What: Wine tasting and retro cycling around the beautiful coastal township of Te Awanga in the Hawkes Bay.
When: Summertime, though we went on a rainy Easter weekend and still had the time of our lives. The wineries' most popular time of year is Mothers Day.
Where: Te Awanga - 15min drive south of Napier
How...
We decided to skip the usual winery tour with lunch and tastings provided and decided to do our own thing and just hire bikes, rather than a full-on tour. The retro-look 'cruiser' bikes from Coastal Wine Cycles were perfect for our girls' day out and at $40 for a day's hire - well priced. The huge baskets at the front of the bikes are perfect to collect bottles of wine purchased from the four lovely wineries in the area.
Our first stop - Te Awanga winery - was the furtherest winery from the bike depot. This winery exports a lot of its grapes to Kim Crawford and has an amazing Pinot Gris. The woman taking the tastings here is hilarious and taught us beginner wine tasters lots of tips and tricks. During the summer, this winery hosts a series of concerts so it would be well worth timing your visit to the area with these.
We then biked down the road to Clifton Beach, where we had lunch at the cute Clifton Cafe. It was then time for the next winery - Clearview Estate. This winery was very busy with many people dining there, but it had a huge range of wines to sample; including three savignon blancs, two chardonnays and a delicious dessert red wine.
The third winery of the day was Elephant Hill, where we sampled their unique red - 'Le Phant'. This is a very popular winery, evident by the signatures of famous New Zealanders scribbled onto bottles displayed on the wall.
The last winery we visited was my personal favourite; The Beach House. This winery is small and laid back and makes the most delicious riesling. The interior furnishings of the building had an awesome vintage feel, and was a great place to chill after a long day of biking and wine.
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