“One of the two most significant emerging cool climate wine regions in Australia” – James Halliday

The Hilltops wine region is North West of Canberra on the Great Dividing Range, centred around the town of Young in Southern NSW.

Hilltops is rapidly emerging as one of the most exciting viticulture regions in Australia. The high altitude, cool to moderate climate and dry summer and autumn provides excellent ripening conditions. This along with the gravelly, free-draining soils, enables the production of wines with great intensity of flavour and finesse.

The first vines were planted in the 1860s but it’s only recently that the area’s true potential has begun to crystallise. Hilltops is the only NSW region to win the Jimmy Watson Trophy and be a Two Time Winner of the Great Australian Shiraz Challenge. New entrants and second generation growers are combining older vines with modern wine making, creating wines of purity and brightness. Shiraz and Cabernet have already achieved greatness here but the future for Italian and Spanish varieties seems just as bright.

Tumbarumba’s closest viticultural equivalents are Tasmania, Central Otago and Champagne.

Set in the foothills of the Snowy Mountains, Tumbarumba is the coldest viticultural region on mainland Australia, and is set in a stunning landscape reminiscent of the Apple Isle. Tumbarumba is a remote and pristine wilderness; A place of rare beauty. There is purity in the air and the crystal mountain waters, the dense bush land abundant with native wildlife.

In this unique climate we craft wines of purity, expression and elegance that speak of their origin. There’s a delicacy and refinement that can only be achieved in a very cool climate. This is essential to make world class expressions of early ripening varieties such as Pinot Noir and Chardonnay.

Tumbarumba is one of few places in the Southern Hemisphere where such wines can be made.

Tumbarumba is not an easy place to grow wine grapes. Winter is bitterly cold; Spring is punctuated by severe frosts; the hills are frighteningly steep and help is far away. Ultra-premium viticulture here is laborious and fiercely expensive. However, the most magnificent achievements often begin with the greatest challenges.

The wine capital of the Canberra District famed for its cool-climate wines, once a hidden gem is fast becoming a wine region of significance.

Welcome to Murrumbateman, the crown jewel of the Canberra District, renowned for its exquisite cool-climate wines. Once a well-kept secret, this vibrant region is now rising to prominence as a wine lover’s paradise.

We continue to pinch ourselves everyday with our most recent acquisition in 2019, the Kerralee Vineyard. Just a scenic drive from Canberra along the Barton Highway, this vineyard perfectly complements our vision of creating the Holy Trinity of wine regions in Southern NSW. With its cool, dry climate reminiscent of Cote Rotie in the northern Rhone Valley of France, Kerralee is poised to shine. Planted in 1994, this 25-acre vineyard is undergoing a remarkable transformation, expanding and refining its selection of the finest Shiraz, Mourvèdre, Grenache, and Riesling clones grafted onto the original rootstocks.

Nestled in the heart of the Canberra Wine Region, the Murrumbateman Wine District sits perfectly between Yass and Canberra, with the charming village of Murrumbateman at its core. This lively rural village, just a three-hour drive south of Sydney, is not only a sought-after haven for Canberra residents but also a magnet for tourists. Its fame as the heart of Canberra’s cool-climate wine region makes it a must-visit destination.

With its close proximity to Canberra and Yass, Murrumbateman’s vineyards are the soul of the district’s wine excellence. And now, we proudly call this enchanting place home!