Wine Tasting on Waiheke Island, New Zealand

Coming highly recommended from a close friend, we decided to spend my birthday weekend on Waiheke Island — accessible with a short 45 minute ferry off of Auckland. Waiheke is a gorgeous little island, which reminds me of a tropical Tuscany, covered in lush greenery over the rolling hills dotted with vineyards above the turquoise water bays and coves. It’s fabulous! The main attraction, other than enjoying the beaches and fine dining, is wine tasting. There are over 30 boutique wineries in the 36 square miles, and over our 3 nights on island, we were able to visit seven of them! We ranked them below, from our least favorite to most favorite.

#7: Stonyridge Vineyard

$25 NZD for tasting three wines.

Okay so this one is technically cheating because we didn’t actually get a tasting or anything to eat or drink… but that’s really a testament to why it’s ranked as our least favorite! Stonyridge was noted as one of the most popular “must see” wineries in Waiheke, so perhaps our expectations were too high from the get go.

Upon arriving, the exterior is a beautiful ivy-lined building giving European villa vibes, and the restaurant seating area had a nice view overlooking the rolling hills — but the wine tasting area was disappointing. It was a crammed little greenhouse-style space (but plastic removable walls…not a pretty glass greenhouse), with no view, as it was tucked down the hill of the olive grove. Every seat was taken and it felt incredibly stuffy inside, so we opted to skip Stonyridge and walk to the winery next door about half a mile away, while leads me to….

#6: Te MotU

$30 NZD for tasting four wines, primarily reds.

Te Motu boasted a lovely entryway with tree-lined driveways along the vineyards, but we were again slightly let down upon arriving to the Cellar Door. (“Cellar Door” is where the wine tastings are hosted at NZ wineries, as opposed to the restaurant space.) At Te Motu, the tasting area is canvas circular shaded yurt area, which on this particular day due to the barely-drizzly weather had (yet again) plastic removable walls. Ugh! Real ambiance killer.

But since we had just skipped on Stonyridge, and had walked all the way up the hill here, we thought we might as well enjoy a tasting! The “classic” tasting was $30 NZD for four wines, and they largely make Bordeaux-style reds, so the tasting included 1 rosé and 3 reds — the last one being quite pricey, at $155 per bottle!

All in all, it was a fine tasting but nothing to write home about. I’m surprised these wineries with such exquisite restaurants (read: expensive!) drop the ball on the tasting area.

#5: Goldie Estate

$25 NZD for tasting — although we opted for a single glass.

Goldie Estate was cute and different! Goldie is the “pioneering” winery on Waiheke, according to their website, the owners founded wine-growing on Waiheke in 1978. It didn’t look like much when we drove in downhill, but once you walk inside, the decor is an eclectic but chic mix of old school decor, think massive velvet curtains and lampshades with fringe tassels. We decided to do just a glass instead of a seated tasting, because it looked like you could enjoy your wine out on the land and walk around the vineyards — or wherever you desire! There was no seating discrimination here ;)

So we jaunted up the hill with our glass in hand and were delightfully surprised by the panoramic view over native bush and rolling vineyard with Putiki Bay in the distance (the top photo of this post — which was invisible from the tasting room!). Even though it was an overcast day, it was still beautiful! They don’t have a restaurant on-site, but do offer deli-style picnic snacks to enjoy on the grounds.

#4: Wild on Waiheke

$20 NZD for three wines — but we had a dry lunch :)
They are a winery and brewery, so they also offer a $20 NZD brewers tasting for four beers.

This place had a lot going on! In addition to the winery cellar door tastings; they also make their own beer (I even saw they had a cider on the menu!); plus a delicious and stylish full-service restaurant; and they have an array of activities (archery in the vines, and electric claybird shooting —which I’ve never seen before); AND lawn games like a giant garden chess board and cornhole which they called “Californian sandbags.” I told you, a lot going on. Fun!

We came at noon and opted for coffee instead of booze, but enjoyed a delicious and unique meal, sharing a pizza and an asian-fusion salad. It’s just down the hill from Stonyridge Vineyards, Te Motu, and one other winery we did not visit, Tantalus Estate, so if you’re on foot and don’t have a rental car, you could plan a whole day just in this walkable region.

#3: Man O’ War

$25 NZD for unknown amount of wines.

Man O’ War is on the far east coast of Waiheke Island. The western half of the island is the developed part, with the eastern half largely left untouched. Man O’ War is about a 30-45 minute drive from the main towns of Waiheke on an unsealed gravel road. We had a rental car so we were able to drive ourselves, but a lot of people arrive to Waiheke by passenger ferry and don’t bring their rental car along (it’s quite pricey), so Man O’ War offers a bus service to bring folks out to their property, or their website also flaunts that arrivals by boat and private helicopter are also frequent and easily accommodated. Ballin!

Wine tastings are by reservation-only, and we had decided to venture out on a whim, so they were all booked up. However, they welcome walk-ins to the “lawn bar” and tasting room picnic area, where we enjoyed a glass of wine and a whipped ricotta shared plate. The lawn bar had a snack-style food truck setup, whereas the tasting room picnic tables had a full food & drink menu. The actual restaurant on-site looked super cute (reservations required!), and the entire property is right on the beachfront. We unfortunately got stuck with a couple of drizzly overcast days in Waiheke, but on a sunny day, jumping in for a swim after a tasting here would be dreamy.

#2: Miro Winery

$20 NZD for five wines. The best deal so far!

Miro Winery is a Spanish style winery with Gaudi-inspired architecture and colorful art installations spread across the property. The restaurant on-site, Casita Miro, looked delicious but we were coming shortly after a light lunch so we opted for tapas from the Cellar Door. Upon ordering our wine flights, potatas bravas and goat cheese croquettes, we had the option to sit on the olive grove hillside lawn with bean bag seating, or on the terrace overlooking the vineyards and Onetangi Beach. With a total of ten wine glasses between the two of us (they serve you the flight all-at-once, versus one by one tastings), we opted for the terrace seating.

The wines, the tapas, the views were all fantastic. I would highly recommend coming here, and even planning ahead to make a reservation to enjoy the full menu at Casita Miro.

#1: Mudbrick Vineyard

Unknown tasting fees.

Mudbrick’s website self-describes as “the most romantic place on Earth” and I might agree! We luckily ventured to Mudbrick on our first evening on Waiheke, the only sunny day we had, and I’m so grateful we did. The views and the property itself are breathtaking, with perfectly manicured green rolling hills, olive trees giving a European flair, acres and acres of rolling vineyard hills, the turquoise Hauraki Gulf, and even city views of the Auckland skyscrapers in the distance. Mudbrick is one of our favorite wineries we’ve ever been to, worldwide!

There were several levels of seating with different offerings — main restaurant, bistro restaurant, cellar door, and rooftop bar! Since we arrived without a reservation, our options were to either be seated inside at the Bistro restaurant or enjoy the outdoor rooftop bar. With the weather so gorgeous, we wanted to be outdoors! The main restaurant was rented out to a private party, hosting a wedding (what a fabulous venue).

The rooftop bar offered a light menu from the bistro below, and a variety of their wines, some beers, and even a couple of cocktails offered. We had a couple of glasses of wine, followed by Aperol Spritz, paired with calamari, fries, and poke. Seating options included couches, or high-top or low-top tables on the terrace with the phenomenal views, or bean bag seating up the hillside in the olive grove. We started on the terrace and moved up to the bean bags with our spritz, and had a lovely evening!