Wine tours Napier or Picton

We will be on RCCL Ovation in March and the last two stops are in Napier and Picton. The ship offers wine tours to Hawkes Bay in Napier and to Marlborough in Picton. We are mostly red wine drinkers and want to know which area is better for red wines. In Hawkes Bay the wineries are Sileni Estates, Mission Estate Winery and Ngatarawa Wineries. In Marlborough the wineries are not listed. Is one area better than the other or is it a coin toss?

I've been to the Hawkes Bay region and sampled a few wines there (I didn't go to any of the wineries you mentioned above, though). I do remember buying quiet a bit - more reds than whites - so I'm sure you'll find something you like.

I've been to the Hawkes Bay region and sampled a few wines there (I didn't go to any of the wineries you mentioned above, though). I do remember buying quiet a bit - more reds than whites - so I'm sure you'll find something you like.

 

Actually - I tell a lie. I did go to Sileni, but it was the last place we visited and everything was starting to get a bit 'blurry' by then (if you catch my drift). But I do remember it was a beautiful cellar door with lots of chocolates, cheeses and even ice cream to try. This was back in 2012, so things could have changed in that time.

Is one area better than the other or is it a coin toss?

IIRC, Marlborough and Hawke's Bay are by volume of production the number one and number two wine areas in New Zealand, and both areas have some well-known high-quality wineries. So as areas go, it would be hard to say that one is better than the other (and even production volume is not necessarily a reliable guide to the existence of high-quality wineries in an area). Your experience will be much more affected by which wineries you actually visit, and there will be good wineries and rubbish wineries in both areas - so it's a pity that you haven't been told where in Marlborough the tour would go.

I guess we could simplify this and do both of them.:D:wine-glass:

The Marlborough region has some fantastic wines and wineries but they are more famous for whites not reds. If you decide to go down that path, avoid the ships tours...google Bubbly Grape wine tours. We did a tour through them and it was amazing. It was the highlight of our NZ trip and we are not big wine drinkers.

I've already checked on Viator and several independent tour companies have wine tours but their schedules don't get us back to the ship on time. Our next option is a private wine tour but they are expensive($800+) unless we can find some other cruisers to share the tour with. I agree that our last resort is with the cruise ships tour which usually means a "cattle car tour", herd'em in...... herd'em out. Are there reputable wine tour vendors around the pier area when we get of the ship?

 

I have contacted Bubbly Grape wine tours, hopefully they have a schedule that will work.

It might be a good idea to go to your Roll Call and see if anyone else there would be interested in doing a private wine tour with you. If your Roll Call is quiet, maybe check out other 'social media' sites and see if they have an event page set up for your cruise - there may be active members there looking for friends to do tours with.

If it helps I used Highlight wine tours in Picton in 2014 owned and run by Colleen and David. I will also use them again in April 2018. They will tailor make a tour to suit your needs. I visited Hunters and Framingham wineries out of Picton and had a wonderful lunch with Sauvignon Blanc at local winery as well. There is a range of reds and whites to enjoy. I think the reds are lighter types like Pinot Noir because of soil, climate and growing conditions. You can pass on that Danny Byrne from Mt Tamborine Australia recommended them.

 

Here is the website..

 

https://www.highlightwinetours.co.nz/

 

If you post in your roll call, others may join the group to reduce costs.

 

Best wishes Danny Byrne

 

 

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