Sydney is home to over 14 wine regions, some quite young and others well-established and world renowned. Although you’ll have to commit to leaving Sydney proper, there are wine regions located within short drives that make a day trip or tour of the wineries in the area a fun outing to experience both the countryside and world class vino.
The Southern Highlands are located just over an hour’s drive from Sydney, containing more than 60 wineries and 15 cellar doors. The wines produced here benefit from the cool climate, attributed to their higher altitude compared to other famous Sydney wine regions like the Hunter Valley. Lighter wines thrive here, namely riesling and pinot noir. To explore this region, stay in Moss Vale. This town is an idyllic country getaway, where you’ll find Mount Ashby Estate, a vineyard-slash-restaurant with a cellar door, restored dairy, with onsite accommodation being developed.
We’d be remiss not to mention the Hunter Valley, a two hour drive north of the CBD. This region is the oldest in Australia, with over 150 wineries to explore. The wine here is affected by Mediterranean climate, with the heat and dryness benefiting wines like semillon and shiraz. These varietals are world famous from the Hunter Valley, but there is so much diversity here, given three distinct regions with their own microclimates. A wine tour of Valley would set you up for success in tasting the best of the best. There are a couple different tour companies to see which itinerary best suits you, but we’d go for something unique to make it extra special. Hunter Valley Classic Carriages offers tours in horse-drawn carriages to go wine tasting in style!
There are very limited opportunities for wineries in the Sydney CBD, but there aren’t zero. Handpicked Wines is an urban cellar door located on the ground floor of the Porterhouse Hotel, offering a chance for city-dwellers to have a taste of some of Australia’s most iconic wine regions. Handpicked manage vineyards in famous regions like the Yarra and Barossa Valleys, and offer tastings, pairings, flights and bottle sales only a short walk from Hyde Park, rather than hundreds of kilometres away. Urban Winery Sydney is your other option, located in the Entertainment Quarter. The A.Retief label works out of this venue, where the fully operational winery and cellar door doubles as a wine bar and event space.