Central Otago Area
Central Otago is situated in the southern half of the South Island of New Zealand. The 45th parallel south runs right by means of the heart of the region. It is a stunningly gorgeous region with rugged, snow capped mountains, clear blue rivers, deep gorges and picturesque alpine lakes. The nearest main towns are Queenstown, Wanaka, Crowell and Alexandra.
Grape Varieties
Commercial vineyard development began in 1981 an essential step in the advancement of the Central Otago Wine area was the identification of classical French and German grape types that suited the 'terroir' and climate. The principal types are Pinot Noir, Riesling, Gewurztraminer, Pinot Gris and Chardonnay, all producing exceptional wines.
Geography of the South Island, queenstown wine tours and Central Otago
The South Island landscape is dominated by the Southern Alps Mountains which run from Fiordland in the South-West to Marlborough in the far North-East. These rugged mountains have a important influence on South Island weather patterns with distinctly wetter situations in the west and considerably drier and hotter in the east. The vineyards lie in the semi-arid valley floors of Central Otago. The nearby resort towns of Wanaka and Queenstown lie on the shores of two of New Zealand's greatest and deepest glacial carved lakes with Lake Wakatipu the 3rd deepest in New Zealand at 380m deep. The areas soils are typically a mix of schist gravels and sandy loam, relatively infertile and free draining. The vast majority of the prime vineyard internet sites are located on north facing, sunny slopes. Several are also near to rivers or lakes, offsetting some of the high frost dangers in spring and autumn time.

These situations lend themselves to making world-class wines in what is the southern-most wine area in the planet. This essential New Zealand wine area bears a lot of climate and climatic similarities to other fantastic cool-climate wine areas this kind of as Burgundy, Alsace, the Mosel and Oregon.
Entry and actions
Queenstown is the closest worldwide gateway to the reduce South Island, Central Otago, Wanaka, Fiordland and Milford Sound. Queenstown is also popular for a myriad of adventure actions from bungy jumping, mountain biking, jetboating to sky diving. What is less identified is the broad selection of non-adventure Queenstown activities and attractions that are accessible. We hugely advocate taking time to plan Queenstown holidays to not only incorporate adventure options and a wine tour but to also think about permitting time to:

- Take pleasure in one of the excellent walks in the area
- Take a breathtaking helicopter flight
- Try out your hand at fly fishing
- Picnic on the shores of Lake Wakatipu
- Perform golf at one of the six stunning golf courses
- Ski in winter

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