Today we had a wine tour booked. Ive done a couple wine tasting and had a bit of a wine tour of waiheke on our Christmas Party of work, but this was my first official wine tour! We were picked up at our accommodation by Bay Tours.
There are heaps of tours in Nelson, but from everyone I spoke with Bay Tours is the best. We opted for the Explore the Plains tour, which was 4 vineyards. Luckily enough we scored a free brewery tour as well! Sweet! All for $78!! Not bad for a days tours! Unfortunately I didnt get any photos. I guess I was pre-occupied with all of the great wines!
They picked us up at we were off to sample chardonnay, sauvignon blanc, riesling and pinot gris, pinot noir, cabernet sauvignon, merlot, cabernet franc, shiraz, gewurztraminer and rose. We visited Golden Hills, Te Mania, Siefried and one more vineyard.. yup.. cant remember it. My favourite was Golden Hills, funny enough it was the most expensive of all vineyards.. I didn’t know that until after I purchased a bottle. At Siefried’s we had a bite to eat and got to know everyone else on the tour. There was a kiwi couple and a bunch of Americans.. boo! These Americans had the gull to tell me how they tell everyone they are Canadian since when they say they are American they don’t get the kindest reception. Yah.. I was not impressed. I told them, very nicely, that Canadians HATE it when they call themselves Canadians. They didn’t really seem to care.. what a bunch of dicks! I am not a fan of Americans!
After all the wineries we hit a local brewerie. It was great; the samples just kept on coming!! Everyone was in a pretty good state at this time. I got a bottle of the wheat beer and Michelle got some cider.
The wine tour was great. It was a lot of fun and our guide Brian was great. He explained the wines and also that wine is very personal, so everyone has a different opinion and that is all ok! Overall I would totally recommend doing this tour.. great time was had by all!
We were dropped off at Tahuna where Michelle and I finished off a bottle of Wheat Beer and then it was off to bed. The next morning it was on the road for our long trip back to Nelson.
