A Trip through Australias Wine Country

To a wine lover, there is nothing as satisfying as a trip through the wine country where lush scenery merges with great tasting wines. If you live in Sydney, Melbourne or Adelaide, you are already prime candidates for taking a wine tour because several of the country’s best wine valleys are located just outside of Australia’s biggest cities.

However, even if you have to drive a little further to get to the wine country, the trip to any wine region in Australia is worthwhile for a wine connoisseur in Australia. Perhaps the easiest regions to tour, though, are the regions outside of the three largest cities, whether you live in them or if you are just visiting.

An hour and a half north of Sydney is the Hunter Valley wine-producing region where you can find fine wines such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Shiraz, Semillon, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. Hunter Valley is home to Hope Estate, McGuigan Wines, Tamburlaine and Rosemount Estate. Each of these wineries offers free tours of their vineyards and wineries as well as free wine tasting of selected wines.

Hope Estates offers its world-renowned Shiraz as well as daily vineyard and wine processing tours. For special events such as weddings and for corporate lunch or dinner gatherings, Hope Estates also makes its Great Cask Hall available.

At McGuigan Wines, you can enjoy free wine tours as well as tasting of several wines from the surrounding vineyard. You will enjoy the down-home feeling of looking out over the countryside from the farmhouse porch while you sample these great Australian wines.

If you relish the flavors of one-of-a-kind boutique wines, you will love Tamburlaine. This privately owned boutique winery is one of the best boutique winery in Hunter Valley and it is the recipient of numerous vintage awards.

In Hunter Valley, Rosemount is the largest winery and probably the most famous. Rosemount is located in the Upper Hunter Valley amidst fields of hay scattered with sheep and cattle. However, if you prefer to get a taste of Rosemount’s lineup of wines while staying where you have been all day in the Lower Hunter Valley, you can get a taste of Rosemount from a Cellar Door location in the Lower Hunter Valley.

If you are visiting Adelaide, you will want to drive less than an hour to Barossa Valley where you will find the most versatile list of wineries in the Country. Penfolds, Seppelts and Yaldara all make their homes in Barossa Valley. While you are in Adelaide, it would be nearly sinful not to visit these top ranked wineries.

Likewise, the half hour drive from Melbourne to Yarra Valley makes skipping a tour of this up and coming wine region almost a criminal act. Domaine Chandon, De Bortoli and Coldstream Hills are wineries that make their homes in Yarra Valley.

If you are interested in these or any other Australia wine tours, but you cannot take the time to take a tour, you should make a trip to your local Australian wine merchant, where you can tour the wines without leaving your city.

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About The Author, Ian Love
Ian Love is the owner of wine Australia, an online wine retailer specialising in premium red wine for wine storage and has been a leader in the industry for over 30 years. He also writes a blog on wine.