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.

Reviewed about 16 years ago