Flying high
Up in the hilltops of northern New South Wales, where the air is clean and cool, the New England Australian wine region is rapidly building a star reputation. It’s a large region that stretches from the rural city of Tamworth, known as Australia’s country music capital, up to where it almost meets the Queensland border. About a six-hour drive from Sydney and lying west of the Great Dividing Range, this is high country. In fact, it’s home to some of Australia’s highest-altitude vineyards, some are over 1,000 metres above sea level.
In this incredibly diverse region, there’s more to the story than elevation. Lower down the slopes you’ll find warmer vineyard sites where different grape varieties thrive. This dramatic landscape, home to UNESCO World Heritage rainforests and Australia’s second-highest waterfall, sets the scene for a dynamic winemaking community.
The region’s rich soils and lush pastures also help to produce some of Australia’s best lamb and beef, and seasonal produce sampled from farm gates and markets. Several cellar doors offer a chance to taste award-winning wines, and if you feel like a different drop, you’ll find several craft breweries and distilleries.
An alternative view
New England Australia was declared an official wine region in 2008 – the ‘Australia’ added to distinguish it from its US counterpart – making it one of our youngest wine regions. But like many ‘young’ regions, New England really is re-emerging – grapes were planted here as far back as the early 1800s by early European settlers.
The most famous of these was George Wyndham, who established a property in the 1850s to grow grapes for his well-known Wyndham Estate winery in the Hunter Valley. In the late 1800s the district was winning international awards for its wines, but in the early 20th century things ground to a halt. Look closely and you may still spot abandoned vines from that era winding through old homestead ruins. In the 1970s the modern wine industry came to life and these days, local vineyards and wineries are generating excitement for their distinctive cool-climate wines.
New England is unlike any other region in Australia, its varied landscape, climates and soils able to produce impressively diverse wines. Delicious cool-climate expressions of classic Australian varieties – fragrant, citrusy Riesling, elegant Chardonnay, velvety Shiraz – have been joined by creative winemakers exploring minimal-intervention styles and alternative varieties such as Gewürztraminer, Tempranillo and Nebbiolo.
Topper’s Mountain Wines is a beacon for diversity. Once owned by sons of George Wyndham, the property sits at 900 metres above sea level, its vines flourishing in vivid orange-red soil. Today it’s owned by vigneron Mark Kirby who started planting the vineyard in 1999. He’s experimented with all manner of grapes and currently grows 14 varieties.
“It was always my dream to produce wines that speak of their unique terroir, are an example of the best varietal expression and invite people to start a journey of discovery,” he says.
Whether they come from frosty mountain vineyards or warmer sites down the slopes, New England Australia wines are filled with personality. They’re wines that tell stories of multi-generational farming families, perseverance, creativity and thoughtful small-batch production. Whatever your preferred drop, you’ll find something to discover here.
