My farewell to Hawke’s Bay was one last visit to a winery, Elephant Hill Winery & Restaurant, and the perfect ending to a perfect food and wine experience in New Zealand.

An elephant guards the entrance of Elephant Hill Winery

Visitors to Elephant Hill Winery are welcomed by the oversized elephant statue overseeing the sweeping views over the vineyard and the Pacific Ocean on the horizon.

Located on the Te Awanga coast Hawke’s Bay, this New Zealand winery allows you to indulge your senses from the terrace of the Elephant Hill Restaurant. Water features surround the restaurant, where you can sit among the vines and breathe in the ocean view. 

It was a beautiful spring day in Hawke’s Bay when I sat down on the terrace. My first sip was a surprisingly refreshing Elephant Hill Rose, lighter than I’d expected, almost sparkling wine-esque. Read More »

Located in the charming waterfront village of Ahuriri, New Zealand, Milk & Honey is an old-fashioned, comfort cooking restaurant serving, breakfast, lunch and dinner. 

Breakfast at the waterfront Milk & Honey near Crown Hotel in Napier.

Small villages dot New Zealand’s landscape, and that’s part of the charm when you find these small towns with homey restaurants where locals gather, like the Milk & Honey. Read More »

Founded in 1887, Church Road Winery is one of the three oldest wineries in Hawke’s Bay, New Zealand and also home to Hawke’s Bay’s only wine museum. Located 15 minutes from Napier, the Church Road Winery is one of more than 150 vineyards and 90 wineries in the region, offering yet another Hawke’s Bay wine tasting experience.

One of the oldest in Hawke's Bay, Church Road Winery

My recent visit began with a tour of the wine museum. The museum includes a salute to the years pioneer winemaker Tom McDonald led the Church Road Winery to its award-winning history. McDonald is now internationally acknowledged as the father of quality New Zealand Wines.

The Church Road Winery’s Chardonnay and Bordeaux style red wines continue to achieve international acclaim by enhancing the Hawke’s Bay grapes’ distinctive fruit characteristics with complex overtones.

The wine museum is located underground in old concrete wine vats with adjoining walls. The walls are encrusted with gem-like tartrate crystals, formed as the result of tartaric acid from the wine previously stored here. The museum includes some of the oldest winemaking relics in the country, some dating as far back as 3,000 years. Read More »

Mission Estate Winery located in a restored seminary building in the Taradale Hills of Hawke's Bay, New Zealand

Established in 1851, Mission Estate Winery is New Zealand’s oldest winery and considered the birthplace of New Zealand wine. On my recent visit to Hawke’s Bay,  New Zealand, we stopped by the Cellar Door for tasting of the Mission Estate Wine.

Established in 1851 by pioneering French missionaries with the blessing of the Pope, Mission Estate Winery still retains its charm with nods to its religious background in the restored seminary building in the Taradale Hills. The Cellar Door is located in a colonial-esque building that includes a Hawke’s Bay restaurant to the left and tasting room (Cellar Door) to the right.

But it’s hard to resist continuing through the building to step outside to enjoy the view – sweeping vista of Napier City and Hawke’s Bay.  It will take your breath away. Read More »