Waiheke Island, is just a comfortable 35 minute ferry cruise from downtown Auckland City. The island is famous for its beautiful white sand beaches and is world renowned for producing great red wines due to its low summer rainfall and high temperatures.
Major Waiheke Vineyards
Mudbrick Vineyard
Mudbrick Vineyard is a must-see Waiheke winery,
being one of the most picturesque in the world.
Visitors can gaze over rolling countryside down to the waters of the Hauraki Gulf, scattered with islands, and out to Auckland City in the distance.
Mudbrick vineyard works from two different sites which have quite varied terrain. The Mudbrick vineyard is
planted on mostly, north-facing clay slopes and has a closer maritime influence than Shepherds Point vineyard which lays on gently undulating terrain, within a valley, under the protection of the long Stony Ridge.
One of the advantages of having two sites is that they can blend separate wines together to produce a more complex and rewarding result. Differences can be exemplified with, say, Merlot batches where Shepherds Point provides a strong leather character and Mudbrick gives dense chocolate and plum characters. Selection between and within these different sites adds greater complexity and reward.
Goldie Wines
Goldie Wines is the home of Waiheke's pioneering vineyard originally established by Kim & Jeanette Goldwater in 1978. The vineyard has a history of producing internationally-renowned, premium wines, using traditional winemaking techniques together with modern technology and fine French oak. Goldie Wines produces individually handcrafted wines with vibrant fruit characters, harmonious balance, elegant structure and exceptional concentration.
The Goldie Room offers casual vineyard lunches, wine tasting and personalised vineyard & winery tours. Join them for the 'Long Lunch' on the last Friday of each month and for lunches throughout the year and for an extended period over Summer.
Stonyridge Vineyard
Nowhere is the magic of Waiheke vineyards captured more poignantly than the rose coloured winery overlooking the olive grove and north facing vineyard at Stonyridge.
Stonyridge are dedicated to producing the finest Cabernet blend wine in the world (Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Malbec and Petit Verdot). This involves meticulous organic viticulture and traditional winemaking. The early Bordeaux-style wines from Stontridge helped bring Waiheke Reds to the notice of the world.
The unpreproposing vineyard cafe, with its rustic outlook, is a perfect lunch location.
Te Whau Vineyard
Te Whau Vineyard was established in 1993 by Tony, Moira
and Caroline Forsyth.
The vineyard was planted in 1996 and the award-winning wines, “The Point” and Te Whau Chardonnay were first made in 1999.
In January 2001 the restaurant was opened on the top level of the winery, perched on Te Whau Point, overlooking the Hauraki Gulf with stunning views across the Inner Gulf back to Rangitoto Island, Auckland City and beyond. This is one of my favourite places to lunch in all of New Zealand as the views are unsurpassed and it provides a wonderful, all-round dining experience.
Te Whau offer fresh European-influenced New Zealand Cuisine, plus wine tastings and cellar-door wine sales. The restaurant offers what is recognised as one of New Zealand’s finest wine lists, with particular depth in older vintages of Waiheke Island Classics as well as a wide range of the very best wines of New Zealand and the finest wines of France.
Cable Bay Vineyards
Cable Bay Vineyards is one of the newer wineries on Waiheke and includes a restaurant, tasting room and working winery, with an impressive decor. Overlooking pastoral farmland and the inner gulf, Cable Bay Vineyards affords views that stretch past Motukaha Island to Auckland City in the distance.
Whether you visit to savour the wines in the tasting room, or enjoy a meal in the restaurant, you’ll experience the best Waiheke has to offer. Cable Bay Vineyards serves fresh, seasonal New Zealand cuisine at lunch and dinner, partnered with elegant wines from Waiheke Island and Marlborough.
