Auckland’s largest wine celebration reaches its decade-old milestone this year, and will take over the Viaduct Events Centre on 3 and 4 October.
Fifty winery teams are making their way to the city for this event, including Quartz Reef and Amisfield of Central Otago, Trinity Hill and Mills Reef of Hawke’s Bay, Greywacke and Fromm of Marlborough, Escarpment and Palliser from Wairarapa. Waiheke is represented by Casito Miro and Obsidian, Longview from Northland and Ohau from Horowhenua. This year French, Italian and Argentinian wines are also on offer.
The Main Stage will once again be MC’d by comedian and TV presenter Ben Hurley hosting a full schedule of talks and tastings. One of the highlights during each evening session will be the Wine Battles where two renowned winemakers go head-to-head for fame, glory and rapturous applause. Each will be armed with their most prized possession to share, the audience will be the judge in what is possibly the most raucous wine tasting anywhere.
A true legend of the NZ food scene, Chef Josh Emett has run restaurants around the world for Gordon Ramsay, was a longstanding MasterChef NZ judge, and with his wife Helen, he owns three incredible restaurants in Auckland – Gilt Brasserie, Onslow and The Oyster Inn. Josh will be sharing a glass of his favourite wine with the audience at the Main Stage on the Saturday afternoon session.
He's played 96 games for the All-Blacks, is a constant champion for mental health advocacy and will be at Winetopia with his daughter Francesca on the Friday night. That’s right, join Sir John Kirwan at the Main Stage, and showcasing the latest of the JK14 wine range from their stand.
Learn from some of Auckland’s top restaurants and match your wine and food to perfection. Join Tacoteca , The Wine Room by David Nash and Tempero for their top tips – arrive early to these sessions to try the food pairings.
It's no surprise that Kasey & Karena Bird have raving fans across Aotearoa and beyond - with two fabulous cookbooks, award-winning pop-up events and a busy schedule of public appearances around the globe since winning MasterChef NZ in 2014. Their approach to food blends te ao Māori with contemporary dining, making experiences that are meaningful, memorable and delicious. Kasey & Karena are at Winetopia delivering a series of seafood and wine matching masterclasses with a line-up of delicious Tohu Wines.
Coinciding with the 10 Year Anniversary of the first Winetopia event, wine writer and judge Joelle Thomson will be delivering three “10 Years Young Masterclasses” with wines sourced from Winetopia partner wineries’ 2016 vintage.
Food for the afternoon will be served from a range of artisans, as well as celebrated restaurants Spiga (Remuera), Hazy Tiger (CBD), Nanam (Takapuna) - and Premium Ticket Holders will receive a special plate prepared by Chef Kyle Street’s cult favourite Little Culprit (CBD).
In a world-first, organisers have created a Winetopia App which attendees will use to navigate their way through the event, track their wine purchases, and top up their Winetopia balance, bringing wine tasting into the digital age.
Previous Winetopia attendees will attest to the tempo of each session stepping up noticeably towards the end of each session. This year’s bands include Winetopia regular’s Two Many Chiefs on the Friday and Mischief The Band on Saturday.
Winetopia attendees are encouraged to “Make it a Weekend” with partner hotels M Social and SO/Auckland offering special deals over the weekend.
Tickets to Winetopia start from $55 which includes a Spiegelau glass and 5 Silver Tasting Coins. Premium Tickets are $95 including special access to the Premium Lounge and intimate tastings.
Winetopia is supported by Tātaki Auckland Unlimited and the city centre targeted rate. Sponsors include Vintec, Spiegelau and the Premium Wine Partner is Allan Scott. Full schedules and event details at winetopia.co.nz
