Waiheke Vintage Festival

Overview

Is there anything unappealing about roaming around an idyllic island, listening to music and drinking wine? The proverbial crickets are deafening because no, no there is not. The Waiheke Vintage Festival is therefore a no-brainer.

Waiheke Island is a region renowned for its production of critically acclaimed wines, crafted by artisans who have successfully mastered the unique maritime climate with the ancient soil structures of the island. With traditional wine strengths in Bordeaux blends and Syrahs, and growing acclaim for its Chardonnay, Viognier, Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Gris wines, Waiheke Island wines have won numerous local and international awards and trophies.

Created by Waiheke's winemakers, who want to share the beautiful age-old traditions of artisan winemaking, the second annual Waiheke Vintage Festival celebrates the annual grape harvest of Auckland's 'Island of Wine' and invites people to get involved, learning about and experiencing the craft of making artisan wine. It offers the opportunity to get involved with more than 40 different events at 19 boutique vineyards on the island. These include hosted wine and food matching lunches; an extensive line up of live music events; wine-making experiences complete with grape picking and crushing; tutored wine tastings and tours of wineries.

Don't worry about the tricky transportation plight that day-time drinking can so often lead to either. The festival has everything covered: Fullers daily bus passes are available to be used on all the festival loop buses as well as the regular Waiheke Island buses.