Private Central Otago Full Day Wine Tour from Queenstown

Gibbston to Bannockburn, and the table at the end of it.

Most Central Otago wine days stay in the Gibbston Valley because it is close. This one keeps going, over the hill and into Bannockburn, and the difference in the glass is the whole point of the day.

The morning begins at Chard Farm, cut into the cliff above the Kawarau River, and moves on to Kinross, the shared cellar door where several of the region's small producers pour side by side. Between them they give you the cool, high, elegant end of Central Otago, wines shaped by a short growing season and a good deal of altitude.

Then the road drops into the Cromwell Basin and climbs again into Bannockburn, a hotter, drier, north-facing landscape of schist terraces and old gold sluicings, where the wines change character completely. Lunch is at Te Kano, whose cellar door is cantilevered out over the Eliza Vineyard with the Kawarau River and the Cromwell Basin laid out below, and the tasting runs through the meal rather than before it.

Included in your tour

• Private luxury vehicle and dedicated driver-guide
• Door-to-door hotel pick-up and return
• Three hosted tastings across Gibbston and Bannockburn
• A long lunch at the Bannockburn cellar door
• Bottled water

Not included: Wine purchases and any additional premium tastings; drinks beyond the hosted tastings and lunch.

Good to know: All tastings are for guests aged eighteen and over; younger guests are welcome on the tour.