|
Church Road Winery is one of the largest and best-known wineries in Hawkes Bay. Enjoying a convenient location just minutes from Napier City, the team creates highly acclaimed award-winning wines by using outstanding fruit from vineyards across Hawke’s Bay, and a combination of traditional and modern winemaking techniques.
One of the oldest wineries in New Zealand, our journey started with a young Tom McDonald whose passion for wine saw him forge both a remarkable legacy and enviable future for Hawke’s Bay winemaking and Church Road Winery. Today, our current Chief Winemaker Chris Scott continues this dedication to creating exceptional wines, combining traditional winemaking practices coupled with innovative techniques. Visit Church Road Winery with Tour Napier
Church Road Winery is available by request on the tours shown
0 Comments
Established by Tim Turvey and Helma van den Berg in 1988, Clearview Estate Winery continues as a successful family-owned and operated business situated in Te Awanga on the Cape Kidnappers coastline of Hawke's Bay.
Our winemaking philosophy is simple: we aim to craft enduring wines with great fruit intensity, wines which truly represent their terroir and varietal character. To accomplish this we nurture our own vineyards and carefully select grape grower partners who share our viticultural philosophy. 
Chief Winemaker Matt Kirby and Assistant Winemaker Rob Bregmen continue to achieve the recognition of awards and accolades for the renowned wines produced at Clearview Estate, a legacy that began with original winemaker Tim Turvey in the late 1980's. Planted varieties include Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Malbec, Semillion & Syrah. Visit Clearview Estate Winery with Tour Napier
Clearview Estate Winery is available by request on any of these tours.
Purpose-built as a winery, Brookfields is built on tradition and sustainability combining the best techniques from the past and today, to produce exciting wines each year from their own or shared ownership Hawke's Bay vineyards.
The history of Brookfields is revealed in the handmade 25cm concrete blocks used to build the winery and the cellar in the 1930s. These handmade blocks create the perfect environment for ageing great wines and keeping the cellar cool during Hawke's Bay's hot summers.
Peter creates classic wines with grapes only grown in specific locations and to his strict growing policy - expressing the essence of place. The Brookfields reputation has been built on stunning red wines. The 1989 'Gold Label' Cabernet / Merlot amazed traditional wine critics and the trade on its release. Its sheer weight and flavour made it the wine of the vintage. Subsequent vintages have firmly placed Brookfields as one of Hawke's Bay's best red winemakers.
Brookfields produces between 8,000 and 10,000 cases of wine each year and even in a great vintage, that won't change a great deal. Peter says he has no desire to push up volumes and chase expansion when there's always the challenge of creating an even more dramatic wine.
Visit Brookfields with Tour Napier
All the tours shown either include a visit to Brookfields in their standard itineraries or it can be included on request.
Askerne Estate winery was established in April 1993 when wine lovers John and Kathryn Loughlin purchased the original 11.6 hectares site in Te Mata Mangateretere Road. They called the property Askerne, being the olde English name of Kathryn’s birthplace - Askern in Yorkshire, England.
 Three generations of the Coughlin family
At Askerne, the majority of fruit is hand harvested and sorted. Winemaking techniques have been refined in search of elegance, structure and the aromatic qualities that we desire for each wine style. The winemaking approach is to gently coax the flavours and aromatics from the fruit and then to polish and showcase them in all their glory.
The aspiration is to produce wines which complement food, but are vibrant and exciting when standing alone. Visit Askerne with Tour Napier
All the tours shown either include a visit to Askerne in their standard itineraries or it can be included on request.
The story of Mission Estate begins with a group of French Missionaries who sailed to New Zealand in 1838 with little more than their faith and a few vines. Mission Estate was established by these Missionaries in Hawke’s Bay in 1851, where vines were planted to produce sacramental and table wine and so New Zealand’s first winery was born.
The winery is housed in an elegantly restored seminary building nestling in the Taradale hills and offers visitors sweeping views of the vineyards and coast beyond. The cellar door provides an opportunity to taste from an extensive range of wines in truly historic & beautiful surroundings.
Savour the Mission Estate experience with Tour Napier
All of the tours shown either feature Mission Estate in their standard itinerary or can be included on request.
Napier is known as the Art Deco Capital of the world. Following a massive earthquake (7.9 on the Richter scale) on the morning of Tuesday 3 February 1931, fires destroyed most of the commercial heart of Napier. The city was rebuilt in the style of that era and by the end of the decade Napier was the newest city on the globe.
Nowhere else can you see such a variety of buildings in the styles of the 1930s - Stripped Classical, Spanish Mission, and above all Art Deco, the style of the 20th Century. Napier's Art Deco is unique, with Maori motifs and the buildings of Louis Hay, admirer of the great Frank Lloyd Wright.
Napier is enhanced by palms and the angular Norfolk Island pines and bounded by fertile fruit and grape growing plains, dramatic hills and the shores of the South Pacific. In Napier, you can enjoy the legacy of its brave rebuilding and savour the spirit of the optimistic Art Deco era.
The style we now call Art Deco originated in Europe in the early years of the 20th Century, and its heyday was from 1920 to 1940. It became widely known following the great Exposition des Arts Modernes Decoratifs et Industriels, held in Paris in 1925 and from which its name was ultimately derived. By the late 1930s it was in its streamlined phase and after World War 2, the International Style, devoid of all decoration, held sway. Not until the late 1960s did people begin to rediscover it and take it seriously.
Art Deco expresses all the vigor and optimism of the roaring twenties, and the idealism and escapism of the grim thirties.
Its decorative themes are:
Explore the Art Deco City with Tour Napier
All of these tours either include the Art Deco City in their standard itinerary or can include it on request.
Te Mata Park and its famous peak is one of the most loved and visited places in Hawke’s Bay. Gifted in perpetuity to the community in 1927 and managed by a small group of volunteer trustees, with appreciated help from local councils and the community, the Park is a cultural, historical and recreational treasure offering fabulous 360-degree views across the area.
Sunrise over Te Mata Peak & the Tuki Tuki river
Explore Te Mata Peak with Tour Napier
All the tours shown either include a visit to the Peak as standard or can include it on request
Key dates in history1300s - Early settlement
There is evidence of past settlement from this period, including pā sites and other earthworks. The Karaka groves in the upper Te Hau Valley area and Moa bones found on the slopes suggest intensive Māori settlement.
1769 - James Cook
Captain James Cook sighted New Zealand on 6 October 1769, and landed at Poverty Bay two days later. He drew detailed and accurate maps of the country, and wrote about the Māori people.
His first encounter with Māori was not successful – a fight broke out in which some Māori were killed. However, after this Cook and his men are reported to have had friendly contact with Māori. 1820 - Waikato Maori invasion
The Waikato Māori are said to have invaded the Te Mata area and the Ngāti Pare tribe, which lived along the range as far as Mt Erin, made its last stand at Pakake on the western spurs of Te Mata Peak. The women and children who were spared went to the top and held a funeral ceremony looking toward Cape Kidnappers and cutting their faces and bodies with sharp flints. They were then taken to Waikato.
Chiefteness Winipere was also captured and recited a lament as she said farewell to Heretaunga from Te Mata Peak; this song was well known by elders as a funeral chant. 1862 - John Chambers
1926 - Redwoods planted
The grove of 223 stunning California redwoods (Sequoia sempervirens) was planted in 1926 and many are now over 40 metres tall. The Chambers family were great experimenters with tree planting and, having generally favoured eucalypts, decided to try a conifer species. Noting the similarities between the climates of Hawke’s Bay and coastal California, they decided to plant a large grove of redwoods. Native to America and the tallest of all trees, the redwood is an evergreen and extremely long-lived tree with a life span of 2,500 to 3,500 years.
1977 - QE2 National Trust
In 1977, Te Mata Park was placed under a Queen Elizabeth II National Trust (QEII National Trust) covenant to ensure permanent protection of this iconic landscape. The purpose of this covenant is to promote the provision, protection and enhancement of open space, for the benefit and enjoyment of all people in New Zealand.
In 1944 Percy Berry bought nine acres in Arataki Road, Havelock North. With his son Ian, Percy registered 131 hives to Arataki Apiaries Ltd, and began a journey that resulted in the Arataki Honey we know and love.
Today, family-owned Arataki Honey has three manufacturing sites across the North and South Islands of New Zealand, employs over 100 people and is home to 1.5 billion bees.
Visit Arataki Honey Visitor Centre with Tour Napier
All the tours shown either include Arataki Honey on the standard itinerary or can include it on request.
Birdwoods is a very special place in the heart of beautiful Hawke's Bay. Set in the countryside just 3km from Havelock North village, Birdwoods is a 'must see' for all visitors and locals, offering a gallery, sculpture garden, cafe, real fruit ice-cream shop and our much loved old fashioned sweet shop.
Opened in 2005 by Bruce and Louise Stobart, the Gallery's home is the original church hall from St Peter's in Waipawa built in 1894. The old hall has since had a beautiful conservatory added and the extensive grounds include an outdoor terrace, a Garden Room, a Sun Room and a large sculpture garden and water feature, inhabited by ducks and gold fish. Visitors enjoy Birdwoods famous cafe treats all year round in one of the Bay's loveliest settings.
Right next door to Birdwoods Gallery is the Birdwoods Sweet Shop, an old fashioned sweet shop 'just like you remember' housed in a charming one room colonial cottage made from reclaimed materials. Packed to the rafters with a treasure trove of sweets, it’s a favourite of young and old.
The words most often used to describe visiting Birdwoods for the first time are, "serene", "wonderful", "delicious" and "stunning". Come and experience beautiful Birdwoods for yourself - available now via all the tours shown below.
Book your visit to Birdwoods with Tour Napier! |
AuthorPaul Sweeney is the joint owner-operator of Tour Napier & Napier Classic Cars |
RSS Feed
