One of the best!…read more Unison winery is a somewhat unassuming place but as we found out looks can be deceiving. Of the wineries we visited in the two days in the area including many of the big names, Unison wines were our favorite. We started our tasting with their Blush Rose (driest of the 3 they make). It is made from 3 grapes-cab, Merlot, Syrah -and was excellent, refreshing-and perfect for summertime. Next was their 2015 Rocky red blend: merlot 60%, cab-40% and at only only NZ$22-tastes like a much more expensive wine-rich and full. Next came the 2013 Reserve Merlot-which was an excellent year-wonderful expression of the grape. The 2013 Classic blend Gimblett gravels-merlot was our next choice -a cab Syrah merlot blend-good but I liked Rocky Red better. Next we sampled the 2013 Syrah Gimblett Gravels-good as well, light spice notes and finally the 2013 Blend "Selection" from-Gimblett Gravels-60% cab, 40 merlot-French oak-classic, big style blend-superb. We liked things so much we had some wine shipped from the winery back to the states. They can arrange that for you at the winery which is nice. While perhaps a bit less grand on the outside from some of the area wineries, the product here is the true star. Highly recommended

Went here with my husband, toddler son and uncle. The wine tasting fee is $5 per person. We had a…read morevery knowledgeable pourer and the overall quality of the wines was great. We particularly enjoyed the reserve merlot. They had a dining area here and the menu had some tasty-looking options, but we did not eat there. I was overjoyed to see that they had a large outside play area for children, with a swing set, sandbox, small house and balls and hula hoops. This was super helpful in keeping our son occupied so that we could enjoy the tasting.

This was one of our favorite wineries that we visited while here in NZ. The grounds are beautiful…read moreand the tasting room was stunning. The inside has two bars on either side for wine tasting with a gift room in the corner, a beautiful entryway, and a sunken room with rustic wine barrels in the back. We were there first thing in the morning because when you're on vacation there's nothing as 'too early' for starting a good day of drinking wine. We were greeted by a lovely woman who poured for us and kept us company discussing the history of the wine and grapes of the region. She also was so friendly that she even got my rather reclusive husband bubbling about his job, our wedding, our cats and more. We enjoyed both the conversation and the wine we tasted. Our tasting fee was very reasonable and both of them were put towards the bottle of wine we bought. I also had been looking for a cheese board and found the neatest one here made from one of their wine barrels. Despite the difficulty of carrying it all the way back to the US I had to have it. They have a very nice variety of wines and we both felt that the tasting did a great job of sampling them. There was a great bubbly to start with and then a good sampling of their reds and whites. We really enjoyed the McDonald's reds. Overall this was one of our favorite wineries we visited. It had the beautiful grounds, the great service, and fantastic vino. A win win win!

We popped in to this place as a part of a private guided wine tour on the Hawkes Valley and it was…read moreone of four we tried throughout the day. During our visit at this impressive winery with a big modern tasting room and lush grounds we learned they were started in 1897 making th We were served by a newer employee who, while knowledgeable about the wines, still had work to do on her customer service demeanor. We tried 5 of their many wines: -sparkling Blanc du Noir-very yeasty with fairly large bubbles-ok -church road Hawke's Bay Rose -a surprising blend of 6 grape varieties - excellent -Tempranillo-very dry, boozy tasting-just ok -McDonald series marzemino -a unique red grape that is only grown here in NZ, very dry -Syrah -young, needs time to mature -cab Sauvignon-McDonald series-standard cab characteristics Bottom line for me, other than the Rose, nothing I would purchase for my cellar, but decent mid-market wines for everyday drinking as reasonable prices.

We made it a point to stop by here when touring the Napier region wine tasting because of all the…read moregorgeous pictures online. The grounds are as beautiful as the yelp photos show, even in winter. The water features are lovely, the large resort style couches relaxing, and the floor to ceiling glass windows gave the tasting room a modern appeal. The scenery is truly incredible with both the view of the vineyards as well as the nearby ocean. Whether you're relaxing on the couches with the ocean view, enjoying the architecture in the tasting room, or marveling at the vineyards from the restaurant, there are no bad views here. We tried the tasting flight and overall enjoyed the wines and the friendly conversation from the American woman who poured for us. We sampled the wines while reclining on one of the couches and nomming a cheese plate. The cheese plate was very tasty. The olives had a delicious and intensely interesting flavor and a good variety of cheeses. Our favorite wines were the Chardonnay and Merlot Cabernet. Overall a very nice vineyard and tasting room. We regret we did not have more time to try the restaurant, but the snack and wines we had were good, the views were even better.

Beautiful tasting rooms with a stellar patio, perfect for a taste and a nibble mid-afternoon. I…read morecould sit on this patio for hours. We loved the wine and bought a couple of bottles to take home.

The place is welcoming & cozy, service was quick & friendly and food was fantastic. We had the…read morelamb shoulder that was cooked to perfection, the fish of the day (bluenose) thick, flaky and bursting with flavors, and the pasta was home made , al dente and delicious. Enjoyed our dining experience here. Highly recommended!

The setting and the food were superb! We stopped in for a light lunch and were impressed with the…read morecreativity and quality of the food. Highly recommend the Preserved Chicken, burnt carrots, the unique smoked butter with honey on their homemade bread and the strawberry terrine for dessert!

Had a very enjoyable lunch here. Service was excellent. Food was superb and the wine just amazing,…read morepairs perfectly with the food. We had the 3course meal. Enjoyed every bite. And not only is the restaurant gorgeous, the garden and the winery is just fabulous! Truly a beautiful New Zealand winery and experience!!!

We chose this winery after reading several reviews and winery lists for the Napier region. Of all…read morethe locations we visited this day, this was by far the prettiest even though we were visiting in winter. The breathtaking cliff backdrop combined with the picture perfect pond and well kept grounds made for a stunning first impression. We immediately loved the beautiful modern architecture of the buildings and the large floor to ceiling windows made for gorgeous views inside the tasting room as well. We were greeted by a really nice staff member who poured our tastings and explained the grapes in the region. The tasting is 7.50 NZD which is waved if you make a wine purchase. Overall the wines we tried were pretty good and we were particularly fond of the Riesling. The restaurant was gorgeous and we were happy we stopped in here for lunch. With both a beautiful inside and outside seating area there were lots of beautiful views to choose from. Service was a little relaxed, but we enjoyed a perfectly prepared steak with candied beets, a chicken roulade, seasoned potatoes and a couple glasses of wine for about 100 NZD. Everything about the meal was spot on from the presentation to the execution. We were very happy we didn't pass this place up!

Excellent tasting by Zara, third generation wine family member. Very, very knowledgeable and super…read morefriendly. Totally recommend a stop here.

I stopped in recently with my boyfriend on our little homemade wine tour. This was one of the…read morehigher rated wineries on Google, which after our experience, I was a bit surprised about. We drove up, and the tasting room looks like it's in their corporate office. You can literally see the office through glass windows from the tasting room. Slight buzzkill. It doesn't seem as though the whole ambiance is really thought out, it seemed a bit thrown together. All good though, I came to taste wine, not to see a beautiful tasting room (I saved that for other wineries). The tasting fee is $7.50 per person, waived with a purchase. We walked in, excited to try the wines that Google people said were so good. When we got in the tasting room, there was one other couple in there. The woman working behind the counter completely ignored us for a solid 5 minutes after we closed the door behind us. I'm not sure why, but it got to the point where I asked my boyfriend if we should just leave. She kept trying to force conversation with the other couple instead of acknowledging us. It was a bit awkward. When she finally came around, she explained the tasting process to us. She obviously had her little speil down, and she went through it, giving us minimal information on each wine while we tasted. We were the only people in there after starting our tasting, and I'm not sure why she didn't want to talk to us, but she obviously didn't. Maybe she was having a rough day. I asked her a few questions about the wines and aging (I worked in wine for 3 years, so I speak the language), but she seemed bored and uninterested in having a conversation with us. Anyway, the wines were good, and we bought one, but we felt so awkward being there that we kind of just tried to get out as quickly as possible. All in all, the location is very mediocre (not a beautiful winery), the staff was not the friendliest, but the wine was good.

They have TONS of wines and they let you taste a decent amount FOR FREE. The staff were so much…read morefun, really joking and interacting with guests, and very knowledgeable about wine in general. And very good wines -- some of my favorites from all the places we tried in Hawke's Bay! Would recommend the Sea Red to anyone who likes sweeter wines. They have a great restaurant too with a good menu and a nice outdoor patio, sheltered room, and inside area with a fireplace. Got the sharing platter which was okay -- could have used a nicer bread than plain white bread. Mains were in the $30s. Only thing to be improved, other than the price, would be the view from the tasting room and restaurant.

My husband and I rented bikes and came to Clearview as our first stop at 10:30 AM in the morning…read morefor wine tasting. The estate was beautiful and the wine tasting was a wonderful experience. We tried four different wines- all for free! We loved the Coastal Chardonnay and Sea Red Dessert Wine. The dessert wine was served with pieces of chocolate that accentuated the taste. The family owned winery treated us as guests, adding to our great experience at Hawke's Bay during our New Zealand traveling experience.

Absolutely the best tasting experience. We were here 6 years ago and had to return as we enjoyed it…read moreso much then. This time it was even better. Certainly it helped that there were very few people there so we received a lot of attention from the server pouring the samples. Extremely knowledge about wines and were able to customer the tasting to each of our preferences. The do a nice job with the food offerings. Highly recommend a wine tasting visit here.

Trinity Hill winery, part owned by American company, is a larger winery with an impressive…read moreNapa-style tasting room and more formal tasting experience. Like other wineries in the region they produce a large collections of whites and reds including a few less typical in the area. One of these was an interesting Viognier Marsanne which tasted of pineapple, tropical fruits while another, their Tempranillo was a brilliant ruby color and was very tasty. Of course we also tasted the traditional 2016 Gimblett gravel Syrah-rather jammy and the 2014 Gimblett Gravels blend-which for me was the best of the tasting. We were even treated to a taste of the 2015-homage-which is only produced in exceptional years which was really really good too. We enjoyed our visit to Trinity and as they are distributed in the US will try to seek them out there.