We have done several wine weekends in Mudgee with various groups of friends now and they are always a hit.
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| You can see why Mudgee is called 'Nest of Hills' |
Since we have moved to Orange, poor Mudgee has been a bit neglected so we
decided to make our annual wine fest pilgrimage to Mudgee last weekend.
Sorting out the puppy and leaving
him with friends, meant we left a bit late and didn’t arrive in Mudgee until
8pm at night. We now have a beautiful holiday which is high on a hill that overlooking Mudgee that we
always book for our boozy weekends away as it is ideal for a group of 6/7 and
has the most gorgeous views.
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| Logan Cellar Door |
Mr L’Orange and I rustled up a
rather amazing bbq dinner despite a complete lack of condiments (we just had salt, pepper, oil & garlic) and added lots
of fresh salad and veg from our garden to the meal. Several bottles of wine
later, we all headed to bed ready for an action packed next day.
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| Views from Logan |
Saturday morning started off with
an utterly gourmet breakfast by Ragan and Harry, we had poached eggs on toast
with bacon, beans and fresh spinach – healthy and delicious! Everyone then
jumped in the car and headed to the
Logan cellar door on the Sydney Road (20
minutes outside of Mudgee).
This cellar door is a bit out of town but certainly
worth the drive, Logan falls into the category of new and very trendy cellar door.
It appears to have it all, friendly staff, breath taking views, log fire, cake
& coffee, large range of wines and funky coasters (they even let me take some home).
We got to try sparkling, aromatic
whites from Orange, hearty reds from Mudgee and everything else in between –
the highlight for me was the Hannah Rose which the winemaker, Peter Logan, made
for his wife for their wedding day. I must admit on previous occasions, I have
found the wines to be more outstanding but this could simply have a lot to do
with the current vintages & crap weather.
Next stop was a simple roll down
the hill and over to
Skimstone which is located directly opposite Logan. The
tin shack cellar door stands in complete contrast to Logan, it has that down to
earth, relaxed feel with truly outstanding wines.
Winemaker Josh Clementson, took us
through his range of European influenced wines that had everyone licking their
lips and mentally calculating how much could be added to the credit card.
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| The view from Skimstone Cellar Door |
Stand outs for me were the Rose,
Barbera and Tres Onde which means three ripples and includes Sangiovese,
Cabernet Sauvignon and Barbera (a modern take on the classic Italian 'Super Tuscan' blend).
To make things easy and quick we
opted to visit the
Di Lusso cellar door over lunch so we could enjoy some wood fired pizzas and
do a tasting at the same time. We were really glad that we stopped in, the
friendly and helpful staff set us up at a table outside and recommend the
stuffed zucchini flowers as a starter. Whilst lunch was being prepared Pia took
care of us in the cellar door and took us through the ever expanding range of
wines. All the wines are ideally suited to food, as you would expect from their
Italian grape origins. We got the chance to try lots of unusual grape varieties from
aromatic whites through to heavy reds and then dessert wines and fortifiers.
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| Di Lusso Dog |
The pizza arrived right at the
end of our tasting (perfect timing) and the four that we ordered were
outstanding and comfortably fed 8 people when accompanied by the zuchinni
flowers as a starter. This cellar door clearly has a switched on person doing
the marketing as they are offering a free pizza with every 6 pack purchased.
Needless to say, we didn’t have to pay much for lunch! For those wanting an
alternate diversion there is bocce on the lawn, a big friendly dog or pretty
grounds to stroll around.
Next stop was 1838, this cellar door offers wine
and olive oil tasting, alas it didn’t get a big tick from us and I'm afraid, I can't think of any reasons for you to stop here.
We ended the wine tasting at
Bunnamagoo, owned by the Paspaley family, made famous by their pearls. The cellar door is
gorgeous, with plenty of tables set up for groups to do their tasting.
Unfortunately, the cellar door staff all stayed behind the bar area which meant
the whole space became a bit congested. Wines were ok but nothing special in my
opinion and it was hard to find out much about how the wines were made was so many people vying for booze. Amongst our group there was a real love for the merlot and the sticky was also very good – however we did
try about 10 wines before getting to these 2 winners. The cellar door and wine
range certainly has lots of potential, just a matter of seeing how things
improve.
We spent the majority of the evening at
Roth’sWine Bar eating tapas, drinking yet more wine and listening to the live music.
When we got back we lit a bonfire at the house (we doubled checked there wasn't a fire ban) and enjoyed Mudgee by night with
yet more wine or water in my case.
Before we knew it, the weekend was almost at a close - why does the time fly on a fun wine week and drag so much when there is diy to be done? On Sunday morning we tried to have
breakfast at
The Mudgee Brewing Company but it stopped serving at 11am – what the?!! We headed to the Butcher Shop Cafe instead, which offered quick
service and mega hearty portions of good food plus all day breakfasts. I was loving their fresh veggie
juice, which was helping to sort out my severely damaged liver.
As usual, we didn’t fit in all
the dining and drink options we had intended, but oh well, it just justifies
another trip to Mudgee next year. Everyone agreed, we had enjoyed a great
weekend and Mudgee certainly has a lot to offer for a weekend break. To find out about the upcoming
events and attractions happening in Mudgee, take a look at
Visit Mudgee.
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