The 6 best vineyards to visit in Central Otago, New Zealand

Lake Wanaka, an hour from Queenstown in the South Island of New Zealand, is a great place to base yourself to discover the excellent wines of Central Otago. Slated by British wine writer, Jancis Robinson, as one of the top five New World wine producing areas in the world, this region should be a definite stop on any wine-lovers itinerary of New Zealand.

The Central Otago region is most famous for it’s Pinot Noir variety, which thrives in the hot dry summers and cold winters. Pinot Noir makes up 70% of the wines produced in the area, however Pinot Gris, Reisling, and Gerwutztrameiner are also gaining in popularity.
A great day loop starting in Wanaka, driving through to Cromwell and Bannockburn, and continuing on to Queenstown, offers plenty of wine to titivate your tastebuds and amazing scenery to boot. You will need your own transport for this wine circuit, however there are plenty of organised trips on offer if you find yourself in New Zealand without private transport (try Funny French Cars in Wanaka).
1. Rippon – Wanaka
With a view to die for, Rippon Vineyard is the perfect place to begin your day. Located on Mt Aspiring Road, just out of Wanaka, Rippon overlooks Lake Wanaka and the stunning mountain ranges in the distance. Grab a cheese platter, sit on a bench outside and enjoy the sun, whilst sampling their tasty Pinot Noir wines.
2. Lazy Dog – Queensbury
Swing by The Lazy Dog on your way to Cromwell and try their Chenin Blanc and a number of other delicious wines from neighbouring vineyards. Pick up some preserves and relishes from their Farmgate shop, and maybe even some of their freshly smoked salmon for tomorrow morning’s eggs benny!
3. Cider House Café – Cromwell
Stop here for a wee break from wine and try some of the excellent cider on offer at the Cider House Café. Once you are refreshed then take a wee stroll around Old Cromwell before cruising up to Bannockburn.
4. Mt Difficulty – Bannockburn
Located on a hill in Bannockburn overlooking the Cromwell Basin, Mt Difficulty is not to be missed. Set amongst rugged, other-worldly terrain, this is a great place to relax, enjoy the view and take in some lunch from their superb menu. Cardrona merino lamb, wild venison, and slow roasted duck are just a few of the tasty morsels on offer. Pair your meal with one of their excellent Pinot Noir or Pinot Gris wines and you will have an ideal lunch.

5. Peregrine – Gibbston Valley
Gibbston Valley is home to a number of vineyards and Peregrine is definitely one that you don’t want to miss. The building itself represents the wing of a Peregrine in flight and has won awards for architecture both nationally and internationally. The Pinot Noir is once again at the forefront of the wines produced here, however you will also be able to taste excellent Reisling, Pinot Gris, Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc.
6. Amisfield – Lake Hayes
Amisfield is the closest winery to Queenstown itself and is situated next to one of New Zealand’s most picturesque lakes – Lake Hayes. After sampling some of their fine wines, wander through to their sun-drenched courtyard for the famous “Trust the Chef’ menu which is a selection of dishes prepared from the finest and freshest local ingredients. Their bistro was a finalist for the Cuisine NZ Restaurant of the Year 2012 and is the perfect place to end your day.
After so much good food and wine you will most likely find yourself feeling rather full! If it is summer there should be plenty of light left to take a brisk stroll around Lake Hayes before driving through to Queenstown. Stop for a hot spa at Onsen overlooking the Shotover River before driving back to Wanaka over the Crown Range. If you still have energy left then check out the famous Cardrona pub on the Crown Range road. This is a New Zealand institution and one that you should definitely visit at some stage of your stay in Wanaka. By the time you return to Wanaka you will be ready for sleep, completely sated from your perfect day in Central Otago.

Luxury – a gourmet taste of nature

Luxury. What is it really? To most traveling on a vacation and staying in a finely appointed villa or Presidential Suite in a resort, it calls to mind high count Egyptian cotton sheets on a sumptuous bed within an expansive room, replete with amenities that leave nothing to be desired. Or, maybe being able to savor a $1,000 tequila lollypop enhanced with 24 ct. gold flecks. Well, yes, that is luxury, maybe bordering on ostentatious, and something that every high end traveler would certainly appreciate.
But, a suite or villa with those qualities could be anywhere, and so you step outside of your protected environment and you could be in Manhattan, Los Angeles or Cairo. Where is your “luxury” then, outside of your opulent pad? Therein, to me, lies the greater quest – the luxury of a gourmet taste of nature. Let me explain.
I remember a few years back visiting Cartagena, Colombia and staying at a fairly well appointed room in a high rise on the beach. Well, it really wasn’t on the beach; it was just across the highway from the beach. I remember getting up early one morning and going for a walk on the beach. Vendors were already issuing reservation tickets for a lounge chair with sun shading umbrellas. Reservations! The beach was ubiquitous with furniture, and there was little space for anything else, except to walk in a small area of the beach where the tide zone was. This is paradise?
Not from my awareness of traveling around Costa Rica, where except for a few crowded beaches like Jaco, Tamarindo and Manuel Antonio at certain times of the year, basically for most beaches, there are always more vast and endless expanses of sand than people. For my tastes, I like that.
So for me, within Costa Rica, the quintessential “gourmet nature” would be a place I recently visited again – the Casa Oceano beachfront villa. No, I’m not going to describe to you the amenities of the villa, except to say it deserves that term. What I want to talk about is having the good fortune to wake up very early one morning on my last visit and experience a blood red dawn from my bedroom window as the sun was still buried beneath the horizon. Fighting off an impulse to crawl back into bed, I mustered up enough courage to grab my Nikon and walk downstairs. By that time, the opening scene of the day had gone from crimson to deep orange. Bleary eyed, and without even my first morning cup of coffee, I looked across the beachfront infinity pool and snapped this picture.

Now, this is what life is about! I wouldn’t want to get up this early to experience it each day! But for the moment, I was in awe and transfixed. About 15 minutes later as the sun rose, I took this picture:

Later on, the staff arrived and set up the lounge chairs on the sun deck. Now, isn’t this a gourmet taste of nature for a beach lover – right on the beach, not on the other side of the road from the beach, or on a bluff overlooking the beach with no access. From the sun deck, it’s just twelve steps to the sand.
The other benefit of enjoying this gourmet taste of nature is that it’s private. Casa Oceano is located within the Tango Mar Beach Resort – a 125 acre private reserve. It is seldom you will even see anyone on the beach. Casa Oceano on the Tango Mar beach Ah, nature and privacy!
In short, of course when traveling on business, we may not be able to dictate the taste of nature outside of our deluxe accommodations. But, when traveling for pleasure, whether in a condo or villa on the ski slopes of Dear Valley or Aspen, or on a tropical escape, don’t forget to look closely for the real luxury – a gourmet taste of nature.

Luxury travel trends in 2013

 

 

With 2013 now well and truly underway, what can we expect the year to bring as far as luxury tourism is concerned? We got in touch with three members of the travel industry – all Directors at their respective travel businesses – and asked them what they each anticipated the year would bring. Here’s what they had to say:

“We are seeing strong growth in private and custom tour requests from young, successful families. Clients in their early 30s and 40s are planning adventurous Ireland trips for the extended family including grandparents, young children and even babies. They want their children to have authentic cultural experiences whilst retaining their own travel freedom. Private touring provides the independence they want with the structure and local insight that makes for a fantastic tour. For 2013, we are also seeing a trend towards ‘value based luxury’ – clients opting for smaller, boutique accommodations that can reduce overall costs by 20-25%.” Andrew Carr, Managing Director, Kennedy & Carr Ireland Travel.
“As the world moves ever faster there is an even greater need to escape the hurly burly; we see clients wanting to get more off the beaten track to find space and authentic experiences in 2013 and to take advantage of more personal experiences – tailor made expert advice, premium travel by air and rail and smaller upmarket character hotels along with smaller luxury cruise ships. We expect less well known destinations to secure a firmer place in 2013 as true journeys of discovery – places such as Namibia, Malawi, Burma, Cambodia, Mongolia, Oman and Colombia. Within the established favourites we expect to see more travel beyond the icons and the expected, as people explore ‘new’ parts of Australia, New Zealand, Canada, the USA and Morocco, and seek out new experiences such as the northern lights, private safaris and the last great frontiers such as Antarctica. As always exchange rates and safety will be key underlying considerations for our travellers, so expect specialist cruising to continue to grow, along with escorted tours, and US dollar denominated destinations to perform well. Our travellers all enjoy the research and planning stages of their trips, and given the plethora of sources they will rely even more on their trusted travel partners, the companies who genuinely know the destinations and who are passionate about their role in making dreams come true. Our brand essence at WEXAS is “serious travel personalised” which we believe is exactly what the luxury traveller wants in 2013. Steve Allen, Managing Director, WEXAS Tailor-made Travel
“We are definitely experiencing an increase in guests wanting a ‘truly memorable stay’ with a much more substantial itinerary than a simple self-catered house hire and we have seen the demand for fully catered and staffed breaks increase. Clients are also tailoring their stays more with luxury activities and country pursuits such as clay shooting or archery in a sunny English garden, private cheese and wine tasting sessions or an exciting murder mystery evening.

60 Seconds To Stress-Less Holiday Travel

The holidays are already upon us and for many people that means trains, planes and automobiles, as a means of traveling to see friends, family or just getting out of dodge. One of the companions that often travels with us that we'd rather not be there is stress and anxiety. The holidays are stressful enough for many of us, but tack on travel and it amps it up that much more.

One of the things that can help us shift out of our stress and anxiety is to become present, get outside of our heads and widen our perspective. I'm fortunate enough to have worked with a number of people who struggle with stress and anxiety around travelling and in the work some true wisdom comes from them that I now get to share with you.

Here's a one-minute tip that comes from a new release called Mindfulness Meditations for the Anxious Traveler: Quick Exercises to Calm Your Mind. You can use this anywhere and anytime while traveling to begin neutralizing the stress and stepping into what really matters.

Be an Ambassador of Compassion

"When sitting on a plane (or substitute your mode of transportation), see the 'choice point' by considering all the other people on the plane who are also struggling with being an anxious traveler. Remember, up to 40 percent of people struggle with some form of anxiety about traveling. Be an ambassador of compassion, connecting with your heart and saying;

May you feel safe and protected.

May you be at ease.

May you be free from fear.

May you be happy."

The fact is stress around travelling is more prevalent than we usually imagine. Just practice this as an experiment over and again without expectation and see what you notice. Even holding that phrase in your mind can be helpful in getting out of your own head and back into your life.

What would life be like in the days, weeks and months ahead if more people practiced being The Ambassador of Compassion during this high travel season?

We might not only reduce stress, but bring the joy back to traveling.

As always, please share your thoughts, stories and questions below. Your interaction creates a living wisdom for us all to benefit from.