Scelto dagli amanti del vino di tutto il mondo

In our travels to New Zealand a few years ago, my wife and I happened onto Destiny Bay vineyard. It’s located on a beautiful island (Waiheke) a short ferry ride out of Auckland. The ferry captain told us where to find it and told us grape harvest was in progress. Having an image of wine grape harvesting in large California wineries, we assumed that the grapes would be picked mechanically. Not so. Crews of workers hand- picked only the best appearing bunches and placed them on trays that were carried to a unique new machine that separated the grapes from the stems and from any other foreign objects without damaging them. We were astounded to see the grapes being moving along on stainless steel tables where workers were hand-sorting the grapes, removing any that weren’t just right. Then the grapes moved onto a conveyor and disappeared into the most technically advanced small winery in New Zealand. There, nature guided by the helping hand of a master winemaker, works its complex magic. Destiny Bay winery has no tasting facility, so we bought a bottle of their premium vintage, Magna Praemia, and a less expensive bottling, Destinae. They are somewhat pricey. We waited two years before opening the Destinae. It was absolutely outstanding. I don’t have wine descriptives in my vocabulary, but it had a silky smoothness and an explosion of rich flavors that was better than any of the wines in its price category we were familiar with. We are holding the Magna Praemia until it i

We booked for high tea at the Thomas Cafe, which is cozy and classy. The winery is set on top of a hill on the east side of the island, which offers vast views of both the Auckland harbour and the Coromandel. The staff are very knowledgable and friendly. It's a great place for having a meal anytime of the day with friends. Getting there is also fun as you get to see lots of island life and Paul the friendly transport manager.

We were really looking forward to a sunset dining experience at Batch Winery's restaurant. On arrival the waiter said he would have to check with the kitchen but could do a main and dessert for us as it was 7:45 on a Saturday night and they close at 8:30 pm (as per website which we had checked) However the head waitress/ restaurant manager, whoever she was, then met us and told us absolutely that she had just closed the kitchen but would offer us drinks & an antipasto platter. It was most disappointing. The restaurant was almost full of people but there was no way she would cater dinner for us, at 7:45 pm on a Saturday evening. We were fairly upset with her response and manner, so had a look about at the lovely garden setting & stunning views, declined her offer and then headed into Oneroa where we had mutli-choices, dined, no time issues, lovely staff and delicious meal. A very disappointing experience at Batch.

Great culinary experience. We attended a business function here. They were very gracious in attending to our dietary requests. The only drawback was the weather and overall lack of atmosphere from fellow diners (neither thing they could really control on the day).

Great relaxing day out.

Delicious food on the high tea spread, but the service was terrible. No-one approached us to give us menus, take our order, or check on us. We had to work hard to flag down any wait staff throughout the afternoon.

Super charming setting with the small airfield next to it. Very good sommelier who led us through the winepairing

Awesome spot with a great wine tasting with food pairing. We were lucky enough to have the owner taking us through, so she had an excellent knowledge and did an absolutely excellent job of explaining everything. We then sat down to a beautiful lunch with a lovely wine selected from the tasting. Everything was thoughtfully prepared and presented. The place was spot on! Highly recommend it!