Cellar door revamp for winery

Craggy Range's cellar door has undergone a six-week refurbishment. Photo Supplied

Craggy Range yesterday opened its brand new cellar door, following a major refit project.

The cellar door underwent a six week refurbishment, gutting the space and starting again, focusing on enhancing the customer experience rather than the traditional tasting format.

Customers now have a more relaxed and intimate approach of seated tastings, where they can select flights of wine to taste through in a bespoke wine tasting environment.

Craggy Range general manager, Aaron Drummond saw firsthand how this style of cellar door was operating successfully within the Californian wine regions of the Sonoma and Napa Valleys and after trialing the seated tasting format, it was incorporated into the design of the refit.

"The US wine industry is much further advanced in delivering a great customer experience. Our visitors can still enjoy the more traditional tasting at the bench/bar, but for those that are interested in learning more about the wines, sitting down in a relaxed environment and tasting with the staff is a much more interesting and enjoyable experience."

With the reopening of the cellar door, a new bites and platter menu from Terroir, designed by Head Chef, Casey McDonald, will be launched, specifically to cater for those wishing to enjoy some food during their wine tasting in the cellar door and courtyard space.

The Cellar Door is located in the same area of the Giants Winery as it has always been and will be open from 10am-6pm, seven days a week over the summer months.

The project was designed as the first stage of a two part redesign for the Cellar Door, followed by the Terroir by Craggy Range restaurant in winter 2018.

The refurbishment project is led by Paul Izzard, from Izzard Design; as featured as one of the guest judges on The Block NZ.