Wines of The Tablelands Way experience

The Tablelands Way experience is a wine lover’s delight. If, like many sensible folk, you never like to be too far away from your next vineyard opportunity then this could well be the region for you. In the South is the exciting and rapidly developing (both in terms of quantity and quality) Canberra District, and, at the northern end, the world renowned Hunter Valley. And as if this were not enough, you can continue to indulge your palate as you make your way through the region, with wineries close to Oberon and, of course, in the historic Mudgee region.

Enigmatically, only two of the Canberra District’s wineries fall within the borders of the Australian Capital Territory. The rest hug the border on the New South Wales side, but retain an identity inextricably tied to the nation’s capital.

Stretching from Yass in the west to Lake George in the east the Canberra district experiences a greater degree of variation in climate and altitude than almost any other region. This varied elevation, between 300m and 800m, results in a region that can successfully produce wine to suit every palate. Cool climate varieties such as Riesling and Pinot Noir are grown on higher ground and at lower altitude classic rich full bodied Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon is produced.

While the first vines were planted in Yass as far back as 1850, in reality the region is a young one. The cultivation of grapes for the production of wine was only reintroduced when Dr Edgar Riek planted his first vineyard on the edge of Lake George, in 1971. There are now more than a hundred vineyards and thirty wineries. Whichever style of tasting you prefer you will find a winery to suit, from the sleek and sophisticated wine, tourism and cellar door experience of Kanberra, a division of Hardy’s, one of the largest producers in Australia, to myriad boutique operations where you will more than likely end up chatting to the winemaker himself.

Like the Canberra region, Mudgee has developed enormously in recent years. Gone are the days of ‘Mudgee mud’ as its wine has previously been dismissed. The region was not considered a great place to grow grapes and as such little effort was put into progressing and enhancing quality. Today’s winemakers have transformed this historic region and elevated it to where it belongs, the upper echelons of wine making, which seems only appropriate for a region that has been a continuous producer of wine for more than one hundred and fifty years.

The first vines were planted, around the time of the gold rush by a German settler called Adam Roth. Quickly followed by two other likeminded immigrants – Kurtz and Buccholz – the Mudgee wine region was born. Since that time wine has always been produced, if not always to great acclaim, and today there are forty wineries, producing wines of outstanding quality, giving Mudgee national and international recognition. Descendents of Kurtz and Roth are still producing wine in the region today.

While Mudgee is ultimately a warm region, it enjoys the benefits of cool nights, by virtue of its inland location. This benefits the winemaker by allowing the vine to cool and rest overnight, thus lengthening the period of ripening and allowing the fruit to develop intense flavours while maintaining a good level of natural acidity.

Mudgee is famed primarily for its reds, which display a robust earthy character and density of flavour which experts attribute to the peculiarities of the regions volcanic soil. Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon dominate the landscape, accounting for well over half of all grapes grown. Merlot is increasingly evident, and Mudgee can boast of being at the forefront of the current boom in Italian varietals. If you have not already tried a Sangiovese or a Nebbiolo, where better than at one Mudgees many cellar doors?

The white wine drinker need not despair however. Their tastes will be well catered for too. Mudgee has long been a producer of wonderful Chardonnays, with its continental climate allowing the winemaker to capture intense flavours of fig and peach, perfectly balanced with a clean natural acidity.

Whatever your preference you will be able to find it in Mudgee’s more than forty wineries. Orlando Wyndham Poet’s Corner Wines is the largest operation in the area and is part of one of Australia’s biggest wine producers. For a more Boutique experience try the Lowe Family Wine Company.

And finally we come to the Hunter Valley, Australia’s oldest, and one of its most famous, viticultural areas. It was as far back as the 1820s that the first grapes were cultivated. In 1843 Dr Henry Lindeman planted his first vines and soon afterward the Tyrrell and Drayton families started the businesses that still bear their names today.

It has been said that the production of fine wine in the Hunter Valley is a triumph of ingenuity over environment. By rights it should not be possible. Summers are too hot, winters too cool. Rainfall is in short supply and if that was not enough its position between the Great Dividing Range and the Pacific Ocean lays it open to occasional extremes of weather such as hail and rain storms. This of course makes the achievements of the vignerons, who consistently and continually produce world class wines in an area so seemingly ill equipped, all the more impressive.

You can pay hommage to their remarkable achievements at countless cellar doors. At Rosemount Estate you can find the Rosemount Roxburgh Chardonnay, a genuinely world class wine, which comes at a price. If you are after something a little more affordable, the region has wines to suit all tastes and budgets, including the region’s speciality - Semillon, which is rarely found elsewhere as a single varietal table wine. For the lover of red it is the Shiraz, the variety that put the Hunter Valley winemaking zone on the map, which dominates, though the Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon are increasingly successfully grown.