Food, wine & farm experiences in New Zealand — for the trade.
Food-and-wine programmes in Marlborough, Hawke’s Bay, Central Otago, Waiheke Island and Martinborough — cellar doors, winery lunches, producers and farm visits.
What is Explera's Food, wine & farm experiences service in New Zealand?
Explera DMC New Zealand arranges food, wine & farm experiences in New Zealand for travel agents and tour operators: net B2B rates, one accountable ground team and an itemised quotation. Delivery is white-label, backed by 24/7 support.
Last updated: 4 October 2026
Planned in detail, accountable end to end.
New Zealand’s wine regions are compact, scenic and easy to pair with touring: Marlborough for sauvignon blanc, Central Otago for pinot noir among mountains, Hawke’s Bay for reds and Napier’s art deco, Waiheke a ferry ride from Auckland, Martinborough within reach of Wellington. We arrange chauffeured cellar-door days so nobody has to drive, winery lunches, producer and market visits, and farm experiences that show how the country works.
Who it's for: Agents whose clients travel for food and wine, and MICE planners looking for a relaxed incentive day.
New Zealand’s wine regions are compact and scenic. Marlborough, around Blenheim, is the country’s largest region and best known for sauvignon blanc; Central Otago, near Queenstown, is known for pinot noir grown among mountains; Hawke’s Bay pairs reds and chardonnay with Napier’s art deco; Waiheke Island sits a short ferry ride from Auckland; Martinborough lies within reach of Wellington.
Food experiences extend beyond wine: farmers’ markets, seafood on the coast, producers of cheese, olive oil and honey, and farm visits that show how rural New Zealand works. We arrange chauffeured days so tastings never mean driving, and pass dietary needs to every kitchen.
- Chauffeured cellar-door and tasting days
- Winery lunches and private tastings
- Producer, market and food-trail visits
- Farm visits and rural experiences
- Dietary and allergy handling
- Vintage-season and harvest timing advice
How food, wine & farm experiences works with Explera — step by step.
Every file follows the same accountable sequence from first enquiry to closed account. Here is what happens at each stage.
Brief
Interests, preferred regions, dates and dietary needs.
Programme
Cellar doors, lunches and producer visits sequenced with chauffeured transport.
Confirmation
Tastings and lunches booked; menus and dietary needs confirmed.
On the day
Driver-guide or chauffeur runs the day; our desk supports.
What is included in food, wine & farm experiences — in detail.
The summary list above is what fits in a card. This is what each line means operationally, so you know what the net rate buys before you resell it.
Chauffeured cellar-door and tasting days
Chauffeured cellar-door and tasting days — managed with the seriousness food deserves on a group file. Menus are agreed in advance, dietary and allergy requirements travel on the manifest to every kitchen involved, and tastings are chauffeured so nobody needs to drive. Per-head pricing is contracted, so the dining line on your quote holds. It is itemised on the quotation, so you can show clients exactly what their rate buys.
Winery lunches and private tastings
Winery lunches and private tastings — managed with the seriousness food deserves on a group file. Menus are agreed in advance, dietary and allergy requirements travel on the manifest to every kitchen involved, and tastings are chauffeured so nobody needs to drive. Per-head pricing is contracted, so the dining line on your quote holds. Partners can ask for the underlying detail — supplier, specification, timings — at any point.
Producer, market and food-trail visits
Producer, market and food-trail visits — booked against schedules that vary by season and day of week, which we confirm at quotation and reconfirm before travel. Connections are planned with buffer, luggage limits are checked against the client’s bags, and if a sailing or service is cancelled, the desk rebooks and adjusts the onward transfers and accommodation in one move. If a file does not need it, we say so and quote without it; nothing is padded in.
Farm visits and rural experiences
Farm visits and rural experiences — included in the net rate and operated to the same standard as every other element of food, wine & farm experiences: written confirmations, a named coordinator and the 24/7 desk behind it. Programmes are judged by the day something goes wrong, so the quiet line items get the same care as the headline ones. A named coordinator on the operations desk owns delivery on this line.
Dietary and allergy handling
Dietary and allergy handling — managed with the seriousness food deserves on a group file. Menus are agreed in advance, dietary and allergy requirements travel on the manifest to every kitchen involved, and tastings are chauffeured so nobody needs to drive. Per-head pricing is contracted, so the dining line on your quote holds. It is covered by the same 24/7 support and incident process as every other element.
Vintage-season and harvest timing advice
Vintage-season and harvest timing advice — included in the net rate and operated to the same standard as every other element of food, wine & farm experiences: written confirmations, a named coordinator and the 24/7 desk behind it. Programmes are judged by the day something goes wrong, so the quiet line items get the same care as the headline ones. Plain-language documentation for this element travels in the client pack before departure.
Two notes on reading this list. First, it is a floor, not a ceiling: requirements outside it — an unusual language, a tighter timing, a document your market requires — are quoted as named lines rather than refused. Second, it is checkable: registered partners can ask for the supplier details and specifications behind any element of food, wine & farm experiences, because reselling a service you cannot verify is a risk no agent should carry.
Where we run food, wine & farm experiences in New Zealand.
A service line is only as good as the ground it stands on. Place by place, here is how this one operates — gateways, seasons and the local logic that shapes delivery.
Food, wine & farm experiences in Marlborough Wine Country
Blenheim is the heart of Marlborough, New Zealand’s largest wine region, and a short drive from Picton, where the Cook Strait ferries arrive. Cellar doors cluster close to town, which makes Marlborough easy to fold into a ferry-day itinerary. It is a core base for food, wine & farm experiences on our New Zealand programmes. Days in Marlborough Wine Country are sequenced around the weather and opening hours, with weather-dependent elements given buffer time and a worthwhile alternative. Entrance fees and inclusions are itemised in the net rate — no surprises on the day.
Food, wine & farm experiences in Hauraki Gulf & Waiheke
Waiheke Island is a short ferry ride from downtown Auckland, with vineyards, beaches and restaurants that make it an easy day or overnight from the city — and a popular setting for small weddings and incentive lunches. For food, wine & farm experiences, it is one of the places we plan around most often. Days in Hauraki Gulf & Waiheke are sequenced around the weather and opening hours, with weather-dependent elements given buffer time and a worthwhile alternative. Private versions of every programme quote on request.
Food, wine & farm experiences in Napier
Napier is the centre of Hawke’s Bay, rebuilt in art deco style after the 1931 earthquake and surrounded by one of the country’s established wine regions. It has its own airport and pairs naturally with Taupō and the central North Island. It features regularly in the food, wine & farm experiences files we quote. Days in Napier are sequenced around the weather and opening hours, with weather-dependent elements given buffer time and a worthwhile alternative. Each weather-dependent element carries an alternative that is genuinely worth doing.
Food, wine & farm experiences in Queenstown
Queenstown sits on Lake Wakatipu below The Remarkables, with an airport served by domestic and trans-Tasman flights. It is the South Island’s activity capital, the base for the Queenstown ski fields and Central Otago wineries, and the usual launch point for Milford Sound by road or air. It is a core base for food, wine & farm experiences on our New Zealand programmes. Days in Queenstown are sequenced around the weather and opening hours, with weather-dependent elements given buffer time and a worthwhile alternative. Entrance fees and inclusions are itemised in the net rate — no surprises on the day.
These bases are where we plan food, wine & farm experiences most often, but they are not the limit. The same desk quotes this service anywhere in New Zealand a brief requires — Northland to Stewart Island, single-region stays or both-island circuits. If your client’s brief names a place you do not see here, send it anyway; the answer will come back with a costed plan or an honest alternative.
Seasons run opposite to the northern hemisphere. Summer (December to February) is the long-daylight peak, and Christmas, New Year and the January school holidays are the busiest domestic weeks — book accommodation, campervans and popular activities well ahead for those dates, and allow for added pressure around Chinese New Year. Autumn (March to May) brings settled weather, vintage in the wine regions and good value; winter (June to August) brings snow to the Southern Alps and the ski season; spring (September to November) brings lambs, blossom and waterfalls in full flow. Mountain weather can change quickly in any season, which is why we plan alternatives rather than hoping for sunshine.
Marlborough (Blenheim)
Sauvignon blanc country — cellar doors and vineyard lunches around Blenheim.
Agent guide
Hauraki Gulf & Waiheke
Island vineyards, beaches and walking tracks a short ferry ride from downtown Auckland.
Agent guide
Napier
A city rebuilt in Art Deco after the 1931 earthquake, in the heart of Hawke’s Bay wine country.
Agent guide
Full agent guide
Queenstown
The lakeside adventure and alpine resort town on Lake Wakatipu, with its own international airport.
Agent guideWhat to expect — scenes from the ground.
Our operating standards for food, wine & farm experiences.
Standards only mean something if they are specific. These are the checks we hold ourselves to on every file in this service line.
Nobody drives after tasting
Wine days are chauffeured or guided.
Dietary needs confirmed
Requirements are confirmed with every kitchen in advance.
Paced days
A sensible number of cellar doors per day, with time to enjoy each.
Seasonal timing
Advice on vintage and harvest timing, and on cellar-door opening hours.
We invite partners to test these standards: ask for supplier details, send a trial request through the desk and judge what comes back. Where we fall short of our own bar — it happens in any real operation — the incident note says so plainly, with the fix documented on the same page.
Who books food, wine & farm experiences — and how to sell it.
These client profiles account for most of the demand in this line. If your book includes any of them, this service belongs in your New Zealand offer.
Wine enthusiasts
Private tastings and in-depth regional itineraries.
Couples
Long lunches, vineyard stays and relaxed touring.
Incentive groups
A vineyard lunch or tasting as a programme highlight.
Food lovers
Markets, producers and regional cuisine.
If your clients do not fit neatly into a profile above, send the brief anyway — the cards describe the centre of demand, not its edges. The commercial logic is the same for every segment: net rates that leave your margin yours, white-label delivery that keeps the client relationship yours, and an operations layer in New Zealand that delivers what you sold.
Food, wine & farm experiences pricing — what drives the quote.
We explain how pricing works because guesswork wastes everyone’s time. Here is what moves the number on this service.
Pricing depends on transport (private chauffeur or small-group tour), the number of tastings, lunches and any private experiences.
Vintage season in autumn is a lively time to visit; summer is busiest. Quotes are net and itemised.
To turn these principles into a live number, send the dates, party size and the shape of the file. The quotation comes back itemised against everything above, valid for a stated window and rate-locked when you confirm. Where a budget and a brief genuinely cannot meet, we say so on the first pass and cost the closest workable alternative alongside — a fast, honest answer is worth more to a working agent than a slow, optimistic one.
Food, wine & farm experiences — trade terms, quick reference.
Terms that come up constantly in this line of business, defined the way we use them in quotations and contracts.
Cellar door
A winery’s tasting room, open to visitors for tastings and sales.
Vintage
The grape harvest — in New Zealand generally in autumn — and the year a wine was made.
FIT
Free Independent Traveller — an individually tailored, non-group booking, priced per file with its own routing and documents.
Net rate
The trade price we quote before your margin. You set the sell price; our invoice to you does not change with it.
Food, wine & farm experiences — asked by agents.
How do agents book food, wine & farm experiences with Explera?
Send the brief from the contact page, by email or on WhatsApp with dates, party size and requirements. An itemised, client-ready quotation comes back, typically within one business day for straightforward files; complex MICE programmes take longer.
Are rates net or commissionable?
All trade rates are net — your margin is yours to set. Quotations are itemised in NZD or your working currency and rate-locked at confirmation.
Who looks after our clients on the ground?
Our operations desk and the suppliers we contract, backed by a 24/7 support line on New Zealand time. The emergency contact is printed in every set of travel documents, and delivery is white-label.
Can this service combine with other Explera products?
Yes — most programmes combine accommodation, transport, guides and experiences under one itinerary, one invoice and one coordinator.
Which wine regions can you include?
Marlborough, Central Otago, Hawke’s Bay, Waiheke Island and Martinborough are the most requested, with others on request.
Do clients need to drive between wineries?
No. We arrange chauffeured or guided days so nobody drives after tasting.
When is harvest?
Vintage generally falls in autumn, around March and April, varying by region and year.
Explera DMC New Zealand is the B2B New Zealand DMC for Food, wine & farm experiences. We contract the accommodation, transfers, licensed guides and experiences at net rates, so you sell Food, wine & farm experiences with one accountable ground partner and your own branding. Send the brief to our New Zealand DMC desk for a net service quotation.