New Zealand Cellar Doors and Wineries Surprising Souvenirs and Wonderful Wining & Dining

 

If you are a tourist some top places to visit are

Auckland Area Day Trip to the KUMEU RIVER  region

1 Soljans Estate Winery Cellar Door

A great shop sells wines, and glasses with the letter S (for Soljans, therefore handy if you wish to remember the company, or if your name is Sarah, Susan, Simon, or Smith). The shop also has tempting caps, bags and scarves.

The wine tasting was 15 New Zealand dollars per person for five wines. I loved the great wine from my favourite Gewuztraminer grape.

2 Kumeu River Winery

Run by the famous Michael Brajkovich, who makes a huge range of seriously interesting wines. He was New Zealand's first Master of wine, a pioneer of the Croation families from the Dalmation coast.

Auckland to Rotorua

 From Auckland, we went to the Rotorua hot springs area, in the Waikato wine region (Wai is the Maori word for water). Near Rotorua we visited the evocatively named 

3 Volcanic Hills winery.

Up the cable car to the tastings at the top. Great view of the top of the cable car and down the hillsides. Huge tasting room. Friendly and knowledgeable staff.

4 In Ohaupo we went to the Vilagrad winery.

Napier Area - A winery open 7 days a week for tastings

5 Urban Winery, in art deco Napier, on Hawke's Bay 'the garden of New Zealand'. Open seven days a week. Wine tastings. Music nights. Some food some hours from a short menu. 

Novelty - Egg shape barrels! In both wood and concrete. You can glimpse the egg barrels through the glass.Their business cards feature eggs with fancy designs.

Concrete eggs are great for fermentation because they keep the temperature level. Natural convection needs no stirring. They know the history of their barrels - the wood is traced back to the selected trees.

We admired one of their six eggs.

As for the wines, the names are amusing. Golden egg wine. Fat and Sassy.

On The Road - weekend tastings

6 Leveret & Mills Reef Winery

 at Katikati in the BAY OF PLENTY WINE AREA

A lovely old vine grows over their entrance forming a shady roof from the sun or maybe some shelter from worse weather. 

Their symbol is three rabbits chasing each other inside a circle. Look carefully and you'll see the number of ears is not six. 

We were greeted by Andrea, who originated from Hong Kong. She had attractively decorated the showroom with orange lanterns for Chinese / Lunar New Year in early February 2025. 

Then she decorated the shop with pink and red hearts for Valentine's Day later in mid February. She even wore heart-shaped ear-rings she'd bought in Hong Kong.

Katikati Cellar Door shop open 9.30 am -5 pm daily for sales only, no tastings.

Wine tastings for your long weekends, Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Phone 64 77 552 0795.

WAIHEKE ISLAND

7 Casita Miro, Waiheke Island

The back of their business card.

Another stunning and memorable winery which we visited was Casita Miro, Casito being Spanish for little house, and Miro the artist. Casita Miro is most notable for its wacky, colourful decor. The astonishing and delightful show starts with the long, lively murals along the drive-in, continuing at every turn with pictures and amusing objects around the restaurant, which views the picnic lawn, and in restrooms. 

A wine tasting room cum shop on the far side of the car park. 

A larger restaurant room with views, is a great place for a lunch with wines.

8 Man O'War

Named after the beach which is named after a war boat. Despite a drive along a narrow road, a tour bus comes this way. Tasting room, plus an open sided lunch resturant overlooing the dtrees behind the beach. They say it's the only beachside winery in Waiheke, and probably New Zealand and possibly the world.

NORTHLANDS Wine Region  has four places we visited.

9 Paroa Bay - Gourmet Dinner

From Russell take a winding road, or the shuttle bus free for diners at the Paroa Bay restaurant. On the hilltop overlooking their vinery is a top grade restaurant, with a tasting menu. At lunchtime or early evening there is a fine view, which we captured when we stopped there and on seeing the menu immediately made a booking. But returning late at night with twilight we found outdoors breezy, chilly, and took their advice regarding tables and happily ate indoors.

We had a private look at the vineyards and winemaking below the next day. The novelty for me was seeing the wines drawn out of the barrel by the winemaking to check the tast, using what looked like a huge pipette.

10 The Omata Estate - for a perfect pizza

We stopped around lunch time, watched them cooking pizza in a hot pizza oven. After sampling wines, we ordered a pizza, the best pizza I've ever had. Just a thin base, not overwhelming you with filling flour, supporting and spread with a mixture of savoury white cheese and sweet red cranberry which was divine.

11 Marsden Winery, Russell, Northlands

Marsden Winery was big and bustling, a very popular eating place. A location with a story. The current, chatty, owner who we met, was greeting regular customers at the door and bar counter. In between, he was keen to tell us how he had bought the place and battled to keep it going as a winery.  Competing interests were thinking the site was better used by uprooting the vines and tradition and introducing a modern new housing estate.

12 Dancing Petrel Paewhenua Island, Northlands

By contrast, the Dancing Petrel is a quiet secluded place. But the label is dinsttive and memorable. It shows a sea bird, the dancing petrel. We sat in the back yard of the owners who are small scale producers, nature lovers, whilst they described the petrel they promote on their label.

13 Millton Vineyard  Winery

We saw the vines and orange trees outside.

Their label Libiamo is from Verdi's opera, the old Italian word which is the equivalent of  'Cheers!'

While the owner was away, we had a private chat with a knowledgeable staff member. He told us that their 2020 Te Arai (grape chenin blanc) is from the Maori words, te meaning the and arai, river.  The cow is the symbol of biodynamic production.

I loved their muscat wines. I always love sweet muscat. The aroma was sweet, though the wine struck me as dry. About 30 NZ dollars a bottle, and $180 for a case of 6. 

Fou can join their mailing list. Freight $12 North island and $18 South Isalnd, with a $4 rural delivery charge. 

14 Mission Estate

Historic estate. Lots of pictures downstairs. Lots to look at.

15 Vilagrad, at Ohaupo, in the Wikato region,

16 Craggy Range

17 Bushmere

18 Matawhero

19 Stonyridge

20 Goldie Estate

Useful Websites

Casita Miro

Casitamiro.co.nz

Leveret

www.wineportfolio.co.nz

Soljans 

www.soljans.co.nz

Urban Winery

theurbanwinery.co.nz

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Cellar Doors, Wineries and Wine Makers 10 Wine Places To Visit in New Zealand

 

Wineries we visited in New Zealand

Over eighteen days in January and February 2025, on New Zealand's North Island, my husband and I visited eighteen wineries. 

My husband Trevor is a wine writer and photographer and wine educator. Before we visited New Zealand, he had researched the most famous and important wineries and written to arrange a meeting with the owner and /or winemaker. We hoped to have tastings as well as learning all about what made each vineyard and winery unique.

Some places were only wine growers They grew grapes which they sold to other people. Or they had a main grape which they mixed with different varieties. Others bought in some or all of their grapes and bottled and labelled them. Others did both growing grapes and harvesting them, as well as winemaking, involving crushing the grapes, leaving them to ferment in barrels, bottling and labelling the wine.  

He interviewed the enthusiastic staff and I recorded the interviews on my handphone to save him taking notes and to enable him to be in the moment and establish rapport.

Most tourists don't have or want to have details of the wine-making process, why one grape thrives on a sunny slope, or despite clay soil. The customer just wants to taste a couple of wines and find what appeals in order to drink that with their meal and buy a bottle or two, or four or more, to take home.

My husband likes reds, dry reds. As for grapes, he likes Syrah (also called shiraz). And Sauvignon Blanc.

I like white wines, sparkling (including blanc de blanc), and rose, above all sweet wines. Gewurtztraminer. Pinot Gris. (In Europe and the USA, Grenache, also called Garnacha.)

He likes port and sherry. I like sake. So between us we cover most styles.

Cellar Doors

Cellar door tastings are ideal for this sampling of varied wines. The businesses normally charge for three or more tastings. A tasting measure is a small glass.

No Alcohol

The driver might choose not to drink. Or to drink no alcohol alternatives. (Low alcohol is not the same as no alcohol.)

Alcohol Levels

Check the alcohol level on the wine label.

Alternatively a professional, wine taster, who goes to regular trade events, will sip and spit into spittoon, which resembles a small ice bucket.

Rivals Or Good Relations?

In New Zealand I asked one wine maker if the local companies were rivals or friends - or unknowns. He said that they all belonged to a wine growers' association to look after mutual interests. 

Wine Company Links

We also found that many wine growers had moved from one company to another. Even from one country to another (eg back to the USA). Married each other. Were related, from the same ancestry (eg Croatian). Therefore they knew each other well and could compare their own company with others easily and happily.

***

If you are a tourist some top places to visit are

Auckland Area Day Trip to the KUMEU RIVER  region

1 Soljans Estate Winery Cellar Door

A great shop sells wines, and glasses with the letter S (for Soljans, therefore handy if you wish to remember the company, or if your name is Sarah, Susan, Simon, or Smith). The shop also has caps, bags and scarves.

The wine tasting was 15 New Zealand dollars per person for five wines. I loved the great wine from my favourite Gewuztraminer grape.

2 Kumeu River Winery

Run by the famous Michael Brajkovich, who makes a huge range of seriously interesting wines.

Auckland to Rotorua

From Auckland, we went to the Rotorua hot springs area, in the Waikato wine region (Wai is the Maori word for water). Near Rotorua we visited the evocatively named Volcanic Hills winery.

In Ohaupo we went to the Vilagrad winery.

Napier Area - A winery open 7 days a week for tastings

Urban Winery, Napier, New Zealand. Open seven days a week. Wine tastings. Music nights. Some food some hours from a short menu. 

Novelty - Egg shape barrels! You can glimpse the egg barrels through the glass.Their business cards feature eggs with fancy designs.

On The Road - weekend tastings

Leveret & Mills Reef Winery at Katikati in the BAY OF PLENTY WINE AREA

A lovely old vine grows over their entrance forming a shady roof from the sun or maybe some shelter from worse weather. 

Their symbol is three rabbits chasing each other inside a circle. Look carefully and you'll see the number of ears is not six. 

We were greeted by Andrea, who originated from Hong Kong. She had attractively decorated the showroom with orange lanterns for Chinese / Lunar New Year in early February 2025. 

Then she decorated the shop with pink and red hearts for Valentine's Day later in mid February. She even wore heart-shaped ear-rings she'd bought in Hong Kong.

Katikati Cellar Door shop open 9.30 am -5 pm daily for sales only, no tastings.

Wine tastings for your long weekends, Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Phone 64 77 552 0795.

WAIHEKE ISLAND

Casita Miro, Waiheke Island

The back of their business card.

Another winery which we visited was Casita Miro, Casito being Spanish for little house, and Miro the artist. Casita Miro is most notable for its wacky, colourful decor. The astonishing and delightful show starts with the long, lively murals along the drive-in, continuing at every turn with pictures and amusing objects around the restaurant, which views the picnic lawn, and in restrooms. 

A wine tasting room cum shop on the far side of the car park. 

A larger restaurant room with views, is a great place for a lunch with wines.

NORTHLANDS Wine Region  has four places we visited.

Paroa Bay

From Russell take a winding road, or the shuttle bus free for diners at the Paroa Bay restaurant. On the hilltop overlooking their vinery is a top grade restaurant, with a tasting menu. At lunchtime or early evening there is a fine view, which we captured when we stopped there and on seeing the menu immediately made a booking. But returning late at night with twilight we found outdoors breezy, chilly, and took their advice regarding tables and happily ate indoors.

The Omata Estate - for a perfect pizza

We stopped around lunch time, watched them cooking pizza in a hot pizza oven. After sampling wines, we ordered a pizza, the best pizza I've ever had. Just a thin base, not overwhelming you with filling flour, supporting and spread with a mixture of savoury white cheese and sweet red cranberry which was divine.

Marsden Winery, Russell, Northlands

Marsden Winery was big and bustling, a very popular eating place. A location with a story. The current, chatty, owner who we met, was greeting regular customers at the door and bar counter. In between, he was keen to tell us how he had bought the place and battled to keep it going as a winery.  Competing interests were thinking the site was better used by uprooting the vines and tradition and introducing a modern new housing estate.

Dancing Petrel Paewhenua Island, Northlands

By contrast, the Dancing Petrel is a quiet secluded place. But the label is dinsttive and memorable. It shows a sea bird, the dancing petrel. We sat in the back yard of the owners who are small scale producers, nature lovers, whilst they described the petrel they promote on their label.

Useful Websites

Casita Miro

Casitamiro.co.nz

Leveret

www.wineportfolio.co.nz

Soljans 

www.soljans.co.nz

Urban Winery

theurbanwinery.co.nz

(More winderies being added shortly.)

Please save and share links to your favourite posts.

The Urban Winery Wine tasting - and Egg-citing Egg Shaped Containers

 

Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

Napier in New Zealand one of my favourite places. On the harbour side of the city is The Urban Winery which offers wine tasting, snack food, and music some evenings.

To the left of the entrance hall is a glass window through which you can see the eggs. The eggs are egg shaped barrels, containers for wine, small and large. I had heard of and seen barrels and bigger containers made of wood or metal all over the world, in the UK, Spain, Portugal, Albania, Madeira, and USA. But not egg shapes. Nor concrete.

Business card from Urban Winery, featuring their egg feature.