New Zealand is well know for their wine, and as wine enthusiasts we knew we were going to love it here. We only had a few days, but we made sure to include some wine tasting in Queenstown.

Wineries in Queenstown

There is an incredible choice of wineries around Queenstown, so we had to limit ourselves to two. Both were fantastic choices.



Wild Earth Wines

Located in the rugged landscape of Central Otago, Wild Earth Winery, embraces the spirit of New Zealand‘s pioneer period. They offer not only wining and dining, but they also offer gold mining activities and tours.

Queenstown

View from the Winery of Kawarau River Gorge.

We decided to stop on our way into Queenstown for some wine tasting and luck would have it the group had only just started the tastings. There are five wines on show for tasting, and our server was very informative with information on each wine.

The wines we tried were:

  • Wild Earth Riesling 2012 – I am not a fan of Riesling, but I did give it a go and was happy it was the first one we tried.
  • Wild Earth Pinot Gris 2015 – YUM! Delicious citrus notes and very fresh to drink, even though it was a dry wine. This was one I could easily drink again!
  • Wild Earth Rose’ 2016 – Dean usually only drink red wine, unless it is Champagne, but this rose’ ended up being his favourite out of all five! To me that was saying something. Filled with lovely strawberry and cream notes, this one ended up coming home (the camper) with us.
  • Wild Earth Pinot Noir 2012 – Lingering on the tongue, this Pinot Noir was slightly similar to the peppery Shiraz you would find in the Hunter Valley Region in Australia.
  • Wild Earth Pinot Noir 2010 – Now I LOVE a good dry red any day of the week and this red had a beautiful deep colouring to it, but it was a tad too dry for me unfortunately.

How the Tastings Work

When you go inside the restaurant you can see the wine bar directly straight ahead. You can either try 5 wines for $10.00 or your tastings are free with the purchase of a bottle. Trust me you will buy a bottle! Otherwise you can sit down for a meal, which smelled a-mazing, and try a wine suggested for you meal.
The Wild Earth Rose’ cost us $29, which was a bargain!

Check out their website if you would like more information on their wines or if you could like to purchase wine from them online.



Gibbston Valley Winery

Needing to go to a winery for lunching as well as drinking wine we chose Gibbston Valley Winery to be that place. Gibbston Valley Winery also has a wine cave, where the deliciousness is stored, a cheesery and they offer a shuttle service for those cyclists who may have had too many wines to cycle. They also offer tours and bike hire.

Here we lunched outside to enjoy the beautiful day and ordered the shared platter for two, with a wine each from the suggested wine list to accompany our meal. The shared platter was filled with a couple of different cheeses, olives, vegetables, breads, crackers, homemade dips, nuts, cold meat, mussels and yummy grapes. This option will set you back about $90, but is well worth it.

wine tasting in Queenstown

Delicious share platter.

Queenstown

Check out their website if you would like more information about Gibbston Valley Winery.

Have you tried any wineries in Queenstown? If so, which one was your favourite?