A nice glass of something local goes a long way towards the success of any holiday. So it’s little wonder that Australia and New Zealand send so many tourists winding a haphazardly happy route home.
Whether clients have the nose of a sommelier and want to spend time at multiple cellar doors, or if they just enjoy dipping their toe into the world of wines, there’ll be no sour grapes if you send them Down Under.
Australia
As the world’s seventh-largest wine producer, the Aussies have more than enough to go round.
Most of the vineyards are concentrated in the south of the country, where the temperate climate provides the right balance of rain and sunshine to ripen the grapes to perfection.
In South Australia clients are spoilt for choice, with nine distinct wine regions within an hour and a half of Adelaide. Label lovers will enjoy a tour of the Magill Estate, the original home of the deluxe Penfolds wines.
The Barossa Valley is renowned for its shiraz, and the Clare Valley for its rieslings. You can download a free wine and food guide with heaps of useful detail from southaustralia.com.
Visitors can practise wine-making on a Make Your Own Blend tour at Penfold Barossa. Their blend will be bottled for them with their name on the label.
Victoria’s most famous wine region is the Yarra Valley, just outside Melbourne. Its cool climate produces delicate pinot noirs and chardonnays. Clients could take three days and follow the Great Grape Road through the state, starting from the grand, gold rush-era buildings of Ballarat and winding through the mountainous terrain of the Pyrenees and Grampians. Maps and routes are available from tourist information offices.
In New South Wales, the Hunter Valley is conveniently located near Sydney and is famous for semillon grapes and smooth, medium-bodied wines.
Western Australia’s southern tip produces fine wines too, alongside other foodie treats including local beers, chocolate and ice cream. Clients can take a day wine cruise out of Perth into the Swan Valley with stops for cellar-door tastings and lunch at a winery restaurant – most operators offer this popular excursion.
Margaret River has a selection of wineries close to the coast for those who also love seafood, or surfing, and the region produces cheeses, jam and olives too.
New Zealand
The Kiwis’ delicious, meadow-fresh sauvignon blancs are often cited as the best in the world, but the islands’ winemakers also produce award-winning reds, from delicate pinot noirs to fruity blends of cabernet sauvignon and merlot.
Wine is grown in most areas of these small islands, but the headline spots are Gisborne and Hawke’s Bay on the eastern side of North Island, and on South Island at Marlborough in the north and Central Otago in the south.
Tourism in Gisborne and Hawke’s Bay is centred around the wine industry, but the city of Napier also holds interest for its beautiful art deco buildings, all built after it was razed by an earthquake in 1931.
The Martinborough wine region in Wairarapa is also famous, and just outside Wellington, so makes an easy day trip for those staying in the city.
On South Island, the Marlborough region makes a lovely stop between Kaikoura, New Zealand’s whale watching hot-spot, and Picton, from which ferries make the crossing to North Island. Recommend clients stop for at least one night, preferably two, to make the most of the region’s vines.
The Wanaka wine region in Central Otago is just north of Queenstown, so makes a natural twin with this gateway to the Southern Alps, where clients can hike in the mountains or try scarier activities in New Zealand’s adrenaline sports capital.
Wine tour packages
So famous are New Zealand’s grapes that some operators offer entire itineraries tailored around visiting the wine regions, splicing other highlights in between.
Cox & Kings’ 15-night Classic Wine Trail, from £2,895, starts in Auckland and ends in Christchurch, with six days focused on wine areas. Austravel’s six-day self-drive Follow the Grapevine weaves between North Island’s wine regions and starts from £503. Both prices exclude flights.
Day wine excursions are available too, with specialist operators Anzcro and Kirra Tours both offering a particularly wide range. Options include self-guided cycling tours in Hawke’s Bay and Marlborough and group tours of most wine areas.
A plusher option is a Twilight Odyssey evening in Hawke’s Bay, where clients take part in an interactive wine-tasting and watch the sun set with champagne, before spreading a three-course dinner across gourmet winery restaurants. This extravaganza costs from £130 with Kirra Tours.
In Australia, longer tours tend to be less wine-centric, but many itineraries include time in the Hunter, Barossa or Yarra valleys when visiting Sydney, Adelaide and Melbourne respectively.
For tailor-made holidays, pretty much all operators offer one-day tasting trips into these areas. Many also package up the Hunter Valley with time in the wilderness Blue Mountains and Port Stephens for dolphin watching cruises, over three to five days.
The Barossa Valley combines well with Adelaide and a trip out to Kangaroo Island, which usually takes around four days, or with the Flinders Ranges for outback experiences and rock art.
The Yarra Valley is adjacent to the lush valleys of the Dandenongs National Park, where clients can take Puffing Billy, a heritage steam train, through the countryside.
Also nearby is Daylesford, whose mineral springs make it Australia’s spa and wellness capital. It’s also a great area for foodies, with local produce and fine restaurants.
Visitors to Western Australia’s wineries will invariably do so from Perth. Two or three-day visits to Margaret River’s wineries also often include the limestone formations at Mammoth Cave, the Cape Leeuwin Lighthouse, which stands at Australia’s most south-westerly point where the Southern and Indian Ocean meets, and the area around Pemberton, where huge karri, marri and jarrah trees grow to heights of 60m.
In my opinion…
Rupert Taylor is assistant head sommelier at Boundary Restaurant in London
“Australia’s Margaret River is one of the greatest regions when it comes to producing wines from cabernet sauvignon. A particular favourite of mine is Cullen in Cowaramup (cullenwines.com.au), one of the early pioneers of quality wine production in this area. Pick up a bottle of the Diana Madeleine cabernet sauvignon, which is a truly iconic Australian wine, and have lunch in the restaurant, where, like the wines, all the produce is organic or biodynamic and often grown in the kitchen garden.
“I also have a huge soft spot for the pinot noirs of New Zealand’s Central Otago, and tend to prefer the wines produced around Bannockburn. I wandered into Felton Road winery (feltonroad.co.nz) on the off-chance of getting to try some of their iconic pinot noir, and even though I had showed up before the opening hours it was one of the best cellar-door experiences I have had.
Sample product
Qantas Holidays offers a four-night South Australia Wine Country Escape self-drive package visiting Adelaide, the Barossa Valley and McLaren Vale, including two nights at Mercure Grosvenor Hotel in Adelaide, two nights at Novotel Barossa Valley Resort and five days’ Hertz Group B car hire, from £375 per person excluding flights. qantasholidays.co.uk/agents, 020 8222 9124
