Mudgee is famous for it’s wines and it’s the reason we, like most tourists, travelled there.
It’s around a 3.5- 4 hour drive from Sydney and while most of it is on a highway, definitely allow for some extra time if you are heading there on Friday afternoon / evening.
Mudgee has the wide tree lined streets and slower pace that everyone associates with Australian country towns.
Because it’s not really possible to do it a day trip from Sydney, it tends to be much quieter than the Hunter Valley or even Orange. A lot of the wineries are small, family owned producers who only distribute through their cellar door or local suppliers and so their wines tend to be less well known than some of the other wine regions in Australia.
Mudgee produces cold climate wines for a reason so remember to pack warm clothes. During the day can warm and sunny but at night temperatures drop considerably. We were there in August and it got below zero each night.
Cellar Doors
There are more forty cellar doors, and it’s impossible to see them all (although we gave it a very good try) so it’s worthwhile doing some research before you go to decide which ones you want to visit.
If you don’t have a volunteer for designated driver, there are a number of local companies which do wine tours by mini-bus. There is also a scheduled service which does a pick up and drop off at various wineries on Saturdays and offers a 3 or 6 hour pass:
https://www.mudgeehopper.com.au/
Lowe Wines
The point of distinction for Lowe Wines is that they sell organic wines. They are one of the most popular cellar doors, and on the Saturday we visited it was very busy. This meant a bit of a wait to try wines but savoring the wines slowly is all part of the experience. Despite the staff being run off their feet they were happy to explain each of the wines in a fair amount of detail and were very passionate about the wines.
Their cellar door includes an outdoor area with tables and views over the surrounding country side. They sell sell grazing plates if you feel like lingering.
The Cellar by Gilbert
The Cellar by Gilbert is a store front / tasting room close to town. It feels more like a restaurant that has wine tastings rather than a cellar door. They sell a large selection of whites and reds, mostly around the $30 mark. They also have some limited release wines which are not available for tasting.
If you want to learn a bit more about the wine they do masterclasses on Saturdays at 11 am for $20.
Unlike most of the other wineries in the region, they also charge a tasting fee of $10 per person although this is redeemable on purchases
The cellar door shares premises with the High Valley Cheese Co, which offers free tastings. It’s a shame they only sell large, single cheeses as a platter with a smaller few selections would have been great to take back to our hotel and have with one of the wines we’d bought.
https://www.gilbertfamilywines.com.au/
Craigmoor Wines
Robert Oatley wines has recently been rebranded as Craigmoor Wines which was the original name of the winery when it was purchased by Robert in 2006.
The winery is Mudgee’s oldest. It was established in 1858 and the cellar door has some equipment on display from the original winery.
The cellar door is run by a husband and wife team who are very friendly and knowledgeable about the wines. The cellar door prices are some of the cheapest you’ll find in the region (around $21 a bottle) but still good quality, easy drinking wines. Their One & Sixpence Rose was a stand out for us.
https://craigmoor.com.au/mudgee.html
Robert Stein Winery
As well as good wines and one of the best restaurants in Mudgee (Pipeclay Lane), Robert Stein Winery has the distinction of being the only winery which has a motorcyle museum. It’s free to go in and while it’s only relatively small there are quite a few bikes as well as number plates from all around the world and an old style gas pump, so worth a visit for anyone who likes motorcyles.
Closer to town
If you don’t want to drive (or get a tour bus) there are a couple of options in town to sample the wines. Roths Wine Bar stocks a good selection of local wines. They also serve charcuterie plates, as well as some small tapas style dishes and pizzas:
https://www.rothswinebar.com.au/
Goree Park also has a wine tasting room near the centre of town. As well as the wine it showcases local produce:
https://www.gooreepark.com/our-cellar-doors/
Where to eat
Restaurants in Mudgee tend more toward the cafe than fine dining end of the spectrum. Expect good solid food.
Most of the restaurants in town are centred along Market Street. Elton’s Eating and Drinking is housed in what used to be a Pharmacy Building built at the end of last century. The menu consists of tapas style share plates. Our waitress suggested 3-4 for two people, but we found 2 plates were plenty for us for lunch. Service was so good it would put quite a few expensive Sydney restaurants to shame.
A good place for breakfast or coffee is the Market Street Cafe, especially if you want a big breakfast to start the day. They do country classics with bacon, eggs, mushrooms, bacon and grilled tomatoes as well as some more interesting choices such as scrambled eggs and chilli.
Servings are huge and prices reasonable. When it gets really busy there can be long wait times for food, but we had no problems early on a Sunday morning.
A few of the wineries have restaurants which tend to be at the higher quality end. Keep in mind these are open only for lunch and if you are looking to eat in one of the winery restaurants on a Sunday definitely book in advance as this is the day locals heads out for lunch and most places are fully booked.
Other Places in the Area
If you enjoy Australian history, Gulgong, which is around 30 minutes north of Mudgee is well worth a drive. It’s full of historic buildings from gold rush days.
https://www.visitnsw.com/destinations/country-nsw/mudgee-area/gulgong
Rylstone and Kandos are situated about 45 minutes drive south east of Mudgee. Whilst they are also historic towns, they don’t have nearly as many preserved buildings as Gulgong and Kandos in particular seems to be suffering the fate of a lot of smaller country towns with a dwindling population and many local businesses closed or operating on very reduced hours.
If you have some extra time in Mudgee, and would like to include some nature in your trip, Ganguddy (formerly Dunn’s Swamp) is a great place to visit. It takes a little effort to get to, but the scenery is definitely worth the effort.
It’s about 1 hour’s drive from Mudgee (20 minutes from Rysltone). Be aware that there is a long section of road which is gravel or dirt, so I wouldn’t recommend it if you aren’t used to driving on these surfaces.
There are various walks you can do in the park ranging from 20 minutes to 3-4 hours. Whilst there is a campground in the park there aren’t any amenities (other than a very rustic toilet) so bring water and some food if you plan on doing one of the longer walks.
https://www.weekendnotes.com/exploring-dunns-swamp-wollemi-national-park/