Mt Michael Lodge are pleased to offer their guests an exclusive wine tasting and culinary experience. You will be chauffer driven by the owners to a selection of vineyards that over a 2.5-hour period culminating, if you so elect, in a lunch at one of our top vineyard restaurants.To assist you in planning your itinerary we have selected a number of options in the area, that our experience both personally and from prior guests, which we believe are good examples of the wines made in the region and at the same time provide diversity in style and varieties.
Central Otago is the southernmost wine region in the world and covers over 10,000 square kilometres. It is the most inland region of New Zealand. What makes this region unique is its landscape, the glaciated soils laid down over 1 million years ago, its low rainfall (300mm to 600mm), and a diurnal range of 20 degrees Celsius during summer.
While the first vines were planted here in 1879 by goldminers and a successful wine made from the vintage, the region had to wait until the late 1970’s to see vineyards start to flourish. Today we have over 80 vineyards, with an average size of 1.8 hectares. The predominant grape varietal is Pinot Noir (78%) with the balance being cold climate Pinot Gris, Chardonnay, Riesling, and Sauvignon Blanc. The region has 6 significant sub regions that impart distinct characteristics to the varietals that are grown in each sub-region.