Such terrific advice -- thanks all! We'll skip the northern end of the South Island and focus instead on the Auckland area (by necessity) and the southern part of the South Island.

We'll definitely check out Amisfield since, you're right, we just want to see NZ wineries in general, not any specific ones (although I bought so much I feel like I helped pay Kim Crawford's mortgage over the summer).

Seems like we should play it by ear & go where the spirit moves us. Do you think we'll be OK without advance hotel reservations? I presume mid-week is less busy than weekends?

Thanks again,
David