Welcome to
Wines of Gisborne

A warm East Coast welcome to our wine region - the best place to experience wine, sun and fun.

Our wines are fabulous, our hospitality heartfelt and our scenery stunning, so please make the most of it. Tairawhiti has it all - from secluded beaches to beautiful clutches of native bush.

Our history is rich too. Tairawhiti is recognized as the special place where the Maori immigrational waka Horouta first landed. It is also where Captain James Cook made his first New Zealand landfall in 1769.

The name Tairawhiti means the coast upon which the sun shines across the water. Gisborne is the first city in the world to greet each new day.

It started back in the 1800s with the missionaries, who interestingly thought they had landed in Hawke's Bay and happily started planting their grapes. It took a little time for their mistake to be realized but by then a fledgling wine industry was born.

Known for producing incredible Chardonnay, Gisborne also produces a wide range of other exceptional wines varieties - Gewürztraminer, Viognier, Pinot Gris, Merlot and a raft of other reds.

Gisborne wines are renowned the world over for their distinctive, intense fruit flavours and easy drinking style. Our wines are unique because they're deliciously drinkable when young, and will also develop well with age.

We invite you to share our history, meet our winemakers and visit our wineries so that you really get an appreciation of the diversity our region offers. Come join us on this unique adventure, we call it 'home'.