Volcanic Hills Winery Tasting Room (at the top of the Skyline Gondola) — Attraction in North Island

Where to begin. So the setting was lovely, good views of Rotorua. BUT one minute, you want to hear about the wine right? The wine tasting is why we came here too.

Well, we tried 5 different wines and we were told when you should have it. One was for a friendly social, a first date and one for lunch. But we were not told a single tasting note of the wines on offer. Which I'm not a well travelled winery enthusiast, but I was under the assumption that was something that was talked about when serving the wine. Instead what we received from this waiter was a bunch of chat that was rather lacking in substance. He chose to make inappropriate comments about our looks and accents but with an oblivious level of charisma so one would not notice the underlying racism. Then he proceeded to talk to us about why most of New Zealand is apparently not worth visiting. We were told the North has nothing to offer. The South does not have enough people. Hobbiton is not worth visiting as most of it was not filmed there (this was after we had said we had enjoyed our trip there in the morning) and overall whats the point of going to Rotorua as there are too many tourists.

I reckon if they hired a decent human being to serve their wines this place would be a much more enjoyable visit, and if the wines were actually talked about in some level of enthusiasm the wine tasting experience we paid for would actually have been worthwhile. But alas we had to put up with a mediocre old disheveled bitter man throw out his opinions that to be honest made me want to throw the wine...

A five-star experience. The view alone is five stars, but our server, Carmen, curated a delightful experience from start to finish! Carmen clearly knew her wines; she was patient, and her smile radiated genuine warmth. I lived in San Francisco for many years and we frequented the wine country. I am now trying to lean into the Australian and Zealand wines (whites, Pinots and other offerings) rather than the big bold Cabernets of California that defined the wine education in my youth. Carmen and I had a big discussion about Chardonnay oak and stainless, and again, it was clear that she knew her wines and especially the Volcanic Hills wines that she was serving. We also overheard her at the other tables educating other patrons and even trying to navigate some language barriers. She remained unflappable. All tables received a great deal of attention from her. This was no mere “pour and go” tasting. Carmen really took the time to educate every table about her wines. Kudos Carmen for such an incredible experience! We ended up taking home a few bottles. One of them never quite made it back to the states, because we still had a few days in New Zealand, and I opened it up in Wellington! Our next excursion after the tasting was at one of the Maori cultural centers, and Carmen told us a bit of history of the folks there and how she was related. What a great way to prep for our next experience and dinner. I was also really enchanted by one of Volcanic Hills whites, which is unusual. Those bottles make it home...

We bought a wine and talked to other mom while drinking wine while kids played. One of our child dropped the juice and did one little noise (scream). Ann (the manager) who served told us came to clean the juice and became very annoyed. She said that this place is for adults and customers cannot stand kids cry. There were only 2 customers in the restaurant. The rest us 8 people: 4 adults and 4 kids. We think if person is annoyed with kids then should not work in the hospitality area. I also have a business and I was surprised. She came to a 2.5 years child and said u cannot cry here. Ann said it s common sense to know it :o. She also said that a child cry annoys many people. If kids are not allowed then why did she serve us initially and also no sign about kids was displayed. Also Sky Line is a kids destination and it s a...