New World Wine Tours

A baboon!

New Zealand, Australia, Chile, Argentina & Uruguay, South Africa, California and USA’s Pacific North-West

Wine touring in the New World Vineyards is wonderful – long sunny days most of which will be spent in beautiful vineyards enjoying lazy lunches washed down with a generous quantity of very drinkable, fine wine. It may sound like a long way to go to taste wine but in fact a wine tour is a great way to explore any of these countries.

In New Zealand there are vineyards from near the top of North Island to near the bottom of South Island. In Australia you’ll explore the rural heartland of the country and whilst we are not in the outback, you’ll appreciate the shear vastness of the place. Our wine holiday itineraries are planned to take in the wine regions of each country but also to allow time for sightseeing. For instance, after staying on a wine Hacienda in Chile, you’ll enjoy the dramatic crossing of the Andes to Argentina, and in South Africa we take time off to relax in Capetown and visit the dramatic Cape of Good Hope.

The winemakers know you have come a long way to see them on a specialised tour, so the welcome is second to none. Many people will have visited wineries whist on a general holiday, and whilst this can be enjoyable, these kind of visits are often not that wildly interesting, with corporate videos, perfunctory tastings and uniformed junior staff who know less about wine and winemaking than the visitors do. In 2010 we are returning to California where we will have superb private tasting and some exclusive lunches with winemakers and to the Pacific North-West during the famous annual Internationl Pinot Noir Festival.

The reception that you receive on an Arblaster & Clarke New World Wine Tour is in a different league. The winemakers or owners will always try to take time out of their day to meet us as an interested consumer group (not just a horde off a cruise ship) is interesting for them too. As intelligent, fun people they love to share their stories and their passion for their subject with us. This is inspiring for us the participants and if you add to it the other special ingredients of great food, a stunning location and a sense of discovery led by the Wine Guide you should be able to understand why these holidays are often described “as an experience of a lifetime”.

Travel options aim to offer maximum flexibility; you can either book your own flights or we’ll be happy to book them for you.
Accommodation ranges from private wine estates to luxury city centre hotels, from comfortable motels (where these are the best option) to small family run or bijou vineyard hotels.

The wine visits are to big names whose wines you may be familiar with, and to smaller producers who may be unknown to you but who we think are the names of the future.

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Tours

South Africa Wine Tour

20 - 27 November 2010, 12 - 19 February 2011

The Cape is one of the most spectacular vineyard regions in the world. Our tour covers the best of the wine and some of the most beautiful sites. On this tour, unlike casual tourists in the winelands, you receive personal welco…

Chile, Argentina & Uruguay

7 - 19 February 2011

This outstanding and unique South American Wine Tour tour visits the vineyards of Chile, Argentina and Uruguay which are in spectacular locations. All three have made advances in wine quality and this has firmly established the…

New Zealand Wine Tour

14 - 27 February 2011

New Zealand including the Art Deco Festival in Napier New Zealand is a country blessed with spectacular natural scenery, open space, quality wines in a wide variety of styles and a high standard of accommodation. Me…

The Vineyards of Chile

21 February - 4 March 2011

About the time that A&C started back in late 1986, a friend brought to a ‘bring a strange bottle of wine’ party, a Chilean Cabernet. It was the first Chilean wine that we had seen, and it had that strong character and vibr…

California

13 - 19 March 2011

The wine world owes so much to California; the idea of varietal wines, of the ‘boutique winery’, of scientific site selection, indeed the whole idea of ‘the new world’. This wonderful wine tour includes idyllic viney…

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Client Comments

"We were treated royally by each of the wineries that we visited. The wineries of Franschhoek and Stellenbosch are beautiful places to visit....Our accommodations and coach travel on both trips were excellent. When we didn't have "included meals", the A&C leaders would give us the freedom to either explore on our own or go to places that they would identify.Bottom line: I wholeheartedly recommend them to you for your wine tasting travel."

— BK,South Africa 2010

"The hotel in Seattle was excellent, excellent breakfasts and a great bar! Lunch at Chateau Ste Michelle was good, what stunning grounds. The lunch (my final beef burger in Washington State) was fantastic with talks from local winery and vineyard owners, one of the highlights of the tour."

— GC, Pacific North West 2007

What did you enjoy most about the tour?"Interesting, great wines & the company"

— E&A S, California 2009

"Our wine knowledge has been greatly extended and our appreciation of NZ wines increased. This was our second Arblaster & Clarke wine tour and the enjoyment of both just could not be bettered. The purpose of this letter is to congratulate you on the professionalism of all Arblaster & Clarke team members, but in particular Cindy-Marie Harvey. She was the Tour Manager on both our wine tours and without doubt lifted our enjoyment level to the highest possible!"

— G&P H New Zealand 2010

Arblaster & Clarke - Wine Tours Worldwide