The Best Day Trip from Seaside Heights? Renault Winery

There’s a day during almost every shore week where the beach can wait. The kids are occupied, the weather’s iffy, or you just need a few hours that feel like something other than sunscreen and sand.

That’s when it’s time for a trip to Renault Winery!

About an hour from Seaside Heights is Renault Winery in Egg Harbor City. This winery has been around since 1864 — longer than most of the boardwalks, longer than the casinos, longer than just about anything you’ll find at the Shore. It’s the oldest active winery in New Jersey, and honestly, one of the more interesting day trips you can take when you need a break from the sand and salt. Whether you’re planning a morning out with your partner, looking for a relaxing afternoon, or just curious what “New Jersey wine country” actually means — Renault Winery is worth the drive.

Leave mid-morning, spend a few hours at the winery, and you can still be back on the beach or the boardwalk by late afternoon. The property itself is massive — over 1,400 acres — so even the drive in feels different from the typical Jersey Shore backdrop.

What surprises most people isn’t the history. It’s that the wines are actually good.

Before You Go

A Quick History (Worth Knowing)

Louis Nicholas Renault, a French immigrant from the Champagne region of France, planted the first vines here in 1864. He chose this location because the sandy South Jersey soil reminded him of home. The Outer Coastal Plain AVA that Renault sits in has become recognized as one of the more distinctive wine-growing regions on the East Coast.

Renault winery was once the largest champagne producer in the United States. It survived Prohibition the creative way — by obtaining a license to produce sacramental wine, and by selling “Renault Wine Tonic” through pharmacists across the country. That backstory alone makes the tour worth doing.

In more recent decades, Renault Winery shifted from pure winery to full resort. A restaurant opened in 1983. Then a hotel and second restaurant in 2000, then a golf course in 2004. The property went through a rough patch — bankruptcy in 2014, a bank sale in 2015 — but new ownership has put real money into it, and the result is what you find today: a working winery that’s also a legitimate resort.

Weekdays are a completely different visit than weekends. Saturday afternoon at a winery an hour from the Shore is exactly what you’d expect — busy, loud, a little chaotic. A Tuesday or Wednesday has the same wines and a fraction of the crowd. Go midweek if you can swing it.

Book ahead. The Tour & Taste sells out on weekends in summer. They open at noon on weekdays and 11am on Fridays and Saturdays.

What’s There to Do at Renault Winery

Wine Tours and Tastings

The Tour & Taste experience is the main draw for first-timers, and it delivers. You walk through the historic production rooms, barrel cellars, and winemaking facilities with a guide, hearing about Renault’s history and process along the way. It runs about 60 to 90 minutes and ends with a guided tasting of several wines plus a mini charcuterie plate.

Tours run daily. Tickets need to be booked in advance through the Renault website — latecomers miss the start and tickets aren’t refunded. Check renaultwinery.com for current availability and pricing.

If a full tour isn’t your thing, you can also just show up and taste in the Tasting Room without joining a guided tour. The Tasting Room has a big copper center bar, indoor dining tables, lounge seating, and outdoor tables in the Champagne Patio Garden overlooking the vineyard and pond. It’s a genuinely nice place to sit for an hour.

Renault Winery makes about 20,000 cases of wine per year from 48 acres of grapes. Their portfolio covers a lot of ground — Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Pinot Noir, Cabernet Franc, Pinot Gris, Riesling, Sauvignon Blanc, and more. The blueberry champagne gets mentioned constantly in reviews; if you see it on the tasting menu, try it. It sounds like a novelty but it’s not.

Dining at the Winery

Café La Fleur handles the lighter lunch-style dining. Sandwiches, wraps, salads — casual fare that pairs well with an afternoon glass of wine. Outdoor seating is available when the weather cooperates.

The main Tasting Room menu also serves food — casual fare and light bites meant to pair with the wines. There’s a Champagne Patio Garden for outdoor seating, plus fire pit seating that’s bookable through the website. If you have a larger party, the restaurant asks that groups over 16 contact them directly.

Portions and service get mixed reviews in the summer — it’s worth tempering expectations a bit, especially on busy weekends. This is a destination for the overall experience, not a restaurant you’d drive 30 minutes to for dinner service alone.

What It’s Like With Kids

The short answer: kids can come, but this leans adult.

The grounds are beautiful and there’s plenty to look at. All ages can visit, walk the property, eat at the café, and enjoy the scenery. The vibe at the Tasting Room on a Saturday afternoon is couples-and-girlfriends-trip.

That said, families do visit. There’s room to walk around, the café is genuinely kid-friendly, and younger kids who don’t need to be entertained every second will be fine for a couple of hours. If you’re traveling with toddlers or easily-bored tweens, this might be a better trip for the adults to do while the other parent holds down the fort at the rental.

Renault Winery Wines

Renault Winery grows 15+ varieties on their 48 acres — Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Riesling, Pinot gris, Merlot, Sangiovese, and a handful of grapes you won’t find anywhere else. The South Jersey terroir is unique: the Outer Coastal Plain soil drains well, the growing season is long enough for most varietals to ripen properly, and the humidity that makes wine growing tricky elsewhere is something Renault has had 160 years to work around.

Here’s what to drink, and what to expect from each.

The Blueberry Champagne

Order this first. It sounds gimmicky and it isn’t. Renault Winery is the only winery in the United States with the legal right to call their sparkling wine “champagne” — they’ve held that distinction since the 1800s — and the blueberry version is their most famous bottle for good reason.

It smells like blueberry muffins fresh out of the oven, but it doesn’t taste like dessert. There is sweetness, but so is enough acidity to keep it from going cloying. It lands somewhere between a Prosecco and a Lambrusco — fruit-forward, bubbly, easier to drink than it has any right to be. People who claim they don’t like sweet wine always end up wanting a second pour.

Fleur de Blanc

This is the one the locals take home, and once you try it you’ll understand why. It’s made from Noah — a white grape native to New Jersey that doesn’t exist in wine shops anywhere — and it’s semi-dry with a slight tartness and more backbone than that description suggests. It pairs well with fish, which makes sense given where we are.

It’s not trying to be a Chardonnay or a Sauvignon Blanc. It has its own thing going on. If you’re only buying one bottle to bring back to the rental, make it this one.

Riesling

Renault Winery’s Riesling is sweeter than what you’d get from Alsace or Germany — stone fruit, peach, a little floral. If you’ve had bad experiences with sweet Riesling before, this one won’t convert you. But if you’re okay with off-dry whites, it’s well-balanced. The acidity stops it from sitting heavy, and it works particularly well with anything spicy.

Reserve Cabernet Franc

The best red they make. Cabernet Franc does better in New Jersey’s climate than Cabernet Sauvignon — it ripens earlier and handles the humidity — and Renault Winery’s Reserve version shows what’s possible here. Lighter than a California Cab, more red fruit than dark, some herbal character on the finish, and tannins gentle enough that it drinks well even without food.

If you’re a Merlot drinker who wants to try something slightly more interesting, this is where to start. It’s also the grape that goes into Pomerol and Saint-Émilion — this is a less tannic, more approachable version of that style.

The House Reds

Renault Winery makes a Cabernet Sauvignon and a blend called the Garden State Red that are both more about drinkability than complexity. The Cab Sauvignon is earthier and lighter-bodied than anything from California — think of it as a solid weeknight Bordeaux rather than a showpiece bottle. The Garden State Red is their everyday pour, easy and unpretentious. There’s also a “Burgundy” on the menu, which is an old-fashioned American label for a light red blend. None of these are the reason to make the trip, but they’re pleasant enough at the tasting bar.

American Port

Worth trying at the end if you ask for it. Fortified, sweet, dried fruit, a bit of warmth from the alcohol. Their dessert wine — excellent with chocolate if you pick up a bottle to bring home.

The Tour & Taste

The Tour & Taste runs about 60 to 90 minutes. You walk through the winery’s historic rooms — the Fountain Room, the Antique Glass Museum with its collection of champagne glasses dating back to medieval times, the production areas and pressing room — and end at the tasting bar with three wines and a mini charcuterie plate.

You don’t have to do the tour. You can walk straight to the tasting room and start drinking. But the context makes the wines land differently. It’s one thing to sip a blueberry champagne, and another to understand why this particular winery — and only this winery — can legally make it.

Book at renaultwinery.com. Address: 72 N Bremen Ave, Egg Harbor City. Free parking on site.

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From Seaside Heights, take the Garden State Parkway south toward Route 72 West, then follow signs inland toward Egg Harbor City. About an hour each way. Do it on a day when the beach can wait — go in the morning, take the tour, have a slow tasting, and you’re back in Seaside by late afternoon.

Bring a small cooler for the car. You’re going to buy wine.

For more ideas on getting off the beach for a day, the day trips from Seaside Heights page has everything else within an hour of town.