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Australia's Best Winery Experiences

56 memorable cellar doors

Robyn Lewis

Australia's Best Winery Experiences [©think Publishing]

We have nearly five thousand vineyards and wineries listed here in the VisitVineyards.com database – it might surprise you that this is well over half the number in the USA, for less than one tenth of the population.

Much to our astonishment, we keep finding them, despite the talk of gloom and doom in both the wine and tourism industries. There seem to be about 1/5 more than the wine industry bodies appear to know about, especially in the eastern states.

There’s only one explanation – Australians love visiting vineyards, wineries and cellar doors. What was a novel activity back in the 70s, and a place to buy cheap bulk wine for bottling at home, is now part of our mainstream culture. Over four million of us visit vineyards and wineries each year, plus over a million international visitors. They wouldn’t all be there otherwise. Many remain hidden secrets.

But which are ‘the best’? It’s a question that we’re frequently asked, and everyone has their own take on it. “It depends what you like” is a common reply – are you visiting for the entire experience, having a lunch, planning a wedding, on your own or with a group of friends? Not least is the wine: are you specifically interested in tasting, and if so, what grape variety do you enjoy most?

For like wine, what makes a good winery, cellar door or vineyard is very subjective. I may love Tyrrells in the Hunter Valley – and I do, because of its quintessential Australian nature and living, breathing authenticity – but you might prefer something more modern, Tempus Two for example (neither are in Australia’s Best Winery Experiences, however, despite the illustrious James Halliday awarding the former his coveted Winery of the Year award in 2010).

Our advice is for wine travellers to pick a theme for a day or weekend visit: say white or red wine, a variety such as pinot noir, alternative grape varieties, wines from small boutique producers, or the top variety (or two) produced in a region, and base an itinerary around that.

Many visitors are on day trips, and realistically, even the dedicated can only easily fit in four or five tastings a day, especially in winter, when you might be tempted to linger by the fire, and early closing is more the norm. In Italy, they recommend only two – relax and enjoy!

So, where to start? If you haven’t left home yet, Australia’s Best Winery Experiences edited by Gary Takle is a good place to begin. It will certainly get you in the mood to visit a vineyard or two.

Takle is obviously a man on a mission, as he’s the owner of Think Publishing, described as ‘books and magazines to help you think’, whose other titles include Best Australian Architecture, Best Australian Interiors, Best Australian Gardens and Landscapes, Best Outdoors, Australia’s Best Beach Houses, and Best Contemporary Country Homes.

Architecture is clearly high on his agenda, and that also comes though in Australia’s Best Winery Experiences, although they are not all modern masterpieces like Port Phillip Estate on the cover. Nor, strictly speaking, are they all wineries, but rather, cellar doors.

Perhaps it’s time to explain. A winery is a place where wines are made: the grapes are crushed, the juice collected and fermented in tanks, the resulting wine matured, then bottled. Some are like factories, and many are not open to visitors at all. If they are, then visitors are likely to be received not at the winery itself, but at a ‘cellar door’, which may be anything from a rustic hut, to a multi-million dollar construction, often well away from the production line.

The cellar door is for tasting, swapping stories with the winemakers (should he or she be there that day), learning about the wines and generally savouring the ambience, minus the hazards of stepping over pipes and hoses, or negotiating puddles on wet concrete.

Then, there are the vineyards, where the grapes are grown, and the cycles of nature reign supreme. Due to the benign climate that grapes thrive in, vineyards are usually found in regions that people like to visit, places to sit and gaze out into space over a glass of two of wine, and escape everyday life. So it’s often in the tranquillity of vineyards that cellar doors are located (the winery may – or may not – be located there too, or close by).

Since the 1970s, cellar doors have not only proliferated, they have matured; many now have restaurants, gardens, galleries, live music, concerts, sculpture parks, and/or microbreweries, making the experience more complete. Some are modern architectural wonders, others are colonial authenticity – and virtually all are hospitable places where it’s a pleasure to while away some time.

For what is travel anywhere than an escape from your normal daily life, into another’s culture and world? At cellar doors, you can do this within an easy day’s drive from all Australian capital cities except Darwin, and if you wish, be home in time for dinner or the sports game that you can’t miss.

The two writers of Australia’s Best Winery Experiences are Jade de Souza and Corey Thomas, perhaps two of the most fortunate Gen Yers I’ve come across lately, who (presumably) visited every state, and enjoyed and photographed these lovely places.

In Takle’s words, “We have included a diverse selection of places; from highly refined architectural wineries to simple vineyards that are run by husband, wife and children. All have been chosen for their unique character and the encounter that awaits your visit. We consider the experience of wine just as important as the wine itself.”

His intention is “to encapsulate each winery’s story, and to introduce you to their people, their philosophy and what makes them distinctive”.

So, what are the 56 cellar doors that the Think team recommends? The total is less than one per Australian wine region – so some, like Mudgee and Orange, miss out altogether.

New South Wales heads the list, but its numbers are surprisingly sparse, with six wine experiences in the Hunter Valley, and only two elsewhere: Tom’s Waterhole Wines in the Central Ranges (Cowra), and Shaw Vineyard Estate in Murrumbateman, near the nation’s capital.

Takle’s picks in the Hunter include Arrowfield (with neither adjacent vineyard nor winery), Margan Family Winegrowers with its beautiful stylish cellar door and restaurant, and the boutique Misty Glen. Tallavera has fabulous views, and a restaurant and accommodation to match.

The family-run Tintilla is one of the Hunter Valley’s hidden secrets, and the recently refurbished Wandin Valley Estate also makes the grade. Each producer is featured over several pages, and includes mention of their best wines. A visit to these six cellar doors would make a great weekend or several short breaks in the Hunter. But there are others that surely would rate very highly indeed.

Queensland follows, and despite having almost as many vineyards and wineries as Tasmania (235 and 238 respectively), only scores two in Australia’s Best Winery Experiences, as does Tasmania. Personally, I think that’s a bit of an under-representation for both states, who are making increasing waves in the food and wine scenes, but it seems that in print, more often than not they both get ‘the rough end of the pineapple’. At least Queensland is in its alphabetical order, and not relegated to its usual position at the end, or as frequently occurs, omitted altogether.

The wine experiences featured are Ocean View Estate and the mega-winery-complex Sirromet. The latter is located at Mt Cotton, in the south-eastern exurbs of Brisbane, not in the Somerset Valley as their map indicates, nor in the Granite Belt as the text implies, although their grapes are sourced from that higher altitude region some four hours’ drive distant.

Sirromet is a quintessential wine tourism experience – it has an excellent cellar door, friendly and knowledgeable staff, a fabulous restaurant (Lurleen’s), multi-million dollar winery, and lots, lots more. Half a day is barely enough. Anyone in Brisbane with international or interstate wine-loving visitors should take them there; although southerners have been known to make mango jokes about Queensland wines, their standard has improved dramatically in the past five years, and there are wines you’ll want to take home.

Ocean View is in the Somerset Valley (not the Granite Belt as incorrectly depicted on the map) and is built in traditional Queenslander style overlooking the rural scenery of the Ocean View area, which is becoming an increasingly popular destination for Brisbanites, being only about an hour from the city.

It’s not surprising that wine experiences in South Australia take up the next ninety pages of Australia’s Best Winery Experiences. With some of the oldest grapevines in Australia, and many of the pioneering families still presiding over their wine estates, South Australia lays claim to being Australia’s wine state.

Twenty two of the state’s makers are featured, too many to list here – you’ll have to buy the book to discover them all. Most are not the predictable historic names, however, although Grant Burge and Langmeil certainly qualify, with ancestry dating back over a century. Wine experiences include The Lane Vineyard, Longview and Hahndorf Hill in the Adelaide Hills, Kellermeister Wines, Murray Street and more in the fabulous Barossa Valley, and Kirrihill and Reilley’s Wines in the nearby Clare Valley.

South of Adelaide and close to the coast there’s Currency Creek, established in a refurbished dairy, and like many in the book, with attached restaurant and accommodation. In the famed McLaren Vale there are a further nine, including Mollydooker, which is Australian for left-handed, Hugh Hamilton, Serafino and Oliver’s Taranga Vineyards. Not so lucky were the icons d’Arenberg and Wirra Wirra.

Patritti Wines in Dover Gardens is a surprise inclusion; established over a century ago, but again recently refurbished, is it now an agricultural island in surrounding suburbia. According to Takle is it one of the most accessible wineries in Australia. Their wine range is extensive, with over fifty-seven products.

It would have helped me if the South Australian regions were more clearly delineated; the selections skip from one region to another then back again at several points. But it’s a lovely journey, and the Coonawarra is not forgotten, including the beautiful Balnaves and Rymill, which was listed as one of the top eighty wineries in the world in Mitchell Beazley’s Wineries with Style in 2004, and still certainly makes the grade.

But where are Wynns, Zema and Hollicks, all of which provide excellent experiences? Cape Jaffa on the Limestone Coast completes the South Australian predominance.

Then follows Tasmania, and for anyone unfamiliar with the state’s premium wines, the inclusion of only two is also something of a surprise. Tasmanian wine grapes command the highest prices in the country, as reflects their quality. No Joseph Chromy, no Moorilla with its international class MONA Museum of Modern Art (surely a global experience if ever there was one), no Freycinet, Apsley Gorge nor Home Hill…

Meadowbank is in, however, described as “the essence of Europe”, which may surprise them as much as it does me. Which part of Europe they might mean, I am not sure. It’s modern Australian, not French, and definitely not Italian. The delightfully quaint Leaning Church is the only representative in the state’s viticultural north.

Victoria has the greatest number of vineyards and wineries of all Australian states, with over 1300, around 700 of which have cellar doors. So it’s a tough call to make the lineup of only seventeen, especially in the Yarra Valley where only Balgownie, Graeme Miller Wines and Sutherland Estate made the cut. I can’t imagine what the likes of Domaine Chandon, de Bortoli, Mandala, Yering Station or Tarrawarra did wrong on the day the Think team visited.

Australia’s Best Winery Experiences showcases six in the Mornington Peninsula, featuring the iconic Port Phillip Estate that adorns the book’s cover, with its incredible architecture, excellent restaurant and accommodation beneath. The well known Foxey’s Hangout, Red Hill Estate, Paringa Estate and Ten Minutes by Tractor are all justifiably showcased – all make excellent wines, and provide quality experiences.

Few may have heard of Nazaaray Estate however, owned and operated by the delightful Nirmal Ghumman and her husband Paramdeep. Their wines are a delight, and the cellar door experience in a 1930’s ‘Red Rattler’ train carriage is certainly memorable – it’s one of our favourites, too.

But did they drive past Montalto with their eyes closed? Having won the Best Winery Restaurant in The Australian’s Travel and Tourism Awards, Gourmet Traveller’s Best Wine Tourism Experience Award, and numerous others at state and national level, I am as surprised as no doubt John Mitchell and family will be at their omission.

Elsewhere in Victoria there’s Mount Avoca Winery and Taltarni in the Pyrenees, Ellender Estate and Rowanston on the Track in the Macedon Ranges, the latter with its three bedroom farm cottage for overnight stays.

Here, the book starts to skip around again, first to Brandy Creek Wines in West Gippsland, then to Carlei in the Cardinia Ranges, also east of Melbourne, then back west to the Grampians Estate, and north west to Balgownie near Bendigo. Like my wines, I prefer a little more structure.

I am also amazed that wineries like Tahbilk, regions such as Geelong and the Bellarine Peninsula, and the entire north east of Victoria, have been omitted. Sure, you can only fit so many into a 224 page book, but to leave out Rutherglen entirely? Ned Kelly would be turning in his grave, along with the Campbell ancestors.

Equally disappointed will be wine lovers in Western Australia. Margaret River must surely be one of the most premium wine regions on earth, with quality of wine, food, accommodation and experiences oozing from almost every leaf of its 100+ vineyards. Leeuwin Estate? Cullens? Vasse Felix? Cape Mentelle? Voyager Estate? Larry Cherubino (the current Halliday title holder)? Lamonts? Howard Park? Not a whisper.

Obviously international standard opera in the vines and Australia’s most awarded chardonnay matched with local crayfish lunches and washed down with fine art in the cellars isn’t their idea of an excellent experience – or perhaps it was a bad day at Leeuwin’s (do they have any?) The bar must be high indeed.

Happs Winery with its delightful cellar door, pottery gallery and gorgeous gardens is a worthy Margaret River inclusion however, as is the boutique producer Lenton Brae, whose winery and cellar door is an architectural icon in the region. Watershed Premium Wines, five km southwest of the Margaret River township and thus in their cooler viticultural area, and the largest vineyard in that sub-region, makes up the trifecta.

Yes, it’s subjective, but it’s a big call to leave some of these establishments out. I’d love to know what criteria were used for inclusion in Australia’s Best Winery Experiences, although as reflects the other Think publications the architecture appears to rank highly (excluding the omission of Moorilla/MONA, for which the only explanation must be that it was not open when the copy was written, although such is its stature I’d have left a space for it).

Matilda’s Estate in the cooler Denmark region, and The Wine & Truffle Co. in Pemberton bring up the rear, and the images of vines and truffles will have any foodie salivating and planning their next trip to the west.

The photos throughout are gorgeous, but uncredited; I can only presume they were taken by the individual writers, Jade de Souza and Corey Thomas. If so, these two are fine and rare talents indeed. The book is beautifully designed, and each winery/vineyard/cellar door has several pages, with a standardized layout that conveys the information well, while not overwhelming the contents.

But comprehensive, as their media release claims? While one can only skim the surface of Australia’s 4000+ wine producers in any book, let alone one of this length, I’m not convinced. I find it unbalanced, particularly in states other than South Australia. Whilst all within are worthy of inclusion, there are many very significant omissions. It should perhaps have been titled ‘some of Australia’s best’.

But like wine, what one person finds a good experience, another may not. Consistent quality usually shines through, however, both in wines, and in the places they are produced. And balance too is important – having a mix of smaller producers in the book means that it’s not only the larger or wealthier businesses that are featured.

What Australia’s Best Winery Experiences clearly demonstrates to the world is that we are up there with the best of the Sonoma Valley, much of South Africa, New Zealand and other significant ‘new world’ wine regions, although perhaps the Napa Valley with its multimillions invested still reigns supreme in this style. However, their tastings are not free as in most of Australia, and they have crowds; we don’t – yet.

As Takle advises, get out and savour these delights on our urban doorsteps. Even if we lack the historic chateaux and caves of France, and the ambience of Italy’s enoteche, Australians more than make up in friendliness of welcome, and our wine quality is world class – don’t let any English supermarket wine buyer tell you otherwise. And very rarely do you go wrong tasting and buying wine at a cellar door.

At the end of your holiday, whether it’s a month’s touring wine country or a day trip out of the city, what makes a memorable experience is not the buildings, but the people, the fun and the sharing, of good wine, good food and good company. Enjoy.

Australia’s Best Winery Experiences, edited by Gary Takle (Think Publishing, Melbourne, 2011; sc 224 pp) is available from thinkstore.com.au for RRP A$39.95

It is also available on booko.com.au here »

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