Wine tasting & winery tours

Queenstown wine tours mostly head to the Gibbston Valley cellar doors along the Kawarau River, and longer days add Bannockburn, Cromwell and Arrowtown. Choose a guided minivan trip with a long lunch, a bike ride between vineyards, or a combo with a helicopter flight, jet boat or zipline. For the wider picture, see Queenstown food and drinks and wine tasting and winery tours across Australia and New Zealand.

Half-day wine tours from Queenstown to Gibbston and Arrowtown

A half-day tour is the easiest way into Central Otago Pinot Noir, because the cellar doors sit close together and someone else drives. The Queenstown half-day wine tour visits three wineries for tutored tastings and goes underground at the Gibbston Valley wine cave.

The Gibbston tour with a shared platter lunch covers four wineries and more than 20 tastings. To keep it close to town, the Arrowtown wine tour visits up to four boutique wineries with door-to-door pick-up.

Full-day tours across Central Otago with lunch

Full-day tours add Cromwell and Bannockburn, which is where the long lunches happen. The full-day gourmet wine tour leaves daily at 9.30am for four venues, with a five-dish lunch cooked in retired French oak Pinot Noir barrels and matched with five wines. The 6-hour wine sampler puts tasting first, with 18 cool-climate wines at four Gibbston cellar doors in a group of 14 and an optional lunch paid for on the day.

The Central Otago four winery tour covers Gibbston, Cromwell and Bannockburn, with an antipasti lunch and a walk around historic Old Cromwell.

Wine tours by bike and e-bike

Riding between vineyards suits anyone who wants to set the pace, and the trails are gentle. On the full-day self-guided bike tour you ride 15km from Arrowtown to Gibbston and can stop at up to six wineries, with tastings paid for at each cellar door. The Gibbston e-bike tour picks you up from your accommodation and follows the Arrow River Bridges trail. Other rides sit under Queenstown bike tours, and the guided Ride to the Vines e-bike tour adds hosted tastings and an artisan platter.

Wine tours that add a helicopter, jet boat, zipline or golf

Combos pair one big activity with the vineyards, which works when you only have a day. The helicopter and wine sampler tour starts with a 25-minute scenic flight and a mountaintop glass of sparkling wine before four Gibbston cellar doors. The jet boat and boutique wine tour opens with a 45-minute ride across Lake Wakatipu and the Shotover and Kawarau rivers.

The ziplining and wine tour runs four ziplines above Lake Wakatipu in the morning and three Gibbston vineyards in the afternoon. Golf and a steamship cruise on Lake Wakatipu are also paired with Gibbston tastings on other full-day tours.

Gin, whisky and craft beer, or a shorter morning

The wine, beer and gin tour is a small group of up to 10 leaving at 3pm for Amisfield winery, Rifters Gin in Arrowtown and Canyon Brewing. The twilight wine and craft beer tour lets you taste wine or beer at three Gibbston cellar doors, and a Cardrona Distillery tour adds a 75-minute distillery visit to a Gibbston tasting. A 3-hour Queenstown Hill and Gibbston Valley morning tour is the shortest option.

How to choose, and when to go

Choose by what you want most from the day: tastings, lunch, a ride or one big activity. Gibbston Valley Wines made its commercial debut in 1987, and the region has built its name on cool-climate Pinot Noir since. Many guided tours run daily all year, so winter works as well as summer, but the bike tours follow separate summer and winter timetables. Elsewhere in New Zealand, Wellington wine tasting tours and Hawke's Bay wine tasting tours cover other regions.

Frequently asked questions

Where do Queenstown wine tours go?

Queenstown wine tours go mainly to cellar doors in the Gibbston Valley, with longer tours adding Bannockburn and Cromwell and some starting in Arrowtown. Most half-day tours visit three or four wineries, and many include the Gibbston Valley wine cave.

How long do wine tours from Queenstown take?

A half-day wine tour from Queenstown is a 4 to 5-hour trip, and full-day tours run 6 to 7-hour days. The 3-hour Queenstown Hill and Gibbston Valley tour is the shortest, and combos with a jet boat or zipline run about 6.5-hour days.

Is lunch included on a Queenstown wine tour?

Lunch is included on many Queenstown wine tours, usually as a shared platter at a vineyard, and the full-day gourmet wine tour serves a five-dish lunch. On the wine sampler lunch is optional and paid for on the day, and tastings on the self-guided bike tours are paid at each cellar door.

Do Queenstown wine tours include hotel pick-up?

Most guided Queenstown wine tours include transfers from selected Queenstown accommodation, and several use the tour operators' bus stop outside Marmolada Cafe at 43 Camp Street. Exact pick-up times are confirmed once you book.

Can kids go on a Queenstown wine tour?

Some Queenstown wine tours sell child tickets, including the full-day gourmet wine tour and the 3-hour Queenstown Hill and Gibbston Valley tour. The wine, beer and gin tour is adults only.

What is Queenstown known for in wine?

Queenstown is known for cool-climate Pinot Noir grown in Central Otago, with the Gibbston Valley as the main cellar door area. Riesling, Pinot Gris and Chardonnay also appear on tasting menus, and the underground wine cave at Gibbston Valley is a regular stop.

Queenstown wine tours range from a 3-hour morning loop to a full-day trip across three wine sub-regions. Pick the format that fits how much you want to taste, ride or fly.