I'm a big lover of sweet and short weekend getaways; they give you something to look forward to leading up and many fun-filled memories long after. They can be super inexpensive, especially when you're splitting the costs between a car full of people and usually always include lots of cheese and even more wine.
Having done Hunter Valley already, my girlfriends and I wanted to explore another wine region of NSW. So, after 4 hours of driving through mountains and fog, and karaoke in the car to No Scrubs, we arrived at the beautiful Mudgee, a charming country region around 260km north-west of Sydney.
Our first stop after a quick rest in our country cottage was morning tea at High Valley Wine & Cheese Co. The menu was simple with a prevalent 'hand made' theme, including homemade scones and sweet potato shepherd's pie. They also offered wine tasting, but we skipped this and went straight for the cheese tasting instead. We picked up wedges of brie for some pre-dinner snacking and I also got the Stephen blue cheese to take home as well. If you're a fan of feta, they also do a mean marinated olive feta - it's so good on toasted sourdough!
Beautiful red hues of autumn at Ernest Schuetz Estate
After lining our stomachs with food we were excited to finally try out some wines, but it was hard to pick and choose where to go since there were over 40 family owned cellar doors in Mudgee. Our first stop was at Ernest Schuetz Estate, not too far from High Valley, where we had a lovely conversation with woman behind the counter who gave us a map and a suggested list of places to go (I've included the full list at the end!).
Arya - part time dire wolf, part time sheep dog @ Short Sheep Micro Winery
One of the stops were Short Sheep Micro Winery. This was one of my favourite wineries - as by the name, they use a breed of sheep called Southdown Babydoll to help long term sustainable management of vineyards. This breed of sheep have shorter legs and graze underneath the vines, which help reduce the need for herbicides, slash in between the rows for maintenance and diesel fuel. They're also SO DAMN CUTE. All their wines are low preservatives (no nasty hangovers) picked from low hanging fruit, but they also make a preservative free shiraz you should try out.
Front lawn olives ready to be harvested @ The Olive Nest
If you want a break from wine, head to The Olive Nest for some EVOO tasting. They do wine here as well, but the EVOO is much more superior. The lemon and garlic infused one was my favourite and their best seller (sold out by them time we got there) but the truffle one was also a winner.
Prancing in between rows of grape vines
Guard dog with an IDGAF attitude. Stella @ Peterson Wines
You'll find that there's no short supply of amazingly adorable dogs in Mudgee. Stella here is a 3 year old labradoodle who will scare away foxes and roll on her back for a belly rub.
When you want to do random jump photos and your bff wants to do them with you #bffgoals
Vantage point from Lowe Wines
We definitely saved the best for last, coincidentally so. The cellar door was just about to close up as we walked up, but the lovely host Shane at Lowe Wines still greeted us with a warm smile and invited us to sit whilst he grabbed a few glasses. The cellar door itself was a pretty sight, with large outdoor wooden trunk tables, soft cushions and a view that overlooked into the distant mountains. The winery is a certified organic facility and produced some preservative free wines with the ethos of lifting the quality and strength of plants to build resistance to issues that might eventuate - and I promise it's not a placebo effect, I can actually taste the difference.
Lowe Wines 2013 Organic Sparkling Merlot
Mudgee has been such a pleasant surprise, from it's good food, to it's great wine, and even better people. Whether we were speaking to the owner of a winery or just a worker at the cellar door, everyone was so hospitable and actually took the time out to talk to you and explain the wines - something I feel that Hunter lacked a bit, most likely due to the crowds of people that come through the doors daily.
It was a long day of driving, eating and drinking, and nothing could have made it more perfect. As I watched the sun slowly begin to set across the picturesque mountains with my closest girlfriends, I thought, "Is there anything more romantic?".
As promised, here's the list of wineries we hit up:
- Bunnamagoo Estate Wines
- Ernest Schuetz Estate
- High Valley Wine & Cheese Co - brie and the stephan blue if you enjoy strong cheeses. The marinated fetas are also amazing, especially the pesto and olive ones
- Logan Wines
- Lowe Wine - so many good ones. If you like whites, try the pinot gris and riesling (not too sweet and dry). We also enjoyed the organic shiraz and sparkling merlot
- Peterson Wines
- Robert Oatley - might sound familiar? They have many estates around Aus and overseas, each region with a different wine speciality
- Robert Stein - my favourite place for reds, try the 2013 Merlot!
- Short Sheep Micro Winery
- The Olive Nest + 1838 Wines - The garlic olive oil was so delish