VOLCANOES AND VINES
Combines city sightseeing with winery tour & tastings, lunch & West Coast wineries.
Included is:
- Door to door service in main city area
- City sightseeing
- Villa Maria winery tour & tastings
- Vineyard restaurant platter lunch
- 3 West Coast winery tastings
- Tastings at 4 wineries in total
Price includes transport, all tastings, park fees and lunch. No hidden extra charges.
The morning part of this tour focuses on one winery… Villa Maria.
The afternoon takes in a mix of three smaller, family owned wineries set in and around our spectacular West Coast area.
Villa Maria are (at time of publishing) New Zealand’s largest privately owned and most awarded wine company! Their architecturally award winning Auckland estate is located in the ‘Ihumatao’ volcanic basin just South of the city & planted with Chardonnay, Gewurztraminer, Pinot Noir & Verdelho. Like most of Auckland’s winemakers, they also have vineyards spread across New Zealand to provide the best grapes for their range of wines including Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Pinot Gris, Riesling, Arnies, Viognier, Pinot Noir, Syrah, Malbec and Cabernet & Merlot blends.
On the way to Villa Maria, we stop to take in the spectacular 360 degree views from the summit of one of Auckland’s landmark dormant volcanoes OR step back in time with a look around inside the oldest wooden house in Auckland.
The 15 minute walk uphill (10 minutes down) to the summit of ‘Maungakiekie’, once known as ‘One-Tree-Hill’, is quite steep in a couple of places and is only suitable for people with a reasonable level of fitness. This dormant volcanic cone (once the site of a Maori ‘Pa’… fortified settlement) now sits in the center of the beautiful, farm-like, Cornwall Park offering panoramic horizon to horizon views over the city, the Hauraki Gulf & Waitemata Harbour (Pacific Ocean) & Manukau Harbour (Tasman Sea).
If we decide not to do the summit walk, we look through the oldest wooden house in Auckland. Built and lived in by Sir John Logan Campbell, Auckland’s founding city father and farmer of what is now the park…
At Villa Maria, you are taken on a guided tour of the winery followed by a tutored tasting of award winning wines and lunching on one of their indulgent platters.
After lunch, we visit a mix of three family owned and operated wineries set in the beautiful rural countryside of the Kumeu / Huapai / Waimauku region North West of the city. Because we don’t all like the same wines, this tour does not always visit the same wineries in the afternoon. We do our best to use our nearly 20 years of experience to select the wineries available on the day based on your tastes and interests.
We return you to your accommodation around 4:30 – 5:00PM.
FULL DAY TOUR
NZ$ 270 per person
9:30am to approx. 5pm
Included is:
- Door to door service in main city area
- City sightseeing
- Villa Maria winery tour & tastings
- Vineyard restaurant platter lunch
- 3 West Coast winery tastings
- Tastings at 4 wineries in total
Price includes transport, all tastings, park fees and lunch. No hidden extra charges.
The morning part of this tour focuses on one winery… Villa Maria.
The afternoon takes in a mix of three smaller, family owned wineries set in and around our spectacular West Coast area.
Villa Maria are (at time of publishing) New Zealand’s largest privately owned and most awarded wine company! Their architecturally award winning Auckland estate is located in the ‘Ihumatao’ volcanic basin just South of the city & planted with Chardonnay, Gewurztraminer, Pinot Noir & Verdelho. Like most of Auckland’s winemakers, they also have vineyards spread across New Zealand to provide the best grapes for their range of wines including Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Pinot Gris, Riesling, Arnies, Viognier, Pinot Noir, Syrah, Malbec and Cabernet & Merlot blends.
On the way to Villa Maria, we stop to take in the spectacular 360 degree views from the summit of one of Auckland’s landmark dormant volcanoes OR step back in time with a look around inside the oldest wooden house in Auckland.
The 15 minute walk uphill (10 minutes down) to the summit of ‘Maungakiekie’, once known as ‘One-Tree-Hill’, is quite steep in a couple of places and is only suitable for people with a reasonable level of fitness. This dormant volcanic cone (once the site of a Maori ‘Pa’… fortified settlement) now sits in the center of the beautiful, farm-like, Cornwall Park offering panoramic horizon to horizon views over the city, the Hauraki Gulf & Waitemata Harbour (Pacific Ocean) & Manukau Harbour (Tasman Sea).
If we decide not to do the summit walk, we look through the oldest wooden house in Auckland. Built and lived in by Sir John Logan Campbell, Auckland’s founding city father and farmer of what is now the park…
At Villa Maria, you are taken on a guided tour of the winery followed by a tutored tasting of award winning wines and lunching on one of their indulgent platters.
After lunch, we visit a mix of three family owned and operated wineries set in the beautiful rural countryside of the Kumeu / Huapai / Waimauku region North West of the city. Because we don’t all like the same wines, this tour does not always visit the same wineries in the afternoon. We do our best to use our nearly 20 years of experience to select the wineries available on the day based on your tastes and interests.
We return you to your accommodation around 4:30 – 5:00PM.
