Rutherglen Wineries
03 September 2023 / Story: Martin Allen, Dace Abolins, Anda Clayton, Sue Allen; Photos: Anda Clayton, Rose Smith
Rutherglen Wineries
22-26 August 2023
Day One - Bewong Rest Area to Gundagai - Martin Allen
The drive from Bewong took us along the road to Nerriga, and onto Goulburn. The road is damaged, the trucks fast, but the rest stop at Nerriga is new and tidy.
At Goulburn we enjoyed the food at one of our favourite’s, Rose’s Café, in a well restored building within an old Catholic precinct.
The trip to Gundagai along the Hume Highway took us to Jugiong first for lunch at the restored Sir George Hotel. Another good example of older buildings housing good cafes. This is definitely a place to revisit.
Older buildings might have been the theme for Day One, for once in Gundagai, many of the crew visited the old gaol in Gundagai; not restored and not a place to dine or stay! We must have looked like an honest bunch as they gave us the keys to the gaol and instructed us to lock the gaol up when we finished our tour.
The evening began with a massive thunder and lightning storm with hail that blacked out much of Gundagai; but not the Family Hotel where we dined with good old fashioned pub food……along with most of the town who were after a hot dinner, or just a drink near a fire. Luckily none of our cars were damaged in the hailstorm. As we finished our meals the power was restored.
Off to bed and looking forward to Day Two.
Rutherglen trip: day 2 – Dace Abolins
We woke to clear blue skies and were all relieved to find no hail damage to our beloved cars. The day started with a drive down the Hume Highway, winding through rolling hills and beautiful green countryside. Our first stop was at the Holbrook bakery for morning tea and a brief visit to the submarine display.
From Holbrook we left the highway and cruised along more sportscar friendly roads towards Culcairn, skirting brilliantly yellow canola fields, as well as sheep and cattle contentedly grazing in lush green fields.
Road conditions were generally good but there were occasional - but well-marked - areas of concern. At one point while our leader alerted the rest of us over the CB about potholes, a local farmer briefly joined our chat to sympathise about the state of the local road and suggested we might like to take a break and help him finish tagging his lambs.
This very enjoyable part of our journey took us through a few small towns beyond Culcairn, including Burrumbuttock, the name of which occasioned some humorous speculation. The origin apparently is a little unclear, but probably is of Indigenous (probably Wiradjuri) origin where ‘burrum’ usually refers to water. A local alternative suggestion that ‘burrumbuttock’ means ‘bullock’s backbone’, is likely unfounded.
At Howlong we crossed the Murray River into Victoria and proceeded southwest along the Gooramadda Road through Rutherglen before arriving at Campbell Wines for a very tasty grazing plate and a glass of wine in front of an open fire. We were lucky to time our visit while bottling was happening, and also met the winery’s cat, who lounged on the counter contentedly while important discussions about the intricacies of different wines and vintages took place.
Our next stop was at Bullers Winery for more sampling, discussion and purchases before driving back to the charming town of Rutherglen and the Poacher’s Paradise Motel, our accommodation for the next 2 nights. There was time to lie down as well as stroll around town before drinks and then dinner at the adjoining Poacher’s Paradise Hotel.
Bangers and mash was voted to be best dish of the night.
Rutherglen wineries run - Day 3 - Anda Clayton
Rutherglen to Beechworth for morning tea, retail therapy and an impromptu lunch, then back to the Rutherglen wineries.
Today Geoff had decided that it may be a bit early to start drinking at 10am. Instead, we opted for Devonshire tea at a quaint old-fashioned tearoom called Moments & Memories Tearoom in beautiful Beechworth. An amazing setting, complete with multi-layered cloth tablecloths and napkins, and scones served wrapped in a cloth towel, accompanied by a huge selection of loose-leaf teas brewed in pretty floral pots. All I could think of was, the already time poor café owner was left with a mountain of washing after the 8 of us had finished our cuppas!
Beechworth has a lot to offer, from interesting buildings in the Historic Precinct including a courthouse and telegraph station built in the 1800’s, museums, art galleries, the Beechworth honey shop and some lovely homewares, clothing and shoe stores. Much to Brian's and Ian's delight, Beechworth even has its own lolly shop stocking homemade sweets. Yes, there was something for everyone!
Laden with our shopping, as much as the boot of an MX5 can handle, we enjoyed a light lunch in front of the fire at Nicholas Pub in readiness for our upcoming wine tastings.
Our first wine tasting took us back to Rutherglen, which involved a drive of a few of kilometres down a dusty unpaved road, a small sacrifice to reach our chosen destination.
The highly recommended Scion Winery failed to disappoint, with some lovely handcrafted wines incorporating durif and muscat grapes.
Next up, Morris wines, where Geoff enjoyed a tasting of their whiskeys. Surprised? Apparently, the winery has commenced distilling whiskey since an old 1930’s still at the winery was resurrected and modified.
Tonight we decided on the iconic Star Hotel for dinner....after all, doesn't every town have a Star Hotel? The "girls" end of the table happily shared a Chinese banquet, whilst the "boys" end of the table did their own thing! It left me pondering, there may be some truth in the old adage that men are from Mars and women are from Venus!
Day 3 done and dusted (in more than one sense), we looked forward to what adventures day 4 may bring.
DAY FOUR – RUTHERGLEN TO WAGGA WAGGA – Sue Allen
Another day of clear blue sky, fields of flowering canola in iridescent colours of bright cool lemon yellows and lime greens along with the warmer yellows of wattle shrubs and trees. Nature at its best.
It was arranged that leaving time was 9.00am. Much to my surprise we were all lined up and on our way at 8.59am, some with roofs up and some with roofs down. A big plus this morning was no lost phones to hunt for and google directions behaving.
Our first destination was Corowa Bakery. The lead car took us around the surrounding countryside. What was only 35kms, approximately from Wagga turned out much longer in distance, but well worth it for the scenery. Even though the countryside was lush green the rivers and creeks were not to capacity, but there were pools of water on a lot of the fields, great for the farmers as the water table must be high.
After morning tea, we headed off to All Saints Winery. Drove down the impressive Elm Tree Avenue, apparently the oldest in Australia, to a very grand winery on the banks of the Murray River. Some went in for tasting while others toured the gardens and historic Chinese accommodation.
The next winery was Pfeiffer Wines situated on the edge of a billabong. A rumour was that the billabong was home to the rare long necked turtle, so we all rushed down to spot them. Apparently, they were hibernating until later this year. The area is known for its fortified wines and as room in the MX5 boots were pretty full being the last winery on tour most opted for a couple of bottles or three or four.
Next stop was the Corowa Distillery where we had a lovely lunch sitting under umbrellas in the courtyard. Most bought the famous Junee Organic Chocolate products.
Next, we headed to our accommodation in Wagga. Another fantastic trip on the back roads.
Dinner was at the Union Hotel in the main street, being a nice short walk from our accommodation. The pub was very busy and loud. The meal was great except they forgot one order. Fortunately, no one ended up going to bed hungry! The band started to arrive, so we all headed back to our accommodation for a well-earned rest.
Thanks Rose and Geoff for organising such a great trip in the Rutherglen Winery region, and thanks to the other MX5 members for being such a great group of fun-loving members.
