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Get the Canberra District on your radar

Clonakilla, MurrumbatemanCredit: Destination NSW

General Manager David Reist with a glass of red wine in the Clonakilla cellar door in Murrumbateman.

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Get the Canberra District on your radar

Clonakilla, Murrumbateman Credit: Destination NSW

General Manager David Reist with a glass of red wine in the Clonakilla cellar door in Murrumbateman.

#lovensw #newsouthwales

Hashtags #lovensw #newsouthwales

The Canberra District has sprawling vineyards, award-winning cellar doors, locavore restaurants and a flourishing community of growers, makers and artisans — and it’s less than three hours from Sydney by car.  

Highlights: 

  • Sample cool-climate wines at some of the 30 cellar doors in the region 
  • Browse for gourmet souvenirs at countless shops and markets 
  • Dine on fine fare at restaurants like Olleyville, Westering or Grazing 

Drink 

The Canberra District may be a young wine region (the first vines were planted here in 1971), but it’s grown up fast. The district now has more than 140 vineyards and 30 cellar doors. Your first stop? Make it the acclaimed winery hub of Murrumbateman, 40km north of Canberra. Book a tasting at the cellar door at Clonakilla — its shiraz viognier has been awarded Wine of the Year multiple times by Australia’s leading wine critics. Nearby at Helm Wines, you can sample the vineyard’s rieslings and cabernets in a 19th-century schoolhouse, or visit Shaw Wines and enjoy pours of its cool-climate wines with sweeping views of the hills. At Four Winds Vineyard, you can relax on sprawling lawns with wood-fired pizza and live music, and try the riesling gin, the result of an inspired collaboration with The Canberra Distillery. Step back in time in the heritage-listed village of Gundaroo, where your personalised tasting experience at Gundog Estate’s cellar door is complemented with cheese and charcuterie, and takes place in the estate’s former stables.  

Eat

The Canberra District is perfect for food lovers: its towns and villages feature artisan producers, providores, cellar door restaurants and growers markets hawking local specialties like apples, nashi pears, olives, truffles and exotic mushrooms. At the grounds of the family-run Poachers Pantry estate, you can taste what’s in season at The Smokehouse Restaurant. Here, meats are cured and smoked in-house, organic produce is grown in the kitchen garden and wines are made in the surrounding vineyards. Olleyville’s refined menu takes advantage of its Shaw Wines location (the rich 12-hour lamb shoulder is served with jus made from the estate's shiraz). And the decadent grazing boards at Lake George Winery’s Westering restaurant showcase its estate, too: alongside the gourmet cheeses, charcuterie and dips are grapes from its vines and jelly made from red wine. Grazing highlights the region’s wines while serving quality produce (like saltwater barramundi and Black Angus beef) in a historic 1830s inn recognised by the National Trust. Spend a romantic night in Yazzbar, an intimate country bar that offers live music, boutique local wines and a tapas-style menu that makes the most of the local produce. Pick up road-trip snacks in between wines at Clementine Bakery, where the sourdough bread, croissants and pastries often sell out. 

Shaw Wines, Murrumbateman Credit: Destination NSW

Couple enjoying a glass of wine at Shaw Wines, Murrumbateman.

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Shaw Wines, Murrumbateman Credit: Destination NSW

Couple enjoying a glass of wine at Shaw Wines, Murrumbateman.

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Poachers Pantry, Springrange Credit: Destination NSW

Food and drink at Poachers Pantry, Springrange.

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Poachers Pantry, Springrange Credit: Destination NSW

Food and drink at Poachers Pantry, Springrange.

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Play 

Food lovers will appreciate Canberra District for its gourmet souvenirs: buy bottles of mead, jars of honey, and hand-crafted beeswax candles at Win’s Creek Meadery; find Belgian chocolates that spotlight the region’s produce (Clonakilla muscat, walnuts from the chocolatier’s own tree) at Robyn Rowe Chocolates; or snap up fresh goods from local stallholders (Aunt Jessy’s Cheese, La Barre Olives) at the Murrumbateman Village Market. Get inspired at Suki & Hughes Gallery, which showcases modern Australian art with a focus on glass, ceramics, paintings and paper works. Bring home a treasure from Village Antiques, located in the historic town of Bungendore. Adventure seekers can saddle up for a ride through the countryside with Burnelee Excursions on Horseback. Or head to the pastoral town of Yass to try water sports at Burrinjuck Dam and explore Careys Cave, a spectacular limestone landscape with beautiful rock formations. 

Stay 

Rest your head at Abode Murrumbateman, a stylish apartment hotel located in the heart of Canberra’s wine country. It has generously equipped rooms, a modern guest lounge and bicycles for hire. Or go for a more immersive experience and settle in at the Tallagandra Hill Cottages, situated on the scenic grounds of a boutique family-owned winery in Gundaroo. You’ll appreciate having accommodation footsteps away, after a day of sampling the vineyard’s viognier and tempranillo with manchego-style cheese and triple-cream brie.  

Clonakilla, Murrumbateman Credit: Destination NSW

Couple enjoying a bike ride around the Clonakilla Wines vineyard in Murrumbateman.

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Clonakilla, Murrumbateman Credit: Destination NSW

Couple enjoying a bike ride around the Clonakilla Wines vineyard in Murrumbateman.

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Robyn Rowe Chocolates, Murrumbateman Credit: Destination NSW

Boutique handmade chocolates available for purchase at Robyn Rowe Chocolates, Murrumbateman.

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Robyn Rowe Chocolates, Murrumbateman Credit: Destination NSW

Boutique handmade chocolates available for purchase at Robyn Rowe Chocolates, Murrumbateman.

#lovensw #newsouthwales

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