This morning I’ll pick you up at your Hotel and we’ll drive up over the Crown Range towards Cardrona, we’ll stop for an amazing photo shot looking back towards the Remarkables and Lake Wakatipu. It’s then a short drive through the Cardrona Valley until we arrive at the Cardrona Distillery and Museum.
The Cardrona Distillery is located in a beautifully designed group of buildings housing the very best in copper stills to make beautifully crafted spirits. The spirits are hand-crafted from scratch starting with just malted barley, water, and yeast. The Classic Distillery Tour will take us on a journey through the working distillery and barrelhouse and finishes with a tutored tasting of Cardrona Distillery’s artisan spirits. It is a proud tradition that many distilleries offer casks for Private filling each year. The Cardrona Distillery is carrying on this fine tradition by offering a small number of cask for filling with new make spirit that will mature into the single malt whisky – The Cardrona Private Cask purchasers will savour the taste of their own single barrel expression of this special and rare southern spirit.
Established in 1863 the Cardrona Hotel is one of New Zealand’s oldest and most iconic hotels and is one of only two remaining buildings from the Cardrona Valley gold rush era. We will stop here for a walk through the hotel, a cold beverage if you’re inclined and snap that iconic photo shot!
Lunch Recommendations (at own expense)
Cardrona Hotel – offers traditional pub favourites with a twist, using the freshest seasonal produce from the region.
Gibbston Valley Winery Restaurant – offers a seasonal menu featuring carefully selected ingredients that reflect local flavours with both an à la carte menu and 2 course wine matched options.
Amisfield Bistro – multi-award winning restaurant offers a 3 course ‘Trust the Chef’ lunch with optional wine matching.
After lunch, we will drive through the Gibbston Valley wine region and visit some of the top wineries to sample more stunning wines and we’ll also stop in at a new boutique tasting room. Wet Jacket Cellar Door is located in a beautifully converted 150-year-old former wool shed and their wines are only available here and in a few of the top restaurants in the country. On our return back to Queenstown, we will drive through Arrowtown a small Gold miners village before returning to your hotel.
