Wine Tours to New Zealand
Read about the three tours we ran to New Zealand in 2014
2026 Tour Programme
North Island Module 1 – Sunday 1st – Saturday 7th November – fully booked
South Island Module 2 – Monday 9th – Wednesday 18th November– fully booked
North Island Module 3 – Friday 20th – Thursday 26th November– fully booked
South Island Module 2 – Saturday 28th November – Monday 7th December– fully booked
Modules 1 /3- 7 days/6 nights £2,700pp, £400 single supplement
Modules 2/4- 10 days/9 nights £3,800pp, £500 single supplement
Prices exclude flights
- Discover New Zealand’s superb vineyards and meet amazing vine growers and wine makers
- Taste a wonderful range of grapes and wine styles
- Understand the different regions and how they are developing
- Receive fabulous hospitality from a broad range of wine estates
- Experience the magnificent scenery, from coasts to thermal pools to alpine mountains
- Enjoy delicious food that draws on multiple influences
- Choose from two modules covering North and South Islands
- Comprehensive tastings at every visit and fabulous tasting lunches or dinners with wine each tour day
Read the blogs to find out about the three tours we ran in 2014 .
2026 Tours
North Island Module 1 – Sunday 1st – Saturday 7th November– fully booked
South Island Module 2 – Monday 9th – Wednesday 18th November– fully booked
North Island Module 3 – Friday 20th – Thursday 26th November– fully booked
South Island Module 2 – Saturday 28th November – Monday 7th December– fully booked
I may also run tours to New Zealand in 2027, if you wish to have further information please contact me
Outline Itinerary
Each tour commences at the Meeting Point Hotel, where we will have drinks before our first night dinner.
On each full tour day we will visit two wineries, where we will have comprehensive tastings and visits to vineyards and/or wineries. Lunch with wine will be taken at one of the visits, or at a local restaurant.
During both the North and South Island Modules, we have some travel days, taking us by coach between relatively distant wine regions. On each of these days we will make one visit to a winery, and either have a meal there or stop somewhere to eat en route.
Other than the first and last nights, evenings are free to enjoy the local town. Our hotels are situated to afford a short stroll to a variety of bars and restaurants. People rarely have large appetites on the evening of a day of visits!
We will enjoy a dinner together on the final night of each tour. The tours end as described in the module itinerary at the Departure Point (either a hotel or airport, depending on the module).
North Island Modules
Our first night will be spent in Auckland, our hotel will be situated in the Harbour Area of this lively city. The first full day (Day 2) will take us by ferry to Waiheke Island, where we will tour the island, visiting wineries and having lunch. In the evening we return to Auckland for an evening at leisure.
Days 3 and 4 take us from Auckland to Hawke’s Bay. On Day 3 we will visit Kumeu River winery to the west of Auckland city, to learn about and taste some of the world’s finest Chardonnay, and our coach will then take us to Taupo, in the centre of the North Island, where we will spend a night in a hotel near the beautiful Lake Taupo. We will stop en route for a snack, and in the evening enjoy a tasting of Gisborne wines in our hotel. On Day 4 we continue south, entering Napier through the Esk Valley and visiting a Hawke’s Bay winery for a tasting with a late lunch. A free evening will allow us to explore the lovely city of Napier.
Day 5 will enable us to make two visits and tastings in Hawke’s Bay, with lunch at a winery, and a second evening at leisure in Napier. On Day 6 we will make a final winery visit/tasting in Hawke’s Bay before our coach takes us south to the Wairarapa. We will enjoy a final night dinner together in Martinborough, accompanied by a tasting of top Martinborough wines.
Day 7, our final day, will commence with a tasting visit or visits in Martinborough, and lunch. Our coach will then take us to Wellington, to the Departure Point which is Wellington Airport. For some this may be the end of their wine adventures and the start of onward travels, for others a couple of days’ R&R can be taken before the following South Island Module commences.
South Island Module
Our Meeting Point on Day 1 is our hotel in the city of Nelson, in the beautiful Abel Tasman region, we will meet for drinks and dinner at a local restaurant. On Day 2 we board the coach to explore the wine region of Nelson, with its varied terroirs, and stunning wines. We will visit two wineries, for tastings, and take lunch at one of them. An evening at leisure completes our stay in Nelson.
On Day 3 we will have a final visit and tasting in Nelson, and a light lunch before our coach takes us through the stunning Abel Tasman scenery to Marlborough, where after a visit and tasting at a winery, we settle into our hotel in Blenheim and enjoy an evening at leisure. Day 4 is spent deep diving into the Marlborough region, with two visits and a fabulous evening of wine, food and music at the Framingham vineyard.
On Day 5 we leave Blenheim, taking in one final winery before heading off along the coast road to Christchurch, past the Kaikoura Peninsula, where we will have lunch. We will settle into our hotel on the north side of Christchurch, and have an evening at leisure. On Day 6 we will explore North Canterbury, one of New Zealand’s newest and most exciting wine regions, with two visits/tastings and lunch. In the evening we can relax at leisure, before our big journey the next day.
An early start on Day 7 will see us well on our way south, in time for a late morning visit to the pretty town of Kurow, which is home to the wineries developing the North Otago wine region (which has for many years provided fruit used in many wines made in the far more famous Central Otago). A visit, tasting and lunch will enable us to discover why winemakers are so excited about this still developing region. Back in the coach in the afternoon, to drive through the Lindis Pass and on to Queenstown, our base for exploring Central Otago. An evening at leisure in Queenstown will set us up for our final two days of visits and tastings.
Days 8 and 9 will enable us to explore the key sub regions of Central Otago, with two visits and tastings on each day, and tasting lunches each day. On the night of Day 9 we will have a final dinner together in Queenstown.
The tour ends after breakfast on Day 10, our Departure Point is our hotel in in Queenstown.
Note: the Itinerary may be changed at Tim Syrad Wine Tours discretion so as to facilitate the smooth running of the tour and to accommodate great opportunities for visits or tastings that may become available.
Key Tour Information
* The Key Tour Information specifies what you should expect from the tour, no matter how far ahead you book.
As additional information is published on the website, it will be advised to clients who have reserved a place. The daily itinerary will be finalised in the weeks leading up to the Start Date.
Pricing
2026 Tours
North Island Modules 1/3- 7 days/6 nights £2,700pp
South Island Modules 2/4- 10 days/9 nights £3,800pp
- All prices are per person based on 2 people sharing a double/twin room.
- Supplement for single occupancy of a double room
£400 in North Island/Modules 1/3
£500 in South Island/Modules 2/4 - A discount structure is in place, so these prices may reduce depending on how many people book onto a tour.
Price includes
- Coach for all activities in the intinerary, from the Meeting Point on Day 1 to the Departure Point on Day 7/10
- North Island/Modules 1/3:
- 7 days (including arrival and departure days)/6 nights bed and breakfast in good quality hotel(s) in Auckland, Taupo, Napier and Martinborough
- 5 full days of visits, with at least 9 visits/tastings, to wineries in key wine producing areas.
- Minimum of 7 lunches/dinners with local wines.
- South Island/Modules 2/4
- 10 days (including arrival and departure days)/9 nights bed and breakfast in good quality hotel(s) in Nelson, Blenheim, Christchurch and Queenstown.
- 8 full days of visits, with at least 14 visits/tastings, to wineries in key wine producing areas.
- Minimum of 10 lunches/dinners with local wines.
- All local taxes and service charges.
- The services of Tim Syrad as your Wine Tour Manager and Wine Guide.
It is a condition of my accepting a booking that you will take out appropriate travel insurance – please see our Terms and Conditions Section 8.
Terms and Conditions are available here or on request.
Please note travel to/from our Meeting and Departure Point is not included in the price. Many of my clients prefer to extend their holiday before or after my tours, so I let people make their own travel arrangements.
I can advise on suitable internal flights to coincide with module start/finish times, and advise on transfers between airports and our hotels.
* End of Key Tour Information
How to book this tour
Please contact me by phone or email, or use the enquiry form on the Contact page on the website to register your interest. I will respond to explain the timing of announcing pricing, and to respond to any queries you may have. I will then ask you to complete the New Zealand booking form to reserve your place.
Once I have confirmed a tour is proceeding I advise clients to arrange flights and confirm travel arrangements to me. Please do not arrange flights before I have confirmed your place and that the tour is proceeding.
Full payment must be made 12 weeks before the tour starts, invoices will be sent out 14 weeks before the tour starts. At this point you will need to provide your insurance details (name of insurer, policy number, 24 hour emergency telephone numbers), outbound/inbound travel arrangements and any dietary requirements.
More about my Tour to New Zealand
My tours in 2014 explored both the North and South Islands of this fabulous country. We met wonderful winemakers and tasted superb wines, and travelled through some of the most spectacular scenery providing a backdrop to vineyards in the world. Ten years on, the quality of New Zealand wines has only increased, and the variety of styles it produces has matured. Grapes that were only just planted on our first visits are producing superb fruit from varieties such as Albariño, Grüner Veltliner and Zweigelt, and winemakers from New Zealand and elsewhere have brought new and enhanced techniques from their time spent in wineries around the world.
In 2026 I have decided to split my tours into two modules, to enable people to take a breather between their explorations of the North and South Islands. While in 2014 a crossing of the Marlborough Sounds by ferry was part of the tour, this time we will make our own way between the islands (a ferry crossing is very much recommended though try to have the same luck we had three times in 2014 and cross in windless, millpond conditions!). Alternatively, flights between Wellington and Nelson (and indeed other major New Zealand cities) are frequent but as we are visiting close to Christmas booking travel well in advance is advisable.
Key regions
Auckland
Waiheke Island is probably the best known wine-growing region within Auckland, with its rugged coastlines and boutique wineries providing endless amusement for day tripping Aucklanders. However, its ability to produce top quality wines from Bordeaux varieties makes it an important destination for our tour.
The town of Kumeu began to produce grapes for wine when Croatians settled in the 19th Century. By the 1940s wine production was thriving and it was home to some of the most famous names in New Zealand winemaking. Urban sprawl and the lure of new vine growing areas with more space have much reduced vineyard area but Kumeu River is a shining star, producing some of the most sublime single vineyard Chardonnays in the world.
Hawke’s Bay
Warmer than Marlborough, drier than Gisborne, Hawke’s Bay has long autumns that enable slower ripening varieties such as Cabernet Sauvignon to thrive. Syrah in particular has developed a reputation on the Gimblett Gravels, a ‘young’ region geologically (formed by the change in course of the Ngaruroro River in the 19th Century), that was only recently discovered to be better for growing vines than scrawny sheep!
The city of Napier will be our base and is a wonderful place to stroll around in the evening. Rebuilt after an earthquake in the 1930s, it has preserved an Art Deco centre that is much treasured by locals and aficionados of the era.
Gisborne
Sadly we will not be visiting Gisborne, a historic and still important wine growing region of New Zealand’s North Island. I will endeavour to arrange a tasting of Gisborne wines (particularly Chardonnay, for which it is very highly regarded) at our stop over in Taupo.
The first vineyards in the world to see the sun each day benefit from a sunny climate, with sufficient rainfall to ensure it is the only New Zealand wine growing area that is completely dry farmed, so growers and producers have a story well worth hearing.
Wairarapa
An hour or so’s drive over the Rimutaka Hills from the capital Wellington (since the road was much improved in the 1990s), the Wairarapa region, and Martinborough in particular, has a vibrant boutique wine culture, and a famous wine festival each year. Pinot Noir does particularly well here, a different style to that in Central Otago, with great complexity and finesse. Martinborough is charming town to visit, with its Union Jack road grid and pretty colonial buildings, and though we only stay one night we will enjoy a fabulous experience of another special North Island region.
Nelson
Not as famous a wine region as its neighbour (and rival at rugby) Blenheim, Nelson was actually the first place to make wine in the South Island. It is also a hugely popular tourist destination, its central location and glorious coastline, mountains, rivers, lakes, national parks and hiking routes making it a fabulous place for Kiwis to take their breaks.
With a reputation for aromatic varieties such as Riesling and Pinot Gris, which benefit from the cooling effects of the Tasman Sea and the relatively poor alluvial soils, Nelson is known for creating rich wines with lovely acidity. A variety of terroirs mean Chardonnay and Pinot Noir are also widely planted and of great quality. And Nelson is an important hop growing region, so microbreweries abound!
Marlborough
Home to Cloudy Bay, the source of 70% of all of New Zealand’s wine exports, Marlborough needs little introduction. Our focus will be on understanding the nuances of the region – not all Sauvignon Blanc is the same (we will taste some wonderful examples with bottle age and oak influence), and not all wine is Sauvignon Blanc.
While all the major volume wine making companies have a significant presence in Marlborough, we will seek out smaller producers who are doing interesting things with different grape varieties and production techniques, and who can tell the story of Marlborough (and therefore of New Zealand) winemaking from a very personal perspective.
North Canterbury
The city of Christchurch is considered to be the most ‘British’ of Kiwi cities, and became wealthy from the cereals and livestock farmed on fertile plains that extend from the long coast to the Southern Alps. Near the coast, in the Waipara Valley, gravel river banks provide low nutrient soils, and coastal ranges provide shelter from too much Pacific wind and rain.
While serious wine production only began in the 1970s, vineyards were planted by the original European settlers, and classic French varieties are widely grown, with Bordeaux varieties now being a particular focus.
North Otago
Wine grapes have been planted in the region for some years, its cooler climate (and cheaper land) allowing wineries to expand both production and the range of styles they make.
The Waitaki River flows from Lake Benmore near Mount Cook, New Zealand’s highest peak, to the eastern coast, and its valley is is an up and coming tourist destination – particularly for cyclists who take five days to descend from mountain to coast. So some wineries are now setting up in their own right, most notably Valli Vineyards, whose owner, Grant Taylor, was born in Kurow, the centre of wine growing in North Otago. We met Grant on our tours in 2014, and look forward to a return visit, in his new home, in 2026.
Central Otago
The most southerly vineyards in the world until the Patagonians got going, Central Otago has developed a signature style of Pinot Noir – intense and deeply coloured, thanks to the intensity of sunlight in its high altitude vineyards. Queenstown, New Zealand’s ski capital, was thought an unlikely place to make fine wine back in the 1970s, but pioneering winemakers found steep sites that captured the sunshine, and planted fast-ripening varieties (such as Pinot Noir and Chardonnay) that avoided the winter snow and frost. Summers are warm (it can at times be the hottest place in New Zealand) but temperatures drop at night so grapes ripen while retaining freshness.
The backdrop of mountains and lakes will be familiar to cinemagoers, so all our journeys will be spectacular. We will explore key sub regions such as Gibbston, Alexandra, Bannockburn and Wanaka.
A day on tour in New Zealand…
While each day on my tours is unique, we can expect to have a fairly prompt start each day – leaving our hotel around 9am. When we have a day based in a region we will visit a winery in the morning, and either have lunch and a second visit in the afternoon, or a tasting lunch hosted by a winery. At every visit we will have a chance to look at the vineyards or the winery and to meet the people who tend the grapes and make the wines. Our tastings will be comprehensive and allow us, over the course of a module, to fully explore the range of types and styles of wine made in the respective Island.
On days when we need to cover some kilometres, in order to get by road from one region to another, our comfortable coach will take us through New Zealand’s glorious scenery. We will stop regularly for rest and lunch breaks, and on each travel day we will visit at least one winery and depending on the time of day enjoy a meal with our tasting. We will arrive in good time to settle in to our hotel, allowing us time to explore the city we are staying in.
All my tours start with drinks and dinner on the first night, a chance for people to get to know each other (or become reaquainted, having met on previous tours of mine). And we always have a special final meal, either a dinner on our final night, or a lunch on our final day, that allows us to celebrate what we have learnt, the people we have met and of course the wine we have drunk!
More about Tim Syrad Wine Tours
Since 1997 I have escorted over 140 groups of people on wine tours, visiting more than 40 wine regions in Europe and the New World. My clients keep coming back year after year because in addition to tastings and visits we really do meet the people who make the wine and tend the vines.
I pride myself in offering tours that are informative, imaginative and enjoyable. I keep group sizes manageable so that we spend our time appreciating our visits, not getting on and off the bus or queuing for the loos! I personally escort all of my tours, and I ensure as much as possible of the money my clients pay is spent on great food and wine, and good hotels. I believe you can combine appreciating fabulous wine with relaxation and laughter, which is why so many of my clients come on tour with me every year. More than 100 people have come on at least 10 of my tours.
There is a friendly and welcoming atmosphere on every tour from the start, and I am proud that many friendships have been made between the people who come on tour with me.
For more information about me, my next tours, and previous tours I have run, and to find out what my clients say (some of whom have been coming on tour with me since 2001) please explore the website.
For more information about this tour, or to book a place, please contact me
By phone (020 7060 4529)
Or email (tim@timsyradwinetours.com)
Or use the online enquiry form on the Contact page