Wine and Culture or Culture in Wine

Wine from Queenstown: A Special Gift for You

noreply@blogger.com (Yasmine - Owner and Managing Director) — Sun, 08 Apr 2012 02:39:00 +0000

You already might know that we have special offers for some of our tours. During the months of April and May 2012, we offer 1 free bottle of wine if you book your wine tour directly with us.

Here are some more details about the deal: Join either our Wine & Culture tour or the Canyon & Wine tour during the months of April and May. The major differences of the two tours are that the Canyon & Wine tour takes you first into Skippers Canyon and adds the subsequent lunch and wine tastings in the afternoon.

Our Wine & Culture tour starts at lunch time. Enjoy your lunch at the first winery where you will taste some wine before we visit 2 more boutique vineyards.

If you would like to receive this free bottle of Queenstown wine, all you have to do is book your wine experience directly with us. Follow this link, choose your wine tour and the date, fill out the form and ... voila... all done.

In case you wondered what kind of wine you will receive... well: this is a secret. It might be red or white or even a rose. In order to find out, you will have to join us :-)

Wine Festival Queenstown

noreply@blogger.com (Yasmine - Owner and Managing Director) — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 23:28:00 +0000

Gibbston Harvest Festival - Sun, Fun and Deliciousness

...or as the article in the Otago Daily Times states 'Wine, food and no snobs'... this is the Gibbston Harvest Festival which is yearly held in the valley near Queenstown.

Next to wine tastings - of course - delicious food and entertainment for the entire family are available at Waitiri Creek who is this year's host of the festival.

As a special feature for this year's event, the weather god is blessing the spectators with his sunshine and warm temperatures which in turn will make sure that the wines on offer are even more enjoyed.

If you plan to come to visit our neck of the woods at this time of the year, make sure you don't miss to visit this festival of the Gibbston Valley Wine Community.

Queenstown Heritage Tours Wine Tours

noreply@blogger.com (Yasmine - Owner and Managing Director) — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 04:07:00 +0000

Do you prefer to go on an afternoon wine tour here in Queenstown and do 'just' this? Or do you think that a combination tour would suit you more?

Now you might ask which combination I mean. I am talking about the combination of a Skippers Canyon tour in the morning and some wine tastings in the afternoon. This full-day tour includes lunch at one of the wineries where you will also taste wines.

Both wine tours will take you to 3 boutique vineyards in Gibbston Valley. As mentioned, Lunch is included and you even get to choose which dish you like. We do not offer any standard platters, but you may of course choose to eat this lovely cheese platter over the mussels or even a gourmet pizza.

During the afternoon tastings, you will have the opportunity to learn more about the wine you taste. You are very welcome to ask your questions and the cellar door staff is more than happy to answer all your inquiries.

Would you like to have some more information? You can find them on our official website pages:

Wine & Culture tour - wine tour with lunch
Canyon & Wine tour - combination of Skippers Canyon and wine tastings.

If you do not find everything you need, please don't hesitate to contact us directly.

The Connoisseur and the Novice are equally welcome

noreply@blogger.com (Yasmine - Owner and Managing Director) — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 03:18:00 +0000

It is a rumour that only those ones who already discovered the true spirit in wine can join a wine tasting tour. It is a rumour, too, that all those ones who 'just like' to drink wine will overdo it on a wine tasting tour. Though it is no rumour that not everyone likes the same wines while on a wine tasting tour.

For exactly those reasons we stop at 3 different boutique wineries in Gibbston Valley. But why exactly do we tend to feature those boutique wineries? We believe that you - the wine taster - will be welcomed as a true believer of Bacchus (or Dionysus which is his other name) at the smaller places . As you know, Bacchus was the Acient Greek God of the grape harvest, winemaking and wine, of ritual madness and ecstasy. That's why wine brings us so much joy and relaxation - don't you think?

Seriously... Just the other day, we hosted a small group of connoisseurs. They knew their wines, alright. They enjoyed those glistering drops very much and bought at each vineyard a different variety of wine.

The first winery sold some white wine; the second was chosen for the rose and the last did unlock the secret of Gibbston Valley's Pinot Noir.

But what if you don't (yet) know how to properly taste wines? Please: don't burden yourself with this notion that wine HAS to be tasted in a specific manner. Wine tasting - and drinking for this matter - is a very, very personal thing. Believe me: if you like to drink wine, whatever colour is has, you will certainly be welcomed as a 'Bacchus Club Member' and enjoy those treasures like everyone else does.

By the way: if you are truly interested in learning how to taste like a professional: ask the wine maker :-) Seriously - they DO know!

A Special Day before the Wedding

noreply@blogger.com (Yasmine - Owner and Managing Director) — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 02:41:00 +0000

Don't we remember or envision our wedding day as something unique and simply unforgettable... Or course we do. So let me tell you a story of a Japanese couple who extended their excitement.

Just last week, we hosted this lovely couple on our Canyon and Wine tour. They booked this full day excursion over the internet. We picked them up as agreed from their Queenstown accommodation and off we went into Skippers Canyon to spent the first 3hours of the day.

After this initial experience we took them to our first winery stop and had lunch. There we learnt that they where on their honeymoon in New Zealand and that Queenstown will play a major role at their wedding. In fact, the day they joined our full day get-away was their last day before the wedding!

And what a day it was - simply glorious! The sun would be shining for them all day long, increasing the experience of wine tasting even more.

After lunch, we visited the second vineyard, where THE special wine bottle was bought - what an incredible memory this must have been!

Though the last and third vineyard did not see this remarkable couple as they decided to experience other people bungy-jumping off the ramp at the Kawarau Centre instead of tasting more wine - and surely we accommodated them as best as we could.

We are sure the two enjoyed the rest of their 'last' day memorably.

The next day did hold a little surprise for us. We did our usually tour into Skippers Canyon and at the saddle, we saw the couple with a photographer taking pictures of them with Mount Aurum in the background - what a wedding day!

We wish them all the best and good fortunes...

Aah - those Pinots

noreply@blogger.com (Yasmine - Owner and Managing Director) — Sun, 23 Oct 2011 22:24:00 +0000

The Rugby World Cup takes place every 4 years. This year, New Zealand hosted 20 Nations over the past 6 weeks. This tournament was highly anticipated in New Zealand and certainly brought some excitement to our Rugby-crazy Nation. And the best of all: we won it - the All Blacks brought the cup back after 24 years of waiting. Well done!

But the road to this success was difficult. Contesting against some high-calibre Nations, like Australia, England,Wales, South Africa and France brought the best out of New Zealand.

In 2007, the winner of the cup was South Africa. Bearing this in mind, it is only natural that quite a few South Africans spent some time in our country. Despite that they lost in the Quarterfinals against Australia, they enjoyed amongst other things our Pinot noirs in Gibbston Valley.

Pinot noir to enjoy in company

It is true, South Africa creates outstanding wines. Our guests though told us that the Pinot noirs from our Queenstown region are definitely something special. The rugged terrain, the unique climate and the schist rock infused earth create a delicious earthiness combined with a mineraly taste to this fruitful grape.

The road to this wine production success was as challenging as winning the Rubgy World Cup 2011. Pinot noir is a grape variety whose importance in New Zealand is extremely high, in particular in the Queenstown area. It all started with the Central Otago Gold rush around 1860. A French immigrant, Jean Desire Feraud, found his fortune by planting vines. He started the commercial wine production which has now become an international success.

The current wine makers of eg. Waitiri Creek, Chard Farm, Brennan Wines or Peregrine Wines receive high accolades on international wine shows. For instance, the 2009 Pinot noir of Peregrine Wines was awarded the Bouchard Finlayson Trophy Pinot Noir in the International Wine and Spirit Competition as the 'best wine of the world' - you can't beat that!

Aah, those Pinots...

Food and Wine Lovers are in Queenstown

noreply@blogger.com (Yasmine - Owner and Managing Director) — Sat, 08 Oct 2011 22:47:00 +0000

Exciting times in Queenstown: the Rugby World Cup is on where Wales is through to the Semi Finals together with France. The New Zealand All Blacks might join them but first they have to win over Argentina.
And Taste Queenstown is on where you can enjoy live cultural performances. Taste Queenstown is a mini food, wine and art festival showcasing the best of the region.

It was also just yesterday as we took some Queenstown visitors to the wine region in Gibbston Valley. They came to visit from Australia and simply loved our white wines.

Enjoy and Taste Queenstown

They joined our Wine & Culture lunch tour and had some tastes and chats at Remarkables Wines, Waitiri Creek and Chard Farm.

The refreshing white wines of those wineries were just the little treasures our visitors wanted to discover. They told us that they enjoyed the wines very much: the dry Riesling of Remarkables Wines, the fruitful flavor of the Savignon Blanc of Waitiri and the delicate spiciness of the Gewurztraminer of Chard Farm.

They bought some bottles and I am sure that they will enjoy those delicious drops with the certainty that they visited some of the finest vineyards of Queenstown area.

This assessment is not only our opinion, but is the result of numerous comments and ratings posted to TripAdvisor. Queenstown is number 3 of the Top 10 Food & Wine Destinations in South Pacific, right after Melbourne and Sydney. Have a look...

So what about you? When do you plan to explore our wine region? Come and visit us soon - and don't forget to book our wine tour.

Wine, Historic Places and other Deliciousness in Queenstown

noreply@blogger.com (Yasmine - Owner and Managing Director) — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 07:50:00 +0000

Please: where ever you are - take a moment and detach yourself from reality to envision this picture:

You have some days off, take your sweetheart to Queenstown, New Zealand and spend some lazy, crazy, relaxing, invigorating, motivating and passionate days in this remarkable mountain resort.

Now you face some tough decisions: what are you going to do in Queenstown? Just staying in your hotel, enjoying the amenities there, like the spa, the pool and other treats or do you plan to experience something very unique and memorable?

In case you decide to treat yourself to an unforgettable day out in Queenstown, you could join our Canyon & Wine tour which takes you to historic places around Queenstown. You will visit Skippers Canyon in the morning, enjoy some lunch at a boutique winery in Gibbston Valley and taste the new glistering gold of this nearly untouched world in New Zealand.

But experiencing this once-in-a-life-time journey in Queenstown is only the start of a remarkable day out. Imagine this: you are dropped off in Queenstown downtown after our Wine & Culture tour and feel like a sweet treat. You could go to Patagonia Chocolates and indulge in sheer deliciousness after having a day of sheer marveling at the inexplicalbe.

Patagonia Chocolates is managed by one of our neighbors. He is the 'Chocolate Man' how we like to call him and his sweet treats and ice creams are - like our tours - truly worthy of your time and money.

Though, it is true: neither our tours nor his sweets are 'not quite Nigella' but still pretty delicicous, indulging and simply passionate.

Fancy a short walk after some wine tasting?

noreply@blogger.com (Yasmine - Owner and Managing Director) — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 09:17:00 +0000

It is true: wine tasting and an outstanding Lunch can be quite tiring - don't you think? So what about a short walk after a sumptuous meal and a real cultural experience of tasting some wines of Waitiri Creek in Gibbston Valley near Queenstown.

We just learned about this option some weeks ago. Apparently, an easy walk is accessable from the beginning of the valley as well as the end - that would be from Waitiri Creek. The walk is easily accessable for all 'walks of life' so to say but is interrupted due to some access restrictions. Those restrictions do not impair the experience and a real short walk departing from Waitiri Creek Winery is a true Queenstown experience.

It will take you about 30 minutes to experience Gibbston Valley from this different point of view. Even though, we do not offer this short walk on our Wine and Culture tour, it is surely something you should not miss while visiting Queenstown on your own.

Up close and personal with Queenstown Wine

noreply@blogger.com (Yasmine - Owner and Managing Director) — Mon, 30 May 2011 08:22:00 +0000

I believe the highest praise of a tour can only come from customers who truly and genuinely enjoy what they experience.

This fact was definitely true for the travel agents we hosted on our Wine Tours in Queenstown. We all attended Trenz 2011. For the first time, participants had the chance to experience activities and did not only need to rely on information provided by the tour operator - at the end of the day, we operators can tell (and write for this fact...) basically what we want, but having the agents experiencing exactly what we do, is simply priceless!

So we hosted those agents and took them to Gibbston Valley where we enjoyed our first wines at Waitiri Creek. We were fortunate to have the sun caressing our sandwich lunch - which was provided by Trenz and is not the standard lunch we offer to our customers. Nevertheless, we tasted white wine with extensive explanations why and how and where, when and how exactly those wines are produced, created and put into the wine bottles we can buy at the lovely Church cellar door.

This was a fabulous start to an unforgettable afternoon for those people who further refer this very wine tour to their customers.

so stay tuned...