Private Tour: Queenstown Wine Tasting and Cardrona Distillery Exploration
5.0
5 Ratings
Queenstown
Embark on a private tour in Queenstown and indulge in a delightful combination of wine tasting in Gibbston Valley and exploring the Cardrona Distillery. Discover the art of distilling spirits in the Southern Alps and savor the flavors of the region with tutored tastings. Don't miss the chance to visit the iconic Cardrona Hotel and experience the best wineries and cellar doors in the picturesque Gibbston wine region.
Duration: 7 hours, 30 minutes
Cancellation: 1 day learn more
Highlights

This morning I’ll pick you up at your Hotel and we’ll drive up over the Crown Range towards Cardrona, we’ll stop for an amazing photo shot looking back towards the Remarkables and Lake Wakatipu. It’s then a short drive through the Cardrona Valley until we arrive at the Cardrona Distillery and Museum.

The Cardrona Distillery is located in a beautifully designed group of buildings housing the very best in copper stills to make beautifully crafted spirits. The spirits are hand-crafted from scratch starting with just malted barley, water, and yeast.
The Classic Distillery Tour will take us on a journey through the working distillery and barrelhouse and finishes with a tutored tasting of Cardrona Distillery’s artisan spirits. It is a proud tradition that many distilleries offer casks for Private filling each year. The Cardrona Distillery is carrying on this fine tradition by offering a small number of cask for filling with new make spirit that will mature into the single malt whisky

Established in 1863 the Cardrona Hotel is one of New Zealand’s oldest and most iconic hotels and is one of only two remaining buildings from the Cardrona Valley gold rush era. We will stop here for a walk through the hotel, a cold beverage if you’re inclined and snap that iconic photo shot!

Lunch Recommendations (at own expense)

Cardrona Hotel - offers traditional pub favourites with a twist, using the freshest seasonal produce from the region.

Gibbston Valley Winery Restaurant - offers a seasonal menu featuring carefully selected ingredients that reflect local flavours with both an

Amisfield Bistro - multi-award winning restaurant offers a 3 course ‘Trust the Chef’ lunch with optional wine matching.

After lunch, we will drive through the Gibbston Valley wine region and visit some of the top wineries to sample more stunning wines and we’ll also stop in at a new boutique tasting room. Wet Jacket Cellar Door is located in a beautifully converted 150-year-old former wool shed and their wines are only available here and in a few of the top restaurants in the country. On our return back to Queenstown, we will drive through Arrowtown a small Gold miners village before returning to your hotel.

What's Included
  • Hotel pickup and drop-off
  • Private tour
  • Professional Driver/guide
  • Bottled water
  • Wine tasting fees
  • Local taxes
  • Transportation
What's Not Included
  • Lunch
Additional Information

Combine stunning wine in Gibbston Valley with artisian spirits from the Southern Alps.

Journey through the working distillery and barrelhouse finishing with a tutored tasting at the Cardrona Distillery and Museum.

A brief stop at the iconic Cardrona Hotel before we visit the stunning Gibbston wine region, experiencing wine tastings at the top wineries and cellar doors.

  • A minimum of 2 people per booking is required
  • Minimum age is 18 years (New Zealand drinking minimum age)
  • Please advise any specific dietary requirements at time of booking
Location
Queenstown
Cancellation Policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

Customer Ratings
5.0
(5 Ratings)
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Kenmc211
May 14, 2022
Wonderful whiskey, wines, food and views - Trevor was a wonderful guide with great local knowledge, who selected perfect wine tasting venues to go along an awesome distillery tour, ka rawe excellent
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Thirsty73
Jun 22, 2020
Faultless and fun! - Four of us took this tour with Lee. He was fantastic! Funny, knowledgeable, patient and great company. It was an amazing day with wonderful wine and picturesque scenery. I can not recommend this tour enough. Better than we expected and we will be back to do more tours for sure!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Zavalaphilam
Mar 13, 2020
Great coordination, highly flexible, travel in comfort - We actually had multiple days with Alpine Tours. Jamie was our driver/host on all 3 days. We were a small group so it was very easy to discuss our destinations. We did the wine tour (slight changes due to the weather), Tasman glacier hike/helo ride, and Dart river jetboat ride/Arrowtown tour. Separate reviews were done for those specific events. Alpine tours provided us with lunch for certain events, transport to/ from activities and narration along our routes. Many thanks to Jamie who made our vacation a truly memorable visit.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Alasitsalice
Jan 6, 2020
Great Day - Our family of four booked a wine tour with Lee in late December 2019. Lee was extremely flexible and responsive to our group - his kind and friendly demeanor made the tour seem more like a day out with a friend rather than a tour. The tour (ie Lee) was full of interesting information, laughs and friendly exchange coupled with excellent locations to visit - the day was excellent from start to finish. Thank you, Lee!!1
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Cherry
Oct 1, 2018
Great day out - Lee was outstanding with his local knowledge, flexibility and enthusiasm. He really made our private tour for 20 a lot of fun with plenty of time to explore with a detailed distillery tour, beautiful fine dining lunch, wine cave etc. Every one of us totally enjoyed our day. Thank you!!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
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