After breakfast, explore some of the wineries and “cellar doors”—what Australians call tasting rooms—in the Shoalhaven Wine Region. Of Australia’s 65 different wine regions, Shoalhaven is on the smaller side—there are fewer than 20 cellar doors. As a result, many of the winemakers are especially accessible and eager to greet visitors who are curious about this emerging area.
One example: Rosie and Griff Cupitt, who planted their first wine grapes in 2005.
Cupitt’s Estate now produces excellent sauvignon blancs, rosés, cabernets, and other wines. The estate is also home to a brewery (established in 2014) and a fromagerie, producing goat’s and cow’s milk cheeses since 2015. On their Tour and Taste experiences, you’ll follow a tour that includes the vineyards, cellars, kitchen garden, microbrewery, and fromagerie, with a chance to sample the products from all those different parts of the Cupitts’ estate. You will surely end your visit sated. On your way to Cupitt’s, stop at Milton—an especially charming farm town with historic buildings, craft studios, and antique stores.
If you don’t have lunch at Cupitt’s, Bangalay Dining in Shoalhaven Heads creates dishes that showcase local ingredients—not only wines, produce, and beef, but also various herbs and flowers. You can choose from the formal dining room or a more casual alfresco lunch. In the afternoon, continue your wine tastings with stops at cellar doors to the north of Jervis Bay, on or near the Shoalhaven River.
Coolangatta Estate has a long history—it was the site of the first European settlement in the area, and a number of its buildings were constructed by convicts. Its owners began producing wines in the 1980s, and the estate remains committed to small-scale production practices.
Two Figs Winery, just outside Berry, produces shiraz, pinot noir, viognier, pinot grigio, and several other varieties.
Mountain Ridge Wines has an inviting cellar door in Coolangatta, while family-run
Cambewarra Estate offers afternoon tea as well as wine tastings.