Bannockburn is a small village 10 minutes South of Cromwell and 50 minutes from Queenstown. Located on the Southern Bank of Lake Dunstan, Bannockburn vineyards are the warmest and driest as they are right in the middle of the dessert! Their grapes are normally picked first out of the Central Otago Sub-Regions & the wines are known to be highly distinctive and complex.
The first vineyard of the day was Carrick. A fully organic vineyard, Carrick has a nice outdoor area and restaurant.
You have three tastings to choose from and they range from $18-25. All white, all red, and then premium reds.
My friends and I got the white & red tasters which included 4 wines of each.
I ended up buying a bottle of their Pinot Noir 2017.
Next up was Te Kano. With their new cellar door, this is not one to be missed!
Tastings are what is open at the time and include a range of whites and reds.
The cellar door was recently renovated and opened only a few months ago.
What amazing views! Visitors get a full 180 of the Bannockburn landscape.
The interior design of the cellar door is also unique and sets a classy, modern vibe. I went home with the Fume Blanc de Noir and the Kin 2017 Pinot Noir.
A bit further down the road, we stopped at Domain Road.
With indoor and outdoor seating options, we chose to enjoy the sun.
Tastings are again what is open that day and vary from a range of reds and whites.
I ended up buying a bottle of the Late Harvest Sauv.
Desert Heart was my favorite of the day! The tastings are with the winemaker and $10 but free with any purchase. I left with a bottle of the 2012 Pinot Noir.
After our tasting we got some snacks from the Desert Heart Bistro. A Southern classic, Cheese Rolls, were amazing, along with the Edamame, Pea and Avocado bruschetta. We enjoyed our food with another amazing view.
Our final cellar door was the popular Mt Difficulty Wines. With 2 labels and a restaurant, this was by far the most busy place we visited.
For tastings you get to choose 5 wines for $10, refundable with a purchase for $50 NZD or more.
I really enjoyed the Bannockburn wines, however you do need a car to access them. Most were open from 11am-5pm which means you can visit almost all of them in one day. There are also about 3 vineyards that are only open by appointment so feel free to call ahead to book those in. Akarua has another cellar door in Bannockburn as that is where their main winery is.
TIP: If you drive out there yourself, make sure you don’t go above the legal limit trying to get home.
Have you been to vineyards in a desert?