If you're planning a wine-sampling trip around Blenheim, then get Bladen on your list. There are bigger and more well-known places in the area, but Bladen has some excellent wines and a really lovely cellar door. It was recommended to us by Paul at St Leonard's Vineyard Cottages (where we were staying) and I'm really glad he mentioned it as we may not have landed on it otherwise. Bladen describe their cellar door, on their website, as being "probably the smallest and most welcoming in the region" - I'll take their word for it on the size, but I can vouch for the welcome. We were looked after by Deni, daughter of the owners, who was really friendly, helpful and knowledgeable. It's an 'indoor-outdoor' cellar door, allowing you to soak up the view while sampling the wines. We tried six, my favourites being their Pinot Gris (bright but a lot more rich fruit than the Pinot Gris we tried at other vineyards) and their gorgeous sticky (a Noble Riesling - sweet and luscious but with a really clean flavour). They do charge $5 for a tasting, but this seems to be the case at most places in the area, and it's well worth it for the lovely experience and the chance to try some wines that, in my opinion, bested a lot of the wines we tried at the bigger vineyards. Definitely worth a visit.
This is one of the older wineries in Renwick. It is family owned and a smalle boutique winery. Interesting history and very personal. The riesling was very good.
Well worth a visit to this family run winery and cellar door. Fantastic hosts and great wine
The sampling charge was excessive. Not very user friendly, especially considering the tiny pours and not that great of wine.
Bladen makes some of the most interesting and unique wines in Marlborough., and they are difficult to buy elsewhere in New Zealand. Among my favourites are the Reisling and the Pinot Gris. It is a small family winery and therefore I don't begrudge them charging for tasting. If you purchase a bottle, this charge is of course waived.
We stopped by Bladen for a tasting on an organised tour and everyone in the group agreed they were our favourite stop that day. All the wines we tasted were winners, and the added touch of having Christine, one of the owners, pass on some history of the estate just added to the experience. All in our group of eight bought bottles to be freighted up to Auckland without any regrets!
This was our last cellar door on our wine tour. One of our faves. The owner has a friendly red setter dog and the outdoor setting was lovely. The wines superb.
We arrived on bikes about 1/2 hour before closing. We chatted with the owner while tasting, and really enjoyed the stories about how they started the winery. We ended up buying two bottles.
Family run business, open and friendly with a lovely little cellar door. They've just celebrated 25years... Here's to many more!
We did a self guided cycle tour (via company "Wine Tours By Bike") and stopped by at Bladen. It was lovely to meet Christine and also learn about how she and her husband began in the wine industry. Her passion and enthusiasm about wine really came across and it was a delight to sample the Bladen wines. There was no hard sell, unlike some other celler doors we visited. (I'd recommend the Bladen Gewurztraminer 2014.) Bladen Cellar Door was our favourite winery out of all the cellar doors we had visited that day. Beautiful setting, friendly host and spectacular wines. Highly recommended.