The Mudgee district, a land flowing with (not milk, but) wine and honey, seems to be many people's idea of a promised land. The region, just a few hours by car from Sydney, is thick with displaced city-siders who have left the rat-race and set up in a winery, an orchard, a restaurant or a gallery.
So you have ex-accountants, ex-lawyers, ex-teachers - ex-everythings - happily tilling the soil, getting down and dirty, alongside fifth-generation locals. With a population of just 8000, Mudgee's assets are disproportionately large. Wineries, restaurants and cafes abound, and food producers - honeys and mustards, trout, yabbies, lamb, nuts, jams, jellies, fruit and vegetables - make the area almost self-sufficient. There's even a meadery, one of just a handful in Australia.
Dozens of wineries are scattered around in a region that one wine writer has described as 'almost perfect conditions for wine-growing'. Mudgee's altitude ranges between 450 metres and 1000 metres, and the red volcanic soil, cool nights and summer showers prolong the ripening of the grapes, producing distinctive full-flavoured wines.
Mudgee's vineyards, begun in the 1850s, continue to expand at an rapid rate with now more than 4000 hectares under wines (a ten-fold increase in the past decade) with big investments by some major wine producers. Cabernet sauvignon and shiraz are trademark varieties and current details of all wineries in the area are available from the local Visitor Information Centre.
So you've arrived in town for a longish weekend of tasting and er, more tasting. Where do you begin? If you can schedule your arrival to coincide with the annual Mudgee Food and Wine Festival in September you'll find many of the major players together in one place, and you'll save yourself a lot of time and multiply your enjoyment.
Visitors can join in daily festivities including live bands at wineries, dancing, degustation dinners and meet established winemakers from more than 25 participating wineries, including Poet's Corner, Huntington Estate, Miramar, Abercorn, Mansfield and Knowland Estate.
Something of an institution is the Great Mudgee Waiters Race, held every Saturday morning during September. There are professional, and amateur sections and even team barrel rolling.
Other attractions during this extravaganza include the annual evening Picnic in the Park, a grand Shiraz dinner, (usually in a winery tasting room) a golf day, tastings and food at various wineries, wine show tastings and an Italian Feast where you can pull up a chair and dine with locals on the main street.
Some new wineries to the region have captured attention too ? Blue Wren, with a delightful new cafe-restaurant, Clearview Estate, Valley View Estate, Farmer's Daughter, Sharwood Estate and Vinifera. Most wines are available for tasting straight from the cellar door.
But the fun doesn't stop at the winery door. Mudgee's farm gate has plenty to offer too. At Broombee Organic Orchard & Vineyard, at appropriately named Apple Tree Flat, you can choose from sun-ripened organic stone-fruit, apricots, large white or yellow peaches (there are 26 varieties here), cherries, nectarines, wine or table muscat grapes from April onwards.
Right in town the Heart of Mudgee has a shopfront crammed with locally-produced foodstuffs including the owners' fresh hazelnuts, with tastings available.
Overlooking the town, Mount Vincent Mead, creates mead with honey from local beekeepers, and produces around 3000 gallons, or 18,000 bottles, a year.
And if you want honey itself, Mudgee Honey Company or Mudgee Honey Haven is the place to head for. Children love Honey Haven as one wall allows them to peep into a hive through a glass window, and watch the bees ponderously moving around their tiny perfectly octagonal cells.
If all this food makes you hungry, the best place to head for lunch to get the local taste on a plate is Deeb's Kitchen at the Schoolmaster's House, where Bechora and Sybil Deeb's food is just as delightful as their warm welcome.
For dinner the Grapevine Restaurant at Lauralla, a guest house and restaurant serves a seven-course degustation menu featuring flavours of the region, consisting solely of Mudgee and the local region's produce.
Before you check into a motel etc. ask to see the room first so you don't waste your time or money, or ruin your holiday. If you are asked to pay for accommodation upfront, then insist on seeing your exact room before you pay up and only pay for one night, in case there are any problems such as noise. This can make a big difference to the enjoyment of your holiday.
Hugh, Stockton.
We can recommend a tour of the vineyards as we were able to purchase a gift Addicts Pack from Abercorn Winery for $59.95. This included 2 bottles of red and one white of your choice.
Truck, Dapto.
Don't just spend your weekend drinking wine. Mudgee is also the home of honey and fruit, this way the kids don't miss out.
Narelle, Pyrmont.
4WD
