Local focus for Renwick winery weekend

Cellar doors in the Renwick area have collaborated to provide a super Saturday out for locals.

For Marlborough’s Big Day Out on Saturday, November 15, Renwick businesses Wairau River, Nautilus Estate, Framingham, Forrest Wines, Bladen, Gibson Bridge, and Boomtown Brewery are all opening their doors for a shared day filled with local appreciation and family fun.

Transport providers, bike hire companies and the venues themselves are eager to open doors so that locals can experience some of the best hospitality which tourists traditionally enjoy.

Forrest’s Fay Clarke is hopeful collaboration between the various wineries can bring a boon to all.

“We’re encouraging everyone to be a tourist in their own town and come for a day out, whether it’s going between wineries and take or hire a bike yourselves or picnicking at one for the day”, she says.

“We’ve got amazing wineries around our region, so it’s really hard to pick and choose who to work with, but it started with an idea that we had together with Framingham encouraging a day for the locals to come out to our little corner in Renwick.

“For all the wineries, everyone’s kind of getting ready for that peak season, starting to see way more tourists and cellar doors are getting busier on the weekends, but the Marlborough hospitality experience is for locals to enjoy too.

“We picked this weekend because it’s not a cruise weekend and keeping in mind other events, Garden Marlborough and the A&P Show, we’d thought we’d just keep the momentum going.”

With all the wineries opening from 10am to 5pm, and live music from Little T at Boomtown in the Forrest as the ‘after party’ until 7pm, Marlborough’s Big Day Out also coincides with a few new releases, including Bladen’s new chilled red wine and exclusive deals on the day.

“We’ve got everyone doing something a little bit more special, family-friendly and out of the norm for the day, alongside transport providers that have jumped on board,” added Fay.