Timara Lodge, Marlborough

Hotel. Timara Lodge offers a warm haven of peace and relaxation in the New Zealand country side. The wine hotel is home to 600-acres of land with English-style gardens and a lake where guests are able to enjoy gourmet foods and fine wine. Timara Lodge is also home of a 350-acre vineyard and winery, providing beautiful sites for visitors to enjoy. The property has four beautifully decorated rooms which guests may reside in, guaranteeing a private and personal stay.

Wine. Set on the terrace of the Omaka River and near Timara Lodge is Johnson Estate, featuring wineries and vineyards with only the best labels to offer. Since the vineyards are owned by the lodge, it is guaranteed that only premium products will be made from this land that is now fertile and free draining due to a bad flood and glacial outwash over the last 10,000 years. Over looked by Louis Schindler, a wine expert on old and new labels, wine tastings are available and guests often leave with a selection from internationally known labels such as Spy Valley, Cloudy Bay, Montanna, and Hunters wine.

Dining. Louis Schindler has much experience in traditional cuisine and it is very obvious with the quality and technique he uses to create his modern European dishes. Feature seafood items include fresh lobster, scallops, oysters, mussels, salmon, and other fish from the Marlborough Sounds. Received daily is New Zealand lamb, beef, and game as well as a fresh harvest of herbs straight from Timara´s property to keep the flavor fresh as possible.

Black Barn Winery, Havelock North

Hotel. The secluded location of Black Barn Winery offers its guests a beautiful location to relax in privacy while enjoying stunning landscape views of the Te Mata hills. The winery, located in Hawkes Bay wine country, is just five minutes outside of the Village of Havelock North. Twelve different sized properties are spread about the vineyard; from a two bedroom to eight bedroom cottage, each offers a unique and comfortable stay fit for every guest’s needs and include top of the line furnishings, bed and bath linens, kitchenware, and amenities. The winery is also the home of The Black Barn Amphitheater which is said to be one of the best concert and performing arts venues in New Zealand. Black Barn is very exclusive to the number of events held at the amphitheater to ensure a special and enjoyable experience for all guests.

Winery. Black Barn thrives on producing quality wine from their very own vineyards, where the grapes for each harvest are hand picked from the rolling green hills of Te Mata. The vineyard is small, with only twenty-five acres of crop that is closely monitored to ensure the highest quality of fruit. Black Barn’s focus is on premium Bordeaux styled red wines including Merlot, Cabernet Franc, and Cabernet Sauvignon. These wines, as well as the vineyard’s award winning white wines, Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay, tend to be very exclusive and only available at the cellar or through the website.

Dining. Black Barn Bistro’s is an overly satisfying place to enjoy lunch surrounded by the wine country’s vineyards and beautiful mountains. Guests may choose to sit on the ample veranda and overlook the stunning sites or take shade under high vines and grapes in the restaurant’s courtyard. The menu is seasonal as the chef prepares each item with only the freshest produce from the local Hawkes Bay Grower Market; fulfill your senses’ needs by pairing your meal with a glass of wine selected from Black Barn’s cellar.