This is self-guided only – we think it is a lot more fun if you have the freedom to choose which cellar doors you want to visit, set your own biking pace and where you stop for lunch.
We are encouraged by the cellar doors to create an itinerary for groups as this means they know you are coming in advance and can organise for someone to be there to look after you as soon as you arrive. The last thing you want is to turn up and find yourselves having to wait around to be served or be turned away because they are unable to host you. We will work with you to create your itinerary and do all the cellar door bookings for you – this all comes free of charge – you just bring your whistle on the day!!😊
There are only 2 cellar doors that require you book ahead – Cloudy Bay and Hans Herzog. If there are less than 8 of you coming, you can just turn up at any of the other cellar doors. If there are 8 or more, then we will do an itinerary for you.
No, not at all – we have at least 7 cellar doors that are within 15 minutes gentle biking from our front gate and it’s all very flat around here, so no hill climbing.
Yes, the teams at the cellar doors are great in explaining about their wines, wine tasting in general and growing wine here in Marlborough – they love it when you ask questions.
Yes, you absolutely do – it is a legal requirement here in NZ and has been for over 20+ years, and why would you not want to protect your head!
If you are found riding without a helmet, it can be an instant $55.00 fine.
Yes and No – we do have bike paths and quiet roads, but depending on which cellar you choose to visit, there may be times when you need to ride on the main roads to get to them.
Again, this varies. Some offer 4, others can sometimes offer up to 8.
There is a selection of cellar doors that offer food, from gourmet dishes to simple platters – READ MORE
We run our bike hire regardless of the weather (as there are always folk who are not bothered by the rain), but we promise you, we never force our lovely bikers to go out if they don’t want to. The beautiful thing about Renwick though is that the cellar doors are all incredibly close to each other (we are talking between 5-10 minutes gentle biking apart) so if you still want to go for it, you will find you are never out in the elements for long.
It is a 12.5km (7.8 miles) trip by car, or 1 hour by bike – the speed limit on the roads out from Blenheim is 80km/hour and they have a very narrow shoulder on them, so not particularly conducive to riding a push bike on. If you were to get a taxi out from Blenheim to Renwick, the price would be upwards of $50.00 each way!!
Sorry, but no. We will not encourage you to drink and drive by dropping the price. You only need to get to 4 cellar doors to potentially be over the legal limit to drive and that is not hard to do in 6 hours. Why not let us do the driving for you and use our pickup service 😊 :
Sorry, we do not have these for hire – we have found whilst e-bikes may be the “in thing”, there is a popular misconception that they are a great substitute if you lack confidence or basic cycling skills, have balance issues or trouble changing gears or even braking!!
As our core activity involves folk consuming alcohol all day, keeping our lovely bikers safe is always our number one priority and having a heavy bike that can be twice the weight of a standard bike and one that can go at speed with very little effort, mixed with alcohol from potentially 5 cellar door tastings under your belt – we are sure you would agree, it has the potential for things to go very wrong!!
Don’t panic – our bikes are lightweight, comfy and easy to ride and most importantly, we have 7 beautiful cellar doors / restaurants within 3km (1.8 miles) of our base who are literally between 5-10 minutes gentle biking apart, and 10 cellar doors within 5km (3 miles), all on flat roads, so getting between them is not hard at all.
To be honest, we would rather you didn’t – we are a bike hire company after all and this small family business is our livelihood, so bringing your own bike would be like you taking your own food to a restaurant and expecting that you can sit at one of their tables!! Our package offers so much more than just a bike and helmet, but if you are still determined to bring your own bike, please note, there will be a small fee of $20.00 p/p for setting you up for the day and help you plan as we will get you orientated with the area, talk you through our detailed cellar door map, pass on up-to-date advice on the cellar doors pick up any wine you may purchase during the day, and provide a safe parking spot for your car.
Exclusions:
- The complimentary shuttle pickup and drop off service to and from your accommodation out to our base (note – a taxi to and from Blenheim could cost you $40.00 each way!) - you will need to bring yourselves and your bike out to us instead. Please be aware of the legal drinking/driving limits that are in place.
- Helmet - you will need to bring your own
- Our bike replacement service if something goes wrong ie punctures/chain failures – you will be responsible for your own bike