Kumeu Wine Country Tour with Lunch by Bush and Beach

Contact Vincent Vacations to add this to your travel package today!

Duration: 5h
Location: Kumeu, New Zealand | Kumeu, New Zealand


Category: Food & Drink

Highlights:
Insight into New Zealand's winemaking industry & history
Guided tastings at 3 family-owned, award-winning vineyards
Delicious al fresco lunch of Mediterranean-inspired cuisine
Winderies include West Brook, Soljans Estate & Matua Valley
Coastal scenery, seabirds & Muriwai's black sand beach

Inclusions:
Guided tour of Kumeu wine country
3 winetastings
Lunch
Roundtrip transportation to and from your central Auckland hotel
Live tour commentary provided in English

Description:

Croatian families planted the first vines in Kumeu in the 1930s. This Old World savoir faire has helped the area to develop some of New Zealand's most renowned wines over the generations. Savor a gourmet lunch and sip your way through this lovely region just a 20-minute drive from Auckland.

From your hotel, ride out of the city center and into the coastal farmland beyond the urban limits. Within less than a half-hour, you're surrounded by bucolic hills blanketed in neat and orderly rows of grape vines. Pull up to your first stop at Soljans Esate Winery, a family-run vineyard that's won accolades and awards for its pinot gris and sparkling muscat.

Share tasting notes as you swirl, sniff, and imbibe during a guided flight, and then head to the winery's sun-drenched eatery. Tuck into a delicious al fresco meal of Mediterranean-inspired cuisine made with fresh, local, and seasonal ingredients as you enjoy the idyllic setting. After lunch, detour by a stretch of coastal cliffs that are home to a gannet colony. Watch the seabirds swoop and dive along the shore, or just take in the breathtaking 37–mile (60-km) black sand expanse of Muriwai Beach.

Two more tastings round out your afternoon. The first is at the cellar door of Matua Valley Wines, where the first sauvignon blanc grapes in New Zealand were planted. Learn about the traditional and modern methods used to produce their crisp and flavorful varietals, and then head to West Brook Winery. Raise a final glass or linger over a bottle beside the pond before your return ride to Auckland.