I had one day in Hawkes Bay and I had to make the most of it. After lots of research, I came across Black Barn Vineyards and knew we had to visit. I am from Sonoma County, California (a huge wine region) and was so happy to go wine tasting in New Zealand. Black Barn Vineyards looked like just the place! This place definitely reminded me of Napa in it's architecture - it's fancy, designed modernly, trendy. Though this may seem intimidating, it's actually a super friendly place and the staff was very welcoming. We walked in and had a tasting with a guy who really had his spiel down. He picked us a fig from the tree outside to pair with the sauv blanc, which went really well together. We did a full tasting and loved all of the wines. I particularly liked a few of the reds, and they did a great rose. We bought a glass for outside and had some fries in the vines - what a fantastic little outside patio they have! Black Barn is a great place to chill out for the day with a bottle or glass of wine in the sun. They had some adorable little rugs with bean bag chairs, which would be amazing to hang out on if they were shaded. All in all, I'd definitely recommend and will totally visit again if I ever get back to Hawkes Bay! read more

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The place is welcoming & cozy, service was quick & friendly and food was fantastic. We had the lamb shoulder that was cooked to perfection, the fish of the day (bluenose) thick, flaky and bursting with flavors, and the pasta was home made , al dente and delicious. Enjoyed our dining experience here. Highly recommended! read more

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The setting and the food were superb! We stopped in for a light lunch and were impressed with the creativity and quality of the food. Highly recommend the Preserved Chicken, burnt carrots, the unique smoked butter with honey on their homemade bread and the strawberry terrine for dessert! read more

We spent a day tasting the fermented fruits of the Hawkes Bay region on our trip to New Zealand and this was one of the first wineries on our must visit list. We stopped in right as they were opening and got to enjoy a rather tranquil tasting room and snag a peek at the beautiful bistro as they were setting up for lunch. The tasting room is inside and doesn't have much of a view of the beautiful grounds. It's one long bar with no seating and you can taste around four wines for 5 NZ dollars, not a bad deal at all. They also have a couple tour options to choose from if you would prefer a more private tasting experience. We thought the wines we sampled were pretty solid but none of them really stood out for us to buy a bottle to take home with us. Even though the bistro wasn't open, they let us walk through to look at the gorgeous view of the vineyards. In good weather they even have tables out among the vines. It looked like a beautiful restaurant with an elaborate upscale menu, would love to try it sometime. In total we were glad we stopped by and might only recommend that those planning their wine tasting day schedule this winery sometime around lunch or dinner. read more

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Black Barn is a large, Napa-style wine property with a beautiful restaurant (bistro) serving inspired food for lunch. We stopped in at noon on a Thursday in July for a quick tasting (4 wines including a Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Syrah and a Bordeaux Blend-all fine, but nothing remarkable to my tastes). Then we satunder a canopy of grape vines and had an enjoyable lunch (4-stars for restaurant and food). My wife had a summer salad and I had a fresh snapper with a beautiful orange broth served over white beans-healthy and delicious. It is worth stopping here for lunch even without a wine tasting both for the food and scenery read more

Black Barn Vineyards - A beautiful setting - Music Venues Near Me - Havelock North, HKB

Beautiful winery and dining, both inside and less formally in the courtyard. Loved there wines and bought a couple of bottles to take home. Nice gift shop, too. read more

Definitely a must-visit for your tastings in Hawkes Bay. Beautiful location with knowledgeable and friendly staff, and most importantly, very drinkable wine. read more

WOW! Incredible location, delicious food and wonderful company. Vineyards aren't usually my type of thing but Black Barn is the perfect blend of top quality food in a relaxed environment. The lovely lady at the art shop was a hoot too! The back drop is simply stunning making the experience magical! I don't want to explore any other vineyards in Hawkes Bay now as nothing could beat Black Bran to me. Can't wait to quaff my way through the case or two I couldn't help but purchase read more

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Lovely wine and great staff. Enjoyed our visit and ended up buying a few bottles of wine! Each and every one was amazing so it was difficult to choose. Wish they had distribution in the states but the boutique nature of things makes it unique. Highly recommend. read more

Friday Night Dinner at Black Barn could have been perfect. On Friday nights they do a two ($50) or three ($60) course dinner...I guess the prices fluctuate a little depending on what they are serving. The food and wine were both very good, and neither is outrageously priced (though I often wonder why winery restaurants feel the need to mark up their own wine). My only real complaint: The place feels a little less than clean. The carpet is quite badly stained in places, and our otherwise white table cloth had a black spot on it. Also, we were in a corner, and there were a few sizable flies buzzing on the glass. These things might feel okay for lunch, but I was expecting a certain elegance for dinner. read more

There is nothing better than sitting down in the sunken courtyard among the vines, dappled light on your plate and glass of Rose! Unfortunately when I brought a whole gang of my Auckland friends here it was raining so we had to sit inside - it was still nice, acoustics are not great and there was no music which was weird. anyway they have this really awesome Dick Frizzell sketch of Te Mata Peak on the wall so it creates a really nice feel. The food here is usually really amazing - i had the fish main that was groper on a bed of sushi rice with green asian veges and a crayfish broth which I loved. The Pork Belly is world reknown here although my friends that got it thought it was a little dry. The soft shell crab salad looked amazing as did the prawn salad. The service was impeccable and they handled our group well (there were 30 of us). This place is an absolute must if you are visiting Hawke's Bay, the atmosphere and layout of the whole estate is really magical! read more

This was our first stop on our bike winery tour and I was unfortunately very disappointed. We biked up the most stunning long road, surrounded by gorgeous green vineyards and I was so excited for what awaited us. We approached a gorgeous black barn and behind that a beautiful little courtyard. Upon seeing both we decided we would stay for a snack and a glass of wine after our tasting. Nope. That changed. Let me preface this review by saying two things: 1) hawkes bay is wine country 2) hawkes bay is also bike country and boasts wine and cycle tours. Being in the latter category unfortunately did not provide us a very warm welcome. When we entered the tasting room there was a group being catered to by one woman, and another young lady was standing behind the counter. Neither said hello to us, and shortly after our arrival the first group finished up and left. We waited - and waited. No one said hello, no one asked if we would like to do a tasting. It was a bit awkward honestly, but I am stubborn as and waited it out. Woman A cleaned up from the previous tasting, reorganized the cabinet, as woman B stood behind the counter puttering around and when we hadn't left yet one finally asked us "were you looking to do a tasting today?" Yup. The wines themselves were delicious, with the rose standing out as a nice dry drinkable wine and the montepulciano high on my list to add to our cellar. As we were discussing what to purchase, the next person came in and we unfortunately did not receive any further service. We went across to the store to see what options they had, where Woman A from the tasting room was behind the till. Again, she ignored us and didn't say a word. Unfortunately due to this outstanding experience - the service gets 1 star. The wine and atmosphere I would give 4. Hopefully our next visit is a bit more positive and memorable. read more

This was my first ever winery experience as a treat from my parents on New Years Day. And what a treat it was! Some of the tastiest food I've ever had, eaten under a beautiful wooden pergola-type structure, covered in vines, right in amongst the Blackbarn vineyard. The sun shining through the leaves, creating glorious shadow patterns on every table, a stunning place to enjoy your lunch. Exceptional staff and food, the perfect way to enjoy the beautiful Hawkes Bay produce, highly recommend! read more

Black Barn Vineyards - Prawn salad with avocado, coriander, lime, chilli, mesclun, kumara chips. Market fish, potato purée, beans, capers, burnt butter - Music Venues Near Me - Havelock North, HKB

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The food and ambiance speak for itself. Delicious food. Wine pairings. Greenery. You'll be in heaven. read more

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Delicious lunch, unfortunate that it's raining as would have been nice to sit outside ! Lamb + duck mains were amazing, fish main pretty fishy so avoid if not keen for fish overload... read more

Checked into the beautiful Rush Cottage for 3 nights, upon check into our cottage the staff provided excellent breakfast provisions, and the cottage was well equipped. During our stay they were able to arrange a private wine tasting with the Wine Maker. He came to our cottage to present the wine tasting and explained in depth about the vineyard and wine. With the assistance of the vineyard staff we also were able to arrange a couples massage preformed in our cottage. Had dinner one night at the Bistro on property and the food was wonderful. We had the roasted broccoli, salmon appetizer as well as oysters. Our main course was local lamb and a local fish paired well with BBV wines. This area you would need a rental car, the town of Havelock North is a short bike ride away and bikes were provided to us with our stay in the cottage. If you would like to go to Hastings or Napier you would need to drive. read more