sauvignon blanc, chardonnay, merlot and gewürztraminer. Food and cabin accommodation can be found.
Hawke’s Bay
Hawke's Bay is really a region using a powerful wine story – an account that can be told through its many cellar-door experiences. An easy 20-minute drive from Napier, Abbey Cellars in Hastings is definitely an estate to make use of the hit list. Both the name 'Abbey Cellars' and the cellar-door design were inspired through the owners' curiosity about churches, cathedrals and abbeys, developed over years of travel.
The architecturally designed building is really a modern interpretation of a Gothic abbey, with the grand proportions, beautiful cathedral windows and exposed beams among the structural highlights. And while they may 't be turning water into wine, the Abbey team is unquestionably producing some delicious vino.
Be certain to taste the Barrel Fermented Chardonnay, Gabriel Late Harvest Dessert wine, and also the Flirt Methode Traditionelle Brut NV. There are many great red wines too, but when beer is a lot more your lifestyle then do try the Abbey Brewery Hop Farm IPA. That's right, Abbey Cellars is really a brewery too. With this particular excellent offering of wine and beer, plus delicious food, the sights and smells are certain to keep the senses engaged.
Nelson
Tucked to the nape of Tasman Bay round the South Island, Nelson can be a vibrant region boasting stunning natural landscapes plus some of the greatest wineries in Nz. The sunny, maritime climate brings about some fantastic sauvignon blanc and chardonnay, along with pinot noir. Kina Cliffs is one kind of the best spots – a very fun and fascinating cellar-door experience.
Located on the small 4.5-hectare coastal block, with elevated, north-facing views over Tasman Bay, its position can't have better. Unless, obviously, you create a large deck overlooking that very view, along with the rolling vineyards and Mount Arthur, that is what the clever team behind Kina Cliffs has been doing.
That clever team is led by Julie and Alistair Ashcroft. This can be a perfect location to learn the story that links soil, climate and grape to glass, an account best told while tasting the Kina Cliffs range. The wines for tasting are bespoke, and reflect and embrace the terroir. My favourites include the Kina Cliffs Sauvignon Blanc and Reserve Pinot Noir.
While you're in Nelson, make sure to explore the township and surrounds, where you'll find wonderful art, incredible local cheese and hand-crafted glass masterpieces.
Marlborough
As New Zealand's largest winegrowing region, Marlborough hardly needs an intro. In the northeastern tip from the South Island, the location is world-renowned due to its sauvignon blanc, which continues to be cornerstone variety today. Yet, there's more for this alluring destination than its famously aromatic sauv blanc.
Methode traditionnelle, riesling, pinots noir and gris, chardonnay and syrah also demonstrate the region's proclivity for deep red, and the local cellar-door offering will help you discover these great varieties. Clos Henri is a such cellar door. The converted church, nestled below a stand of pine tress within the foothills of Marlborough's Wairau Valley, is rather like a picture and delivers a cellar-door experience to complement the charming scene.
The Clos Henri team employs both French and new-world winegrowing techniques, an attempt to capture both the local Marlborough character combined with the label's deep French roots. It seems sensible a catalogue of fantastic wines, including pinot noir and sauvignon blanc across three ranges, that ought to not to be missed on any wine journey through Marlborough. Make sure to try their methode traditionnelle too.
Canterbury
While there's plenty to determine and do in Christchurch, from beautiful green spaces and vibrant culture to the thriving dining scene, the actual adventure in Canterbury is at wine. To obtain amongst it, you have to be heading north through Amberley and also the Waipara Valley.
The North Canterbury region hosts more than 90 vineyards and many seem to be independently owned. On the south bank from the Waipara River, Terrace Edge Vineyard and Olive Grove is a cellar door to add to their email list. The vineyard, which was when a classic sheep farm, is organically farmed and produces some outstanding wines ripe for your tasting.
Learning how an organic farm works, as told with the wines and elaborated upon through the knowledgeable staff, is part of the experience, nevertheless the real adventure is to be enjoyed using the wine and food pairing.
One wine particularly that endures in my memory is the St Laurent, which carries a few of the finesse and magnificence of pinot noir, however with more power and vibrato on the palate. The Terrace Edge Pinot Noir is great as well – in fact, outstanding – but do try the riesling and albari~no to complete the look.
North Otago
Kiwis are an adventurous lot. We like exploring our very own backyard as much as we like to travel internationally. Yet there's one Aotearoa wine region that's sometimes overlooked by people to the South Island, and that is North Otago.
Although there is merely a number of producers to discover, the caliber of wine grown here's simply fantastic. The Ostler Wines cellar door is situated off-site in the Vintner's Drop, a quaint shopfront within the township of Kurow.
Here, it is not unusual to locate Ostler CEO Jim Jerram, who's always kind enough just to walk you thru the wines along with other sights. The riesling, pinot gris and pinot noir are my favourites.
Central Otago
Central Otago is arguably certainly one of New Zealand's most dramatic and exciting wine regions. In the wild thyme that blankets the ground using a purple haze towards the giant shards of schist punching through valley floors, the unforgettable landscapes play a huge role in local wine production.
One the best way to know Central Otago wines, and how they are shaped with the land, is to discover a cellar-door experience that mixes a feeling of place with storytelling … all while tasting using a choice of intriguing, notable and unique wines, obviously. Opening before summer, the Rockburn Stables tasting room is situated in the heart of Gibbston.
It is really a rustic and welcoming setting, offering award-winning wines along with dishes designed to match. Rockburn's key vineyard web site is in the Cromwell Basin, a very regarded sub-region of Central Otago. It sits at a much more than 200 metres elevation, which provides Rockburn its trademark precision of acidity and core of fruit.
I don't think I've ever were built with a Rockburn wine I didn't like. The conventional is excellent, and also the riesling and fumé blanc, particularly, are a couple of must-try varieties. The pinot noir, pinot gris and Stolen Kiss Rosé will also be delicious.
Looking for additional winery guides? Discover the very best wineries, restaurants and stays in Hawke’s Bay.
