Central Otago winery Monte Christo has launched educational winery tours to give locals, visitors to the region, and wine connoisseurs another reason to enjoy the Clyde vineyard experience.
Exploring the processes that go into producing some of the finest wines in Central Otago, the tours are run onsite at Monte Christo Winery – the birthplace of Central Otago wine.
Dunedin-born entrepreneur Dr Stanley Paris and his son, Nicholas Paris, who re-opened Monte Christo Winery in 2023, are excited to complete their vision of creating a purpose-built educational winery.
“Established in 1864, Monte Christo Winery was once a thriving vineyard. However, it fell into a period of inactivity in the 1880s and it wasn’t until almost 140 years later, when we rediscovered it, that we saw the opportunity to revive it,” says Dr Paris.
“It was always my dream to build an educational winery. The experience begins as we take people behind the scenes to demonstrate the process of winemaking from grape to bottle, before finishing with a guided wine tasting. To my knowledge, there are very few winery tours like this anywhere in New Zealand,” he says.
Monte Christo Winery Managing Director Nicholas Paris – a Master of Wine and Advanced Sommelier – says the new interactive experience will appeal to curious consumers, corporate groups embracing a team-building experience, hens parties, and birthday celebrations, as well as students wanting to learn more about career opportunities.
“We show our guests the entire process of winemaking – they see where our sustainably and organically farmed grapes are first brought to the winery, before being weighed, placed in the hopper and fed into the de-stemmer. Inside the winery they are shown fermentation tanks, our wine press and other important equipment,” says Nicholas.
Tour participants visit the underground barrel cellar to learn about the ageing, barrel selection, and blending processes that shape each wine, with barrel samples offered when available.
They then learn about the final stages of winemaking, including fining, filtration and bottling – which all happen onsite as part of Monte Christo Winery’s commitment to reducing emissions and improving quality control.
Monte Christo’s eight vineyards span 22 hectares across three subregions – the Alexandra Basin, Bannockburn, and Pisa – and harvest typically takes place between late March and early April when the grapes reach optimal ripeness.
“We take a minimal intervention approach to our winemaking, with a deep respect for both our heritage and the expressions of our Central Otago landscape,” says Nicholas. “This is reflected in every step of our winemaking process, from harvest to bottle.”
Beginning in April, guests will also have the option to experience Monte Christo Winery’s Aroma Room – a one-of-a-kind immersive experience. They’ll learn about the key aromas found in Central Otago’s main grape varieties, followed by an interactive game of ‘guess the aroma’.
“I think we all secretly want to be winemakers, and this is an opportunity to learn more about what that entails,” says Nicholas. “There’s no better place to experience all of this than at our historic winery and estate.”
Visitors keen to book a tour can choose from two options available – the Educational Winery Tour & Cellar Door Tasting or the Educational Winery Tour & Underground Cellar Tasting.
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Dining and Cooking