Press release from Appellation Central Wine Tours
14 November 2012

Third Consecutive Award Win for Appellation Central Wine Tours

Queenstown’s premier wine tour company Appellation Central Wine Tours is celebrating an “outstanding” wine tourism award that aligns its business with some of the best wine tourism regions in the world.

For the third consecutive year Appellation Central has won a New Zealand award for ‘Best of Wine Tourism Services’.

The annual Best of Wine Tourism Awards honour outstanding wine tourism businesses nationally and internationally, and are run by the prestigious Great Wine Capitals Global Network.

Owner and Manager Wendy Johnston said she was “extremely proud” of their third New Zealand award, acknowledging the dedication to delivering a memorable service to guests by every member of the Appellation Central Wine Tours team.

“This award is a tribute to the fantastic team we have – guides and customer service staff - who are passionate about their product and truly care about their clients,” she said.

The extremely high quality of their overall operation was certainly the winning formula according to Chief Judge of the awards, Dr Joanna Fountain, a senior lecturer in tourism at Lincoln University. She said the award reflected the “consistently excellent service” Appellation Central Wine Tours provided to guests.

Ms Johnston said that not only did Appellation Central maintain “consistency” but constantly strived to improve that quality of service.

“Our tours are as much about people as they are about wine,” she said.

“We make sure we employ guides who are passionate about the entire region – the human history, the gold history and not least the history of wine in the region.

“We’re as flexible as we can be to tailor tours to the individual needs or tastes of the client, and it’s the personable approach of our guides that ensures an outstanding wine experience for each and every client.”

Ms Johnston also acknowledged the vineyards, restaurants and cellars the company was proud to work with, and the beauty of the wine growing area in which they operated.

“This award isn’t just about us, it’s a credit to the entire Central Otago region, to the superb wines produced in this region and to the fantastic service we receive at every cellar door.

“We are one of the few tour operators who go east of Queenstown, and the sheer beauty of Gibbston, the Kawarau Gorge and Bannockburn adds to the richness of the entire tour.”

Winners of the New Zealand sectors of the Best of Wine Tourism Awards go on to compete in the International awards. Not only has Appellation Central Wine Tours now won the three New Zealand Best of Wine Tourism awards, but in 2012 they were awarded the highly coveted prize of International Best of Wine Tourism Services.

The Great Wine Capitals ‘Best of Wine Tourism’ awards recognise excellence on a global level among various wine tourism activities including the wineries, restaurants, museums and wine tours of a specific region. Their regional and global awards put the magnificent region of Central Otago alongside the world-renowned wine regions of Cape Town, Bordeaux, Bilbao/Rioja, Firenze, Mainz/Rheinhessen, San Francisco/Napa Valley, Mendoza and Porto.

ENDS

About Appellation Central Wine Tours
Appellation Central Wine Tours is one of New Zealand’s leading boutique wine tour operators. Operating all through the year it takes clients on a discovery to taste, smell, see, hear and feel Central Otago vineyards in Queenstown, Gibbston, Bannockburn and Cromwell. The company first opened in 1999 under the name of Central Otago Wine Tours and later re-branded in 2005 as Appellation Central Wine Tours to reflect the development and growing recognition of the wine region and their wine tours. Appellation Central Wine Tours keeps tour group sizes to a maximum of 11 adults per guide in order to ensure plenty of time to interact with guides, vineyard staff, others in the group as well as ample opportunity to taste the great wines. The company has a Qualmark Enviro-Silver Status to its name and was recently ranked 8th out of 120 activities in Queenstown by customers on the independent customer feedback website tripadvisor.com.

About the Best of the Wine Tourism Awards

The Best of Wine Tourism Awards celebrates the great wine capitals from around the world, including Cape Town, Bordeaux, Bilbao/Rioja, Firenze, Mainz/Rheinhessen, San Francisco/Nape Valley, Mendoza, Porto and Christchurch/South Island.

The Best of Wine Tourism Awards, created by Great Wine Capitals Global Network in 2004, recognises excellence and encourages wider participation in wine tourism initiatives in the cities and wine regions of the network.

Awards are given to categories in Accommodation, Architecture, Parks and Gardens, Arts and Culture, Innovative Experiences in Wine Tourism, Sustainable Wine Tourism Practices and Wine Tourism Services.

A local contest takes place in each member city and region, with winners on the national level competing on international level and being awarded during the annual general meeting of the network.

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