"It looks like it was a good day had by all and no need for police to get involved," Senior Sergeant Clint Adamson said. "Generally these type of events are very well run."
Buses left at regular intervals transporting people from winery to winery, with about 500 of those taking part travelling to the event on special buses from Napier, Hastings and Havelock North - while another 500 people made their own way there.
It was all part of the plan to make it easily accessible and safe for everyone, Ash Ridge Winery owner Chris Wilcock said.
"Yesterday was a huge, huge success it flowed incredibly well - people loved the concept, we were just about sold out.
"The format means we can put on buses around every five to 10 minutes, people were doing multiple circuits. They could get around as they pleased without breaking the new drink drive laws."
Entertainment varied at each stop, ranging from guitar sessions to light rock, some DJ rhythms and vocalists.
There were other fun activities too - gumboot throwing at Triangle Cellars, golf-chipping contests at Sileni and a barrel roll through the olive grove at Ash Ridge.
"In many respects, the festival lent itself to a very, very relaxed atmosphere where people could taste great food and wine, we saw no issues," Mr Wilcock said.
A date had already been set for January 23, 2016, putting it in line to become an annual fixture on the Hawke's Bay calendar, filling the space left by Harvest Hawke's Bay.
"There are always a lot of events on at this time of year but I think what was missing is a wine festival, that's what we felt we needed to fill in. The feedback was that people missed the festival, they missed the buses, but for buses to work it needed to be a relatively small area."
The eight wineries involved were Sileni Estates, Paritua, Alpha Domus, Abbey Cellars, Triangle Cellars, Ngatarawa, Salvare and Ash Ridge.
This year, organisers focussed their marketing on locals but there was room to expand and organisers hoped the word would spread.
