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GREAT TASTES OF MATAKANA - Full Day Tour

9.30am – 4.30pm
Minimum 2 people
NZ $295 per person

Experience the food, wine and arts of Matakana Coast where your informed and entertaining guides make it an exhilarating “assault on the senses” day out.

Leave the bustle of the city and relax on the one hour drive north through the rolling green hills and past beautiful coastline before arriving at The Honey Centre. Here you find New Zealand's largest display of live bees and a huge range of honeys available for tasting as well as honey mead and fruit-wine. Then we visit a local vineyard and taste award-winning wines and local cheese in a platter match. Nearby, in the heart of Matakana Coast Wine Country, is the ideal combination of gourmet and retail therapy - Morris & James Pottery, where you are greeted by a pure visual spectacle of layer upon layer of design and colour from matt black to luscious red. Lunch is at Mahurangi River Winery with its contemporary New Zealand architecture and wide pastoral views. Tour the winery and barrel room and sample their wine (made only from grapes grown on the property) before taking time to enjoy the local cuisine.

From here Brick Bay Sculpture Trail showcases an ever-changing exhibition of contemporary sculptures by leading New Zealand artists. Sample their hand crafted wines in the unique Glass House building before heading back to the city. The day is rounded off with a stop at Chocolate Brown -where they hand-make outrageously fine chocolates.

Tour includes: Cheese tasting, honey centre, boutique chocolate factory, 3 award-winning wineries (including a tasting at Brick Bay Sculpture Park), wine tasting, Morris & James pottery, lunch, afternoon tea, coffee or juice.

• Free pick up & drop off from inner city accommodation
• Luxury air-conditioned vehicle
• Wineries included may change depending on the day of week

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KUMEU WINE AND NATURE TOUR - FULL DAY TOUR

9.45am – 4.30pm
Minimum 2 people
NZ $295 per person

Enjoy a full day tour of New Zealand’s jewels – amazing scenery and great wine. The wineries of Kumeu date back to the 1930s when wine families of Croatian origin established winemaking in the area. These families are still living and working in the area today, making some of New Zealand's most renowned wines. The vineyards contrast with the spectacular coastal scenery of the area.

Your first stop is Nobilo Wines, the second largest wine producer in New Zealand. They produce some of New Zealand’s most respected products and are well-know for their pioneering wine brands. They offer a selection of popular wines from key grape growing regions such as Marlborough, Hawkes Bay and Gisborne.
Enjoy a short morning tea stop before tempting your taste buds at Matua Valley Wines who offer an extensive range of wines for every taste and occasion. You can choose from premium wine that has been crafted to cellar, right through to the everyday offering, ready to enjoy now.

Travel a short distance to Soljans Vineyard. Soljans has won many awards for their wines. By skilfully marrying traditional with modern techniques, they produce stylish, richly flavoured wines. To enhance their complexity and richness, their chardonnays are fermented and matured in oak barriques and the red wines are also barrel-aged. They are also widely acknowledged in New Zealand as being an expert producer of methode traditionelle (bottle-fermented) sparkling wines.

Enjoy lunch at Soljans Winery restaurant. The winery is built with sunshine in mind and serves Mediterranean-style food with a New Zealand twist, showcasing fresh seasonal produce from around the region.

Next you visit a special place where you have the chance to see one of the world’s largest seabirds in their natural environment. Your journey takes you to one of the few mainland gannet nesting sites in the world situated on the cliff-tops overlooking the Tasman Sea. Here you get a close-up of gannet behaviour without disturbing their environment. The views extend for miles along the wild, black, iron sand beach of Muriwai.

Your final tasting is at West Brook Winery. The West Brook cellar door looks across an idyllic duck pond and terraced picnic area to row after row of vines. The wines reflect true varietal character and their unique regional origins. Without exception they are premium quality and have won numerous awards.

Tour includes: 4 award winning wineries, wine tastings, awe-inspiring black sand Muriwai beach (with gannet colony August to April), 2 course lunch with glass of wine at a vineyard, Bees Online Honey Centre with honey tasting and morning tea, coffee or juice. Wineries included may change depending on the day of week.

• Free pick up & drop off from inner city accommodation
• Luxury air-conditioned vehicle
• Wineries included may change depending on the day of week