Wine and song to wind down summer

JUST JUICE: Good old-fashioned grape stomping at the Ascension Wine Harvest Festival.

Ascension Wine Estate has just launched their Epicurean Calendar for 2013 and it kicks off at Matakana on March 23 & 24 with the Ascension Wine Harvest Festival, presented in conjunction with local radio station TimesFM.

“For people around the world whose lives depend on the harvest of whatever they grow, harvesting the crop is a special time,” says owner and winemaker Darryl Soljan. “This is even more so for grape growers who only get one chance with one annual harvest after a full year’s work. This will be a fun weekend of wine, food, music and fun for the whole family. We expect the grape stomping to be a highlight but we are unlikely to turn that vat into wine!”

While the kids are enjoying the big bouncy castle and slide (vineyard pony rides and face painting is also available for a small charge), the adults can sit back and listen to the upbeat bluegrass sound of The Pipi Pickers and the sultry jazz of The June Hayes Set while enjoying a glass of wine grown just metres away.

Festival platters will be available, along with traditional Croatian-style lamb on the spit. 

The energetic can jump inside a large wooden vat to stomp grapes before tasting their way through the exotic Ascension range as well as free samples of honey and olive oil from local producers.

For the competitive, the croquet will be out and the petanque piste will be groomed for play!

Admission is by ticket only which can be purchased online at www.Eventfinder.co.nz or over the counter at the winery. Limited tickets available for each day.

Admission includes parking, first glass of wine, music, grape stomping, olive oil and honey tasting, games and bouncy castle. Food and beverage, wine tasting, pony rides and face painting are additional.