Ripe – The Wānaka Wine & Food Festival is one of the wine festivals that anchors the Central Otago calendar, drawing both local visitors and international wine travellers each year.
Ripe – The Wānaka Wine & Food Festival is one of the wine festivals that anchors the Central Otago calendar, drawing both local visitors and international wine travellers each year. It is held at Glendhu Bay in Wānaka, in the heart of one of New Zealand's most distinctive wine areas. The 2026 event marks the 5th edition of the festival, reflecting its consistent place in the regional calendar.
Capacity 4,000. Masterclasses, wine walks, Gather Markets. Aims to be waste-free (90%+ diversion from landfill). Wine festivals across Europe typically combine producer tastings with food pairings, live music, and a strong sense of place. Visitors can expect access to wines from a range of producers in the appellation, alongside food stalls offering regional specialities, masterclasses or vineyard walks for those who want to learn more, and an opportunity to buy directly from producers at cellar prices. Many events run across multiple days or weekends, allowing visitors to sample different parts of the programme according to interest, and combine well with the area's wider tourism offer. The event is organised by Ripe Festival organisers, which sets the tone and direction of the programme each year.
Central Otago in the southern South Island is the world's southernmost wine region (and one of the few in the southern hemisphere with a continental climate). The region is famous internationally for Pinot Noir of remarkable intensity and structure, with the dry continental climate, dramatic diurnal temperature range, and schistous soils producing wines with distinctive dark fruit, savoury earth, and clove-like spice. The four main sub-regions — Gibbston, Bannockburn, Bendigo and Wanaka/Cromwell Basin — produce subtly different Pinot Noir styles. The region also produces serious Riesling, Pinot Gris and Chardonnay. Producers like Felton Road, Rippon, Mt Difficulty, Quartz Reef, Two Paddocks (owned by actor Sam Neill) and Amisfield set the international quality reference.
The 2026 edition is scheduled for 21 March 2026. Cost details are best confirmed directly with the organiser ahead of travel. Full programme, ticketing and updated information are published on the official site at ripewanaka.nz. Visitors are advised to check directly with the organiser for the latest schedule, as festival programmes are sometimes updated close to the event date.
Central Otago is reached via Queenstown airport (ZQN), one of the world's most spectacular airports, with the Gibbston Valley wine zone just 30 minutes east of the airport. Cromwell, Bannockburn and Wanaka are the other main wine-tourism bases. Central Otago combines wine tourism with Queenstown itself (NZ's adventure-tourism capital with bungy jumping, jet boating, skiing), the Routeburn Track and Milford Sound, and the dramatic alpine landscape of Mount Aspiring National Park. Cuisine pairs the wines with Central Otago's strong stone-fruit production, the local merino lamb, and the contemporary food scene of Queenstown and Arrowtown.
