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Fine Wine Tours
FINE WINE TOURS, Auckland. “No. 1 Auckland Visitor Acivity,” TripAdvisor June 2011. Door-to-door service, superb lunch, rural and coastal sightseeing. Your host: Phil Parker, food and wine writer. 1 - 7 guests max. Tours from $NZ 179 p.p. 7 days.
Fine Wine & Food Tours Auckland
Personalised, luxury, scenic tours with small numbers (max 7).
Taste the best of Auckland's premium wines, and enjoy beautiful scenery. Established 2000.
“No. 1 Auckland Visitor Acivity,” TripAdvisor June 2011.
Just 30 minutes from downtown, the green Auckland countryside boasts many Gold Medal wineries.
Phil Parker, 4th generation New Zealander, and food & wine writer is your tour guide. Join Phil on exclusive relaxing wine & food adventures in Auckland.
All tours include:
. Café/Restaurant lunch with wine, plus tea/coffee etc.
. Free hotel etc., pick-up and return from inner City
. Climate-controlled luxury coach
. Full tasting notes
. Small numbers
. West Coast and rural scenery
. Mineral water
. Cheese board
. commentary via PA system
Details
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Fine Wine ToursCommercial organisation |
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North Island ▷ Auckland Region ▷ Auckland |
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Winery and Brewery Tours
Reviews
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5.0/5
The wine tour was an absolutely wonderful way to spend a day in New Zealand.
Phil was very friendly and down to earth and a wonderful host and guide. It was very convenient to be picked up and dropped off at our motel location, and the transportation was very comfortable and spacious.
The three wineries we visited on the half day tour were a good variety, and each offered an excellent array of wines.
Along with being taken to a nice variety of wineries, the sightseeing of the black sand beach was an added bonus. Our lunch at a local cafe was delicious, with a good number of menu choices provided.
The cheese provided to us complimented the wine perfectly, and Phil's knowledge of the different wines provided was excellent and helpful.
.
Terrific! Glad that you both enjoyed the tour.
Kindest regards
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5.0/5
Phil picked us up on a rainy morning in Auckland and drove us to the Kumeu region for a terrific day - long tasting tour.
This was at the beginning of our trip to NZ so as Phil drove us through the countryside he answered our many questions and allowed me to play a CD by Holly Smith, a local musical artist . Thanks Phil!
We enjoyed exploring and finding our favorite wines at each stop. Not all are exported to the states so the unique pleasure of tasting them only in NZ made them all the more enjoyable. The cheeses Phil selected and brought with us for the traveling cheese tray were excellent as were the crackers.
Our lunch at the Soljans Winery was exceptional ( for its bread ) and I particularly enjoyed my salad of fresh greens with a tasty vinaigrette and lots of squid lightly fried. Yum! The sun came out as we were eating and the remainder of the day was brilliant with color across the countryside. We saw rainbows!
With Phil Parker as our guide we were with the most knowledgeable of New Zealand’s wine enthusiasts. His book “The Mad, Keen Wine Buff’s Road Trip” is evidence of his thorough and complete understanding of the wines and wine regions of NZ. The detailed information sheet provided to us by Phil helped us to understand more about each wine and winery. We made lots of notations and now have great reference material to use when searching for our favorites.
We visited five wineries and finished the day off with a fun beer tasting at a micro-brewery.
The experience was a 10 for us. We definitely recommend Phil Parker and the Auckland Wine Tour for your trip to NZ.
Amy and Jeff in Dallas and Houston
Hi Amy & Jeff,
Thanks very much for thr glowing review! See you in NZ soon.
Regards,
Phil
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5.0/5
We had a great time on the Food/Wine tour.
Phil is a lovely person and very knowledgable. He is obviously a favorite at all the places he took us. The lunch at Blossoms Cafe was excellent and the portions were more than generous. My husband especially enjoyed not having to do the driving! We went back the next day for ice cream cones at Kapiti - delicious. Will do another tour with Phil the next time we're in Auckland.
Howdy! So glad that you had a great time. I'm sure that Kapiti were just as good on a second visit.
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5.0/5
Me and 3 of my friends went on the Matakana wine tour to celebrate my 50th birthday with Phil and I must say it was excellent!
Phil is very personable, friendly and he knows what he's talking about when it comes to wine!! The weather wasn't the greatest but that did not matter. Phil had everything we needed, umbrellas, chilly bins to put our purchases in etc. At the end of the day we each received a little gift which was a very nice touch! I would highly recommend taking his tours. I plan on trying some different ones when friends and family come to visit from Canada.
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5.0/5
We arrived in Auckland early Sunday morning and was ready for our very first New Zealand wine tasting adventure with Phil Parker's Fine Wine Tours.
Phil got us off to a fine start. I had asked for 6 wineries to visit and Phil accommodated our group of 6. He arrived on time and provided a printed itinerary along with the list of wines with tasting notes for each of the wineries we were to visit. To enhance our wine experience even more, he provided a cheese platter. Phil is a very interesting guy with an extensive knowledge not only of wines and New Zealand but music as well. We used Phil's book, "Mad Keen Wine Buff's Road Trip", to plan our New Zealand wine tasting trip. I highly recommend his book. It's a very comprehensive wine tour book of New Zealand broken down with very detailed itineraries for you to follow. We had Phil sign our book at the end of the tour. Phil went the extra mile for us. He made sure we were comfortable and anticipated our every need. I lost my eyeglasses on the trip and Phil found them in his vehicle after our tour. He sent them to me at my hotel in Blenheim on an overnight courier. He refused my offer of payment for his efforts. I just heard that Phil has added a Waiheke Island Wine Tour. To do that tour with Phil will be on our to-do list when we return to New Zealand next time.
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5.0/5
My friend and I really enjoyed Phil's wine and cheese tour.
Phil was friendly, flexible and very informative on not just wine, but the whole area. He even took us on a scenic route to see Muriwai Beach! The Vinyeyards we went to were all lovely and so were the staff. I highly recommend this tour to anybody wanting to see what our vineyards have to offer.
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4.5/5
Phil's tour was an excellent way to see some of the surrounding areas of Auckland as well as try some of NZ's best wine offerings.
Phil was friendly and a wealth of information on the wines available at each winery, as well as knowing a lot about the history of the areas visited. He took all the hassle out of visiting the local wineries by being well organised, including the fantastic lunch at a local cafe.
Would definitely recommend this company if you're looking for a no-hassle way to get the insider's knowledge and guidance on NZ wines.
Thanks, Ian - my pleasure!
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4.5/5
We did the "Big Day Out" Tour with Phil and had a great day.
Only small tour groups each time so the service is very personable. Phil was attentive to all our questions and interacted really well with the guests, but was not intrusive or overbearing. It was a relaxed day and the wineries we visited were varied in their wines as well as their outlooks and asthetics so we felt we got a good cross section. We took the option of the Micro German brewery which rounded the day out nicely with a refreshing ale or two. Highly recommend.
Hi Annie. Thanks for your review!
Cheers,
Phil
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4.5/5
Excellent tour.
Well worth paying the extra and getting an expert and being driven around, rather than trying to do it yourself and having to have a non-drinking driver. We had a good bunch of people on the day we went which made it even more enjoyable. Chap running the tour knew his stuff but was not a wine bore. All in all, a really enjoyable day. There's a lot included in the price, so it's pretty good value for money.
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5.0/5
My friend and I really enjoyed Phil's wine and cheese tour.
Phil was friendly, flexible and very informative on not just wine, but the whole area. He even took us on a scenic route to see Muriwai Beach! The Vinyeyards we went to were all lovely and so were the staff. I highly recommend this tour to anybody wanting to see what our vineyards have to offer.
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4.5/5
Excellent tour.
Well worth paying the extra and getting an expert and being driven around, rather than trying to do it yourself and having to have a non-drinking driver. We had a good bunch of people on the day we went which made it even more enjoyable. Chap running the tour knew his stuff but was not a wine bore. All in all, a really enjoyable day. There's a lot included in the price, so it's pretty good value for money.
-
5.0/5
We arrived in Auckland early Sunday morning and was ready for our very first New Zealand wine tasting adventure with Phil Parker's Fine Wine Tours.
Phil got us off to a fine start. I had asked for 6 wineries to visit and Phil accommodated our group of 6. He arrived on time and provided a printed itinerary along with the list of wines with tasting notes for each of the wineries we were to visit. To enhance our wine experience even more, he provided a cheese platter. Phil is a very interesting guy with an extensive knowledge not only of wines and New Zealand but music as well. We used Phil's book, "Mad Keen Wine Buff's Road Trip", to plan our New Zealand wine tasting trip. I highly recommend his book. It's a very comprehensive wine tour book of New Zealand broken down with very detailed itineraries for you to follow. We had Phil sign our book at the end of the tour. Phil went the extra mile for us. He made sure we were comfortable and anticipated our every need. I lost my eyeglasses on the trip and Phil found them in his vehicle after our tour. He sent them to me at my hotel in Blenheim on an overnight courier. He refused my offer of payment for his efforts. I just heard that Phil has added a Waiheke Island Wine Tour. To do that tour with Phil will be on our to-do list when we return to New Zealand next time.
-
5.0/5
Me and 3 of my friends went on the Matakana wine tour to celebrate my 50th birthday with Phil and I must say it was excellent!
Phil is very personable, friendly and he knows what he's talking about when it comes to wine!! The weather wasn't the greatest but that did not matter. Phil had everything we needed, umbrellas, chilly bins to put our purchases in etc. At the end of the day we each received a little gift which was a very nice touch! I would highly recommend taking his tours. I plan on trying some different ones when friends and family come to visit from Canada.
-
5.0/5
We had a great time on the Food/Wine tour.
Phil is a lovely person and very knowledgable. He is obviously a favorite at all the places he took us. The lunch at Blossoms Cafe was excellent and the portions were more than generous. My husband especially enjoyed not having to do the driving! We went back the next day for ice cream cones at Kapiti - delicious. Will do another tour with Phil the next time we're in Auckland.
Howdy! So glad that you had a great time. I'm sure that Kapiti were just as good on a second visit.
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4.5/5
We did the "Big Day Out" Tour with Phil and had a great day.
Only small tour groups each time so the service is very personable. Phil was attentive to all our questions and interacted really well with the guests, but was not intrusive or overbearing. It was a relaxed day and the wineries we visited were varied in their wines as well as their outlooks and asthetics so we felt we got a good cross section. We took the option of the Micro German brewery which rounded the day out nicely with a refreshing ale or two. Highly recommend.
Hi Annie. Thanks for your review!
Cheers,
Phil
-
5.0/5
Phil picked us up on a rainy morning in Auckland and drove us to the Kumeu region for a terrific day - long tasting tour.
This was at the beginning of our trip to NZ so as Phil drove us through the countryside he answered our many questions and allowed me to play a CD by Holly Smith, a local musical artist . Thanks Phil!
We enjoyed exploring and finding our favorite wines at each stop. Not all are exported to the states so the unique pleasure of tasting them only in NZ made them all the more enjoyable. The cheeses Phil selected and brought with us for the traveling cheese tray were excellent as were the crackers.
Our lunch at the Soljans Winery was exceptional ( for its bread ) and I particularly enjoyed my salad of fresh greens with a tasty vinaigrette and lots of squid lightly fried. Yum! The sun came out as we were eating and the remainder of the day was brilliant with color across the countryside. We saw rainbows!
With Phil Parker as our guide we were with the most knowledgeable of New Zealand’s wine enthusiasts. His book “The Mad, Keen Wine Buff’s Road Trip” is evidence of his thorough and complete understanding of the wines and wine regions of NZ. The detailed information sheet provided to us by Phil helped us to understand more about each wine and winery. We made lots of notations and now have great reference material to use when searching for our favorites.
We visited five wineries and finished the day off with a fun beer tasting at a micro-brewery.
The experience was a 10 for us. We definitely recommend Phil Parker and the Auckland Wine Tour for your trip to NZ.
Amy and Jeff in Dallas and Houston
Hi Amy & Jeff,
Thanks very much for thr glowing review! See you in NZ soon.
Regards,
Phil
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5.0/5
The wine tour was an absolutely wonderful way to spend a day in New Zealand.
Phil was very friendly and down to earth and a wonderful host and guide. It was very convenient to be picked up and dropped off at our motel location, and the transportation was very comfortable and spacious.
The three wineries we visited on the half day tour were a good variety, and each offered an excellent array of wines.
Along with being taken to a nice variety of wineries, the sightseeing of the black sand beach was an added bonus. Our lunch at a local cafe was delicious, with a good number of menu choices provided.
The cheese provided to us complimented the wine perfectly, and Phil's knowledge of the different wines provided was excellent and helpful.
.
Terrific! Glad that you both enjoyed the tour.
Kindest regards
-
4.5/5
Phil's tour was an excellent way to see some of the surrounding areas of Auckland as well as try some of NZ's best wine offerings.
Phil was friendly and a wealth of information on the wines available at each winery, as well as knowing a lot about the history of the areas visited. He took all the hassle out of visiting the local wineries by being well organised, including the fantastic lunch at a local cafe.
Would definitely recommend this company if you're looking for a no-hassle way to get the insider's knowledge and guidance on NZ wines.
Thanks, Ian - my pleasure!
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4.0/5
This tour was a perfect ending to our holiday.
The wines were superb, wishing we could have taken more home. The wineries were friendly, obviously Phil has a worked hard for his good relationship with each winery. Lunch enjoyed in peaceful surroundings. If we ever go back to Auckland we would definately go again!
So glad that you enjoyed the experience.
Welcome back any time!
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4.5/5
Phil is a very friendly and knowledgable guy.
The tour flew by as we visited 3 excellent wineries, viewed the black sands of Muriwai and had a very enjoyable lunch.The scenery was beautiful and we learned a lot about the area and New Zealand wines, both from Phil and the winery staff. There was a huge selection of wines to taste and we thought the quality of all those we tried was superb. We were plesed to receive details of stockists back in the UK so we could buy some of the wines we had tried when we got back home.
Thanks Judy! Good that you can find our great wines back in UK
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5.0/5
Perfect day, beautiful wines, delicious New Zealand cheeses: Phil's tour is a delight.
We would recommend to anyone wanting to experience New Zealand hospitality at its finest! Thank you Phil for a great day!
As we say in NZ 'thanks heaps!'for your review
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5.0/5
The tour was well prepared.
We liked the nice and smooth guide through out; the comfortable car for 4 people, the good lunch in the country side and the easy-to-read wine list. Phil answered all our questions with his warm smile, but pushed nothing to us. We learned NZ wine and enjoyed Phil's half day tour very much.
We recommend Fine Wine Tours to wine fans and also wine beginners.
It was a pleasure to host you, and thank you for your kind review
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5.0/5
We did our tour with Phil near the end of a 10-day trip to New Zealand and I'm only sorry we didn't do it sooner!
The entire experience was wonderful. Phil was an excellent overall tour guide--sharing New Zealand, North Island and Auckland city information with us the entire time. He was friendly, engaging and we never once felt rushed. We had all the time we needed to explore and enjoy every stop.
We chose the wine and food tour and every single place we went was another gem. All the food and cheeses we sampled were lovely and we found so many things to bring home that we had a minor (overweight luggage) emergency at the airport en route home.
The scenery was lovely. Breathtaking west coast beaches, serene vineyards and everything in between.
We had lunch at Soljan's winery and I was pleasantly surprised. Clearly they have put the same kind of time and effort into providing excellent food in their restaurant as that put into their winemaking.
The wine tastings were comprehensive. At both stops, we were treated to the entire line of wines that they bottle and both Phil and the employees of the wineries were full of good information, suggestions and pairing tips. The personal attention was exquisite.
Overall, we had a fantastic day! We are unlikely to do this tour again, but if Fine Wine Tours offers something new, we'll be there and will bring our friends!
Thanks so much for a detailed and fantastic review.
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5.0/5
I spent a glorious day with Phil Parker and a couple from Sweden enjoying the wines of New Zealand.
The five vineyards were a wonderful mix of old and new establishments, large and small. The tasting flights were fabulous and the vineyard hosts welcoming. At each stop, we were invited to taste white, then rose, then reds, then dessert wines. More than one place had sparklings. Phil also showed us the nesting gannets, a bee farm and a kiwi farm. He is knowledgeable, gracious, flexible and funny. Not only did he introduce us to the wines of New Zealand, he also made valuable recommendations for shopping and restaurants in Auckland. And he picked a great winery for lunch with good food elegantly presented. I highly recommend this tour and Phil Parker.
Wow! Thanks a lot.
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4.5/5
Excellent trip.
Very professionally run. Thoroughly enjoyable. Phil Parker is very friendly and there is plenty of information given. Nothing was too much trouble. We could take our time at each venue and there was no sense of being rushed through the trip. We would highly recommend this trip to others.
Thanks, Dave - glad you enjoyed the liesurely pace
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5.0/5
In short, this was a fabulous tour; it was our best experience in New Zealand.
Phil has the tour down to a science from selecting the wineries to the great cheese plate he provides at each winery. My wife and I, along with a Brit., thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and heartily recomment this tour to anyone interested in wine. Many thanks, Phil.
Stefanie and Everett Rosemond, San Francisco, CA
Hi Stefanie and Everett, so glad you had a good time
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5.0/5
good evening; i cannot say that i know much about wine, but i really enjoyed the full day tour that phil puts on.
he picked myself and another couple up from our hotels in auckland then proceeded to show us a number of wineriesin the area around auckland. i was astounded by the number of wineries in such a small area & the personal knowledge that phil had of their vinyards. phil also brought with him a generous cheeseboard to acommpany our tastings and also a dip that was an indulgance to the extreme (thankfully he provides the recipie for this) the day ended with a visit to a micro brewery, whose beers rated high in my esyimation. i can only end with thanking phil for this trip & i highly recommend to anyone to make this day out if they are in auckland.
Thanks very much, Steve - and great that you enjoyed our microbrewed beers as well as our fantastic wines!
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5.0/5
Fantastic!
Phil Parker knows how to make you feel VERY special!! His attention to detail and awareness of how to incorporate the right amount of wineries for the day was a treat. I would encourage anyone who wants a small personal Tour to use Phil!!
Thanks, Annie - so glad that you enjoyed the tour!
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5.0/5
My wife and I are avid wine enthusiasts who live in the USA and travel extensively to visit the world's wine regions.
We were visiting five ports in New Zealand and Phil was the only tour guide to respond promptly to our emails and questions. He was able to customize our tour to our particular requirements and he made everything very easy.
Phil is very knowledgeable about wines and certainly knows the turf around Auckland as well as having a very good relationship with the wineries. He didn't blink when we told him we didn't want to taste the sauvignon blancs that are so ready available in the States and to concentrate on wine we couldn't get or varietals that aren't exported in mass. He was able to discuss the wine industry, trends, history not only in New Zealand, but around the world. An added plus was the cheese plate he prepared and his excellent chutney as well as the quick tour of some of the sights outside of Auckland. As any great wine lover should, he was also able to suggest some excellent restaurants to try in Auckland.
From pick-up to drop-off it was an excellent day of wine tasting, touring and informative conversation with a gentleman who really knows his stuff. We came away with a better appreciation of the wine scene in New Zealand. I would highly recommend to all from wine enthusiast to casual tourist wanting a great tour with some wine as a special touch.
Thanks, Bill - so glad that you both enjoyed the tour and wines!
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5.0/5
I'm from the States, and I took the half-day West Auckland tour.
It's a great way to see the countryside of West Auckland, tour the nearby wineries, and it's a very good value.
We visited three wineries, and had a great time tasting. I purchased wines from two of the establishments, including an excellent champagne, and brought them back to share with friends in Ponsonby. One nice touch of the tour is that the host, Phil Parker, provides crackers and sharp cheese to help cleanse your palate while tasting. If you're lucky, he'll also bring along some of his home made tomato chutney...delicious.
Phil is very friendly and helpful, and he really knows his wines. One of my Auckland friends gave me Phil's book, "The Mad, Keen Wine Buff's Road Trip", and it's a very interesting guide to the wineries of New Zealand. I'm using it to plan future visits to vineyards on both the north and south islands. I would recommend this book to anyone visiting New Zealand with an interest in wine.
I rated the tour a 10 because everything was perfect. The trip was well planned out, and paced just right. The tastings were fun and the wines of very good quality. Lunch was excellent (this was at Soljans winery). If you're interested in wine, it's the perfect half-day trip.
Thanks, Stephen - Great to meet you and thanks for your generous positive feedback.
