Mudgee 2023

Mudgee is a cool climate wine region boasting some of the best wines I have had in New South Wales.

Once again, the sun was shining bright. It was perfect for being outdoors during the day and indoors during the night!

If you are anything like me - you like a glass of red, walking in parks, cooking or just playing cards with friends and family sitting by a cosy fireplace - Mudgee will not disappoint you.

Mudgee is the place to be for a perfect weekend getaway!

Mudgee is a wine region and this was a boys trip. The expectations have been set.

Day 1 - Breweries, Nachos and an Outdoor Firepit

Having started our road trip from Sydney on Friday morning, we made our first stop at Cafe 128 in Lithgow. The staff was welcoming and catered to our dietary requirements. My favourite was the brisket burger, highly recommend! We then proceeded straight into Mudgee driving through beautiful landscapes with views of mountains and lakes.

After reaching Mudgee around 3pm, we enjoyed the Champagne at the AirBnB, chopped some wood for the fire pit and headed to the Mudgee Brewing Co. We tried all their beers and enjoyed everything. I love lagers and their lager was perfect for me, I had to get a pint!

From there, we decided to brewery hop into Three Tails Brewery. This one had a bigger selection of beers and a unique collection of whisky as well. I like their sours but did not get a chance to try the whiskies. They had a big oven and an old rustic vibe, I wouldn’t mind going there for another drink but the beer was better at Brewing Co.

Next, we bought grocery and headed back to the BnB. I cooked some Nachos which we enjoyed while having some whisky and dancing by the fire outdoors in the cold. After a few hours of deep and meaningful conversations, we headed in and had tacos for dinner.

We continued the musical vibes with some 90s music and watched some cricket until after midnight.

Day 2 - Wineries, BBQ, Games Night and an Indoor Fireplace

Next morning, we went to Mudgee Bakery for some croissants and got coffee from Coffee Burrow. If you like being caffeinated, you will not go wrong with Coffee Burrow, they have a cute cafe in an alley in the main town and the beans are freshly roasted!

It was time for wine tastings and we couldn’t have started at a better place than Logan! Situated on a hilltop with mesmerising views, Logan boasts a set of wines that are all delicious. There is something for everyone. The expertise of their French winemaker is apparent in their Shiraz Viognier and the Clementine collection. I ended up buying two wines from Logan! The ladies were lovely hosts and great to chat with. If you only have time for one tasting, I would recommend Logan.

After Logan, we headed for brunch to Dancing Goat. This is a cute brunch place in the main town and we were happy with our chicken sandwiches, wings and vegetarian dumplings. The mimosa and the fresh fruit juices were exactly what we needed after our first wine tasting.

The brunch set us up perfectly for our next stop at Pieter Van Gent to try their collection of Ports. Pieter Van Gent is aa beautiful cellar door decorated purely with their wine barrels inside an old building. My favourite was their limited edition bushfire port aged in whisky barrels.

Lowe Family Wines was the next stop. Here, the wine tasting experience was quite different in a few ways. A personal winery guide walked us through different hubs in the winery. At each hub, we tasted one type of wine - building up from Rose, to Whites, medium bodied reds and then finally to fullbodied Reds. Lowe is a beautiful winery with a lake, a chapel and an on premise restaurant for all ocassions. What I found really intriguing about Lowe was that they still use amphoras for making some of their wine and they are one of very few wineries in Australia that make their own Zifandel.

With the sun setting and the afternoon coming to an end, we had just enough time to make it to The Small Winemakers Centre. This was an unplanned visit and Johnnie Furlong was a legend for entertaining us at the very last minute. And by entertaining, I mean, he sang for us, he shared some of his stories with us, he even offered to come do a private wine tasting in Sydney! We regret not going there early enough.

With enough wine in us, we were hungry and ready for some BBQ (made by yours truly). Having marinated chicken the night before, it was time to make some fusion kebab wraps with coleslaw and egg and suateed vegetables. It was fun to cook outdoors with candles lit, a light breeze, chill music and hungry friends and some dark Rum.

After dinner, we lit the fireplace in the living area, played cards, sipped some Lavender liquor (from Tasmania) and danced to 2000s bollywood hits.

Day 3 - Checkout, Brewery and back to Reality

Next morning, we checked out early, walked in the town and then drove back towards Sydney. We stopped at Blue Mountains - Mountain Culture Brewery to have beer and burgers. Both the beer and the burgers were delicious. I will definitely go here again.

This was our last stop before heading home and deciding that we should do another road trip soon before heading to Bali later in the year!