Maui Online Guide

Tedeschi Vineyards is Maui’s only commercial winery. Located in the Ulupalakua region of Maui’s “Upcountry” Tedeschi Vineyards makes a beautiful side trip. Driving the winding road to the winery you’ll climb and dip amid lush rolling hills and ranch land and enjoy incredible vistas of Maui’s central valley and the West Maui Mountains.

The winery is part of the Ulupalakua Ranch, a 20,000 acre working cattle ranch. Here paniolos, Hawaii’s cowboys, still herd cattle on horseback. Ulupalakua Ranch has a rich history, but that’s another story.

In 1974 Emil Tedeschi, a California vintner leased a portion of the ranch to be used for vineyards and a winery. While waiting for the first grape crop, Tedeschi experimented with pineapple wine. In 1977 Maui Blanc Pineapple Wine was released. Maui Brut, released in 1984, was the wineries first grape product. Today the winery sells wines made from grapes, pineapple, passion fruit and even raspberries.

The tasting room is located in the “Kings Cottage,” one of the most historic buildings on the island of Maui. The cottage was built in 1874 specifically for the visit of Hawaii’s king David Kalakaua. The King visited the ranch often afterwards. The centerpiece of the Tasting Room is an eighteen-foot-long bar cut from the trunk of a single mango tree.

The tasting room is open seven days a week, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Three free guided tours of the winery are offered each day at 10:30 a.m., 1:30 p.m. and 3 p.m.

For more information see www.mauiwine.com.

 

Tedeschi Vineyards