Both routes start at our gate on State Highway 50 at Roys Hill, which sits right on the border between the two wine districts. That's the whole reason starting in wine country works: you're not shuttling out to the good stuff, you're already in it.
So the real question isn't which district is better. It's what type of day are you after?
The quick comparison
Gimblett Gravels is the shorter loop. Around 8 km to 14 km, completely flat, with cellar doors up to about 20 minutes apart. Trinity Hill is 2km out, Unison 4km, Radburnd 6km, and Ash Ridge is 200m from our home base. Oak Estate is 2km away too, though this season it’s a Saturday and Sunday stop, so it suits a weekend ride better than a Thursday.
Bridge Pa Triangle is the longer route of the two. Around 24km to 26km, though that depends on how far you wish to go. It is also completely flat, with cellar doors 15 to 45 minutes apart. Oak Estate and Trinity Hill are 2km from the start, Alpha Domus 8.5km and Paritua 12km. Ash Ridge, being just 200m away, is close enough to be either your first winery or your last. Abbey Winery is on this loop too, open Saturday and Sunday, and Alpha Domus is open Friday to Sunday.
Both routes are 100% flat, because this is the Heretaunga Plains. Since this section of the Hawke’s Bay Trails: Wineries Ride was finished in 2012, you ride on lime-covered tracks alongside the road rather than on it. There is only a single 1000m section to Paritua Winery where you’re briefly on the road proper.
Choose Gimblett Gravels if
- You want to spend more time at the cellar doors and less time in the saddle. The short legs mean you can be at your next tasting in a quarter of an hour, so a five-winery day is genuinely achievable if you want one.
- It also suits anyone slightly nervous about riding. Someone who hasn't been on a bike in a decade will find 15km over a whole day is nothing at all, and knowing that before you book takes the worry out of it.
- The wine leans towards big reds and flavourful whites. Deep river gravels, warm dry summers, and Bordeaux blends and Syrah that have made the district's name internationally.
Choose Bridge Pa Triangle if
- You want more riding and a bigger loop through open country. The extra distance buys you a proper sense of having been somewhere, and the Bridge Pa Triangle has its cellar doors spread over a wider distance.
- It’s usually the route with the better entertainment options, too. Abbey Winery’s pizzas, craft beer and live music are on this loop and not the other, on Saturdays and Sundays. If your group includes someone who isn’t drinking wine, a brewery on this loop gives them something to look forward to.
- The wines are a touch more varied, with strong Syrah and Merlot alongside Chardonnay from a mix of boutique producers.
Or take some of each
This comes up constantly and the answer is yes. Ash Ridge, Oak Estate and Trinity Hill all sit close enough to base that you can build a day pulling from both lists, and on quieter weeks we’ll often suggest exactly that ourselves, so you get a proper three-to-four-winery day.
If that's what you want, take e-bikes. Not because you'll be exhausted otherwise, but because the extra range means you stop thinking about distance at all and just go where the good doors are open that day.
How many wineries will we actually get to?
Three to four. That's what most people manage, and it's not a distance problem.
Work backwards. You've got from your pick-up slot until 5pm. Fifteen minutes to get fitted and briefed at the start. Allow roughly an hour per cellar door once you've tasted, talked, bought something and got going again. Add an hour or more for lunch. The riding itself might total ninety minutes across the whole day.
Five is possible on the Gimblett Gravels loop if you keep moving. But nobody has ever come back and said they wished they'd spent less time at Trinity Hill.
What actually decides your route
Not the map. The opening hours.
Cellar doors in both districts have seasonal hours, and in winter several close entirely or drop to Friday through Sunday only. A gorgeous 26km loop is no use if four of the six doors on it are shut.
That’s also why a blended route across both districts can make the best day out, especially midweek, when fewer cellar doors are open.
So plan it in this order:
- Pick your date.
- Look at which cellar doors are open that day.
- Build the route around them.
We keep the opening hours tables current on the site, and when you book with us we send route details with each winery's contact information so you can ring ahead. If you'd rather have it worked out for you, the winery bike tour planner will build a realistic timetable, allowing about an hour at each stop.
And if you'd rather just ring and ask, do that. We know what's open this week and we'll tell you straight.
Whichever way you go
Buy whatever wine you like along the way. Leave it at the cellar door before 3pm, and we’ll collect it from the winery and have it ready for you to collect at the end of the day.
The bikes are due back by 5pm, so keep that in mind when you’re deciding whether to squeeze in another tasting at 3:45pm. It’s sometimes possible if you’re close by, but not if you have a 45-minute ride back.