Wine tastings Gibbston Valley: Four cellar doors & underground cave

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Free cancellationTravelers' pick

1/21

Duration6h

GroupUp to 14

LanguagesEN

PickupAt your hotel

Four tastings in one day with a guide who knows the winemakers, not just the route.

You're picked up from your Queenstown accommodation in a Mercedes and guided through four Gibbston wineries over one afternoon. The day includes a tour of New Zealand's largest underground wine cave at Gibbston Valley, tastings at Kinross, Mt Rosa, and Ayrburn, plus a lunch stop where you order and pay separately. Your wine-certified guide handles all the commentary and logistics, so you just show up and taste.

Step-by-step itinerary

Wine tastings at four wineries

Meet guide near Queenstown accommodation
Visit Gibbston Valley Winery and cave tour
Taste wines at Gibbston Valley
Travel to Kinross winery
Taste wines and hear stories at Kinross
Optional lunch at Kinross winery bistro
Visit Mt Rosa winery
Taste single-label wines at Mt Rosa
Finish tasting at Ayrburn winery
Enjoy self-guided wine flight at Ayrburn

The Experience

"You'll taste the terroir before you taste the wine," our guide said as we pulled into Gibbston Valley, and that stuck with me the whole day. The Queenstown wine tour starts with a pickup from your accommodation in a Mercedes—no herding onto a bus—and heads straight into the region's most famous cellar door. Gibbston Valley is where the story begins: you walk into New Zealand's largest underground wine cave, and suddenly you're standing inside the place where thousands of bottles age in cool, dark silence. The guide takes you through it, explaining the geology, the temperature control, the whole operation, and then you taste their Pinot Noirs right there in the cellar. It's not a quick sip-and-go; each tasting comes with real context.

After Gibbston, you stop at Kinross, and this is where the day opens up a bit. The cellar host pours wines from their own labels and also from smaller producers—the kind of winemakers you'd never find on a supermarket shelf. There's time to sit down here, order lunch from their menu (pizzas, platters, mains), and just breathe. You're not rushed. Then Mt Rosa comes next, a boutique operation run by the owners themselves, perched below Nevis Bluff with vines stretching out in front of you. Their cellar door host walks you through single-label wines, and if it's cool enough, their mulled wine is the kind of thing you remember weeks later. The fourth stop is Ayrburn, smaller and more intimate, where you do a self-guided wine flight in either the Manure Room (yes, that's really what it's called) or outside if the weather holds.

The whole Queenstown wine tour runs on a fixed schedule, which means all four tastings fit into one afternoon without you having to coordinate timing or transport yourself. Your guide is wine-certified, so they're not just pouring—they're explaining what you're tasting and why it matters. The cave tour alone is something most wine regions don't have; it's the kind of detail that makes this tour stand out from the standard cellar-door crawl. Lunch is on you (ordered and paid on the day), which gives you the flexibility to spend what you want, but transport, all four tastings, and the cave tour are included.

What’s included

Your day includes hotel or accommodation pickup in a premium Mercedes vehicle, transport throughout the Gibbston wine region, a wine-certified guide providing commentary and stories at each stop, four wine tastings at boutique cellar doors and iconic estates (Gibbston Valley, Kinross, Mt Rosa, and Ayrburn), a guided tour through New Zealand's largest underground wine cave, and a lunch stop at Kinross where you order and pay directly on the day for food and drinks of your choice.

Good to know

Easy physical levelPublic transport nearbyNot for pregnant travelers

Operated by Altitude Tours

Is this one for you?Book this if you want the main Gibbston wineries and the cave tour in one afternoon without arranging your own transport or timing—the fixed itinerary and included guide handle all the logistics, leaving you to focus on the wine and the views.