Make the Best of Your Trip to New Zealand and Visit These Vineyards

Auckland, New Zealand. Photo by Jon Moore on Unsplash

Perhaps not the first thought one has when planning a trip to New Zealand, including a vineyard and winery tour when visiting the Southen Hemisphere destination can be a great upgrade of your trip.

Here are a few spots for your wine tour:

Pegasus Bay

A family-owned vineyard in the South Island Canterbury’s Waipara Valley, Pegasus Bay has been active for about 30 years, and now features a tasting room and an award-winning restaurant alongside a shop selling their products. They are particularly renowned for their Rieslings, Pinot Noirs, and Chardonnays.

Neudorf Vineyard

Half an hour’s drive from Nelson, Neudorf is open for visitors seven days a week with their tasting room, shop, and deli providing their fresh products to enjoy on-site or buy for a later time. The Neudorf Moutere wines are all organic or converting to be, and their selection prides itself on its seasonality.

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Leave the tool box to one side & simply let the wine “be.” . Sense of place in the wine glass… is important to New Zealanders. Do YOU know what this means when it comes to winemaking?? . Great wines have a basis of fruit concentration, length and sense of place – characters which can be formed only in the vineyard . Let's chat about my visit to @neudorfvineyards in Nelson, New Zealand. A winery that truly understands the concept of 'place' shining through in the glass itself. . It’s all about place. And this place is special. @winenelson . From their choice of organic certification, to increased biodiversity in the vineyard, at Neudorf they care about the land and the grapes that grow here… not to mention the lovely wines they create from this piece of land Winemaker Todd Stevens heads up this vine to bottle approach & his role is to draw the various strands together to craft wines of distinction, wines that express their sense of place. . He explains…. “We have an exceptional site here at Neudorf and it demands little from us in the winery. If we can guide grapes into wine of integrity, without buggering it up, we are content” . Our group had the pleasure of hanging with Todd for the day, toured around, tasted & learned more about the history of Nelson & the people who first started growing grapes there. We even had a fabulous visit to the oldest pub in New Zealand. . Again, the hospitality of the people is apparent. He even returned the next day to a museum we were visiting to return one of my phones I left in his car. How sweet. @nzwinegrowers @purenewzealand . . … #SipOnThisJuice#NewZealand#NZ#NZTravel#luxurytravel #ilovemylife #winenelson #SipNZ #instanewzealand #pinotcentral#nzmustdo#purenewzealand#brillianteveryday#sommit#amylieberfarb#wine#vineyards #vineyard #chardonnay#nzwine#sauvignonnz#sauvignonblanc#purenz#winelover#gooutside#winetasting#winemaker#neudorf#neudorfvineyards#winery

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Villa Maria

Located in Marlborough, known locally as New-Zealand’s largest wine region, Villa Maria has been around for more than 50 years and is the country’s most awarded winery. They throw their own events and concerts and have a catering service and an on-site café with vegetarian, gluten-free, and dairy-free options.