Exploring the Southern Highlands, NSW
Australia’s beautiful Southern Highlands, New south Wales - source: Winekeller
Discovering wineries in the southern Highlands and things to do and see
We were recently lucky enough to spend a whole month in Australia, visiting our son who was working out there for a year, but also of course, discovering Australian wines, Australian wineries and Australian wine tourism!
We were based in the beautiful New South Wales wine region of the Southern Highlands, the closest wine region to Sydney, just 90 minutes drive away and often referred to as Sydney’s ‘Hamptons’.
With over 60 vineyards and 17 cellar doors, there’s a lot to see and do in the Southern Highlands and because the region’s towns, cellar doors and sights are all within easy driving distance of each other, touring here is easy!
This is a region waiting to be discovered! It’s also a gastronomic paradise - read on to discover more!
The rolling hills and lush valleys of the Southern Highlands - source: Winekeller
About the Southern Highlands NSW
The Southern Highlands is a classy, affluent, laidback, unspoilt parcel of rural Australia - little known to international tourists, but an increasingly popular all-year round destination for Australians and visitors alike. In recent years, it has become a magnet for Sydney city dwellers to escape to at weekends and holidays and ultimately, where to retire.
The Southern Highlands region sits on the Great Dividing Mountain Range of NSW, lying at an altitude of between 500-900m above sea level. It is a region of mountains, valleys, escarpments, rolling hills, bush wilderness, national parks and rich organic soil farming, with horse studs, sheep and cattle farms, olive groves and of course vineyards. It’s also known for its country towns, chocolate-box villages, classic colonial architecture, lifestyle and antique shops, museums and art galleries, golf courses, spas and country manors. The natural scenery isn’t bad either!! You can visit magical waterfalls at the stunning Fitzroy Falls in magnificent national parks such as Morton National Park (see later).
The Southern Highlands is a higher altitude region and as such is cooler, on average some 7 degrees cooler than nearby Sydney. It also has 4 clear seasons - this is very attractive to many, who find the intense heat of many other parts of Australia just too intense.
Additionally, this is a part of Australia which has a major focus on sustainability and clean energy.
Where is the Southern Highlands?
The Southern Highlands is located just 90 minutes south of Sydney and 2 hours north of Canberra. The closest airport is Sydney and the centre of the Southern Highlands can be reached easily by motorway and also by train from here. See here for options on how to get to the Southern Highlands.
This beautiful region is perfectly located to attract people from within the triangle of Sydney, Canberra and Wollongong and offers great options for day trips, especially from the hugely popular city of Sydney.
Map of the Southern highlands
The Southern Highlands - towns and villages
The Southern Highlands wine region
The towns and villages of the Southern Highlands
The major towns of the Southern Highlands are Bowral, Mittagong and Moss Vale and they are all within easy reach of the region’s many beautiful villages - said to be the Highlands’ “best kept secret”. Each village has its own unique personality, aesthetic and appeal, offering something for everyone. We especially loved the historic Georgian village of Berrima, the English style Exeter and the picture-postcard village of Robertson. (see later).
A gourmet region for outstanding food and wine experiences
The Southern Highlands is a highly regarded gourmet region - a place to discover some excellent cool climate wines, some wonderful local produce, excellent acclaimed restaurants, a thriving café culture, trendy eateries and lovely cosy, country pubs.
Top restaurant ‘Eschalot’ in Berrima
Enjoying lunch at Bendooley Estate
A new generation of food-makers, wineries, retailers and hoteliers is helping make the Southern Highlands NSW the ideal destination to rewind, refresh and rejuvenate. The Southern Highlands is definitely a foodie paradise - you’ll find yourselves spoilt for choice here! We have recommended various places to enjoy some excellent food and dining experiences throughout this article.
About the Southern Highlands wine region
The Southern Highlands is a cool climate, high altitude wine region in New South Wales, with 17 cellar doors, offering a range of wine and wine tourism experiences for visitors. The first vine plantings date back to the 1870s and were located around the pretty village of Berrima (see later).
The fertile soils, high altitude and seasonal changes, with cool winters and warm summers, are ideal for cool climate vineyards. The range of soils across the region is diverse, so there is a large range of wines to enjoy here.
There are approximately 140 hectares of vineyards in the Southern Highlands.
Vineyards at Cherry Tree Hill Wines - source: Winekeller
Southern Highlands wine
A broad variety of cool climate wines are now being produced in the Southern Highlands, by a young, energetic, innovative wine community. Wines produced include (but aren’t limited to): Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Riesling, Pinot Gris, Pinot Noir, Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon.
Grapes like Pinot noir can only be grown successfully in cooler climate regions and the Southern Highlands is having increasing success with it, where the terroir and climate is perfect for producing excellent Pinot noir wines. A lot of sparkling wines are also produced here.
Wineries in the Southern Highlands
The diversity of soils and vineyards and the close proximity of the cellar doors to each other mean that the Southern Highlands is a great wine region for a wine tour! You can experience something different at each winery and cellar door, be that the types of wines, or the wine tourism experience on offer. There are the large wine estates which offer different wine tasting options as well as dining - some of these are very popular wedding venues too. Then at the other end of the scale, are the smaller, family-run wineries where you can taste the wines and maybe chat to the winemaker and walk around the vineyards. Common to all is the warmth of the welcome and the superb hospitality.
A typical Southern Highlands cellar door! (Eling Forest Winery) - source: Winekeller
There are 17 cellar doors in the Southern Highlands (at time of writing) and you can learn about all of them here.
Southern Highlands wine tour
During our time in the Southern Highlands we visited most of the cellar doors. See our write up of each below, by location:
Southern Highlands wine tour - around Bowral:
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Tractorless Vineyard’s winemaking philosophy is to ‘create a sustainable and diverse food and wine experience from locally sourced, foraged, grown and produced foods’. Owner and winemaker, Jeff is a pioneer in natural, biodynamic farming and winemaking and is passionate about the Southern Highlands and its land and soils.
Jeff farms some 30 hectares of vineyards around Bowral and Mittagong at an altitude of some 700m. He follows biodynamic farming practices and as the name suggests, rather than using mechanical processes in the vineyards, he experiments with the most natural ways to manage the soil, look after the vines and insect management. Key to this is the presence of sheep and cattle in the vineyards.
Jeff also loves to experiment in winemaking and he makes his own traditional method sparkling wines on his premises, as well as natural wines.
Visitors can taste his wines at the cellar door at The Mill in the centre of Bowral, where lots of different foods are also on offer, or can visit the Tractorless vineyards for a walking tour, to learn more about his wines, biodynamic farming and of course to meet the sheep! Tractorless Vineyards also has a cellar door in Vincentia, Jervis Bay.
We spent a wonderful 2 hours on a Saturday morning at The Mill in Bowral, sampling Jeff’s wines, hearing more of his story and enjoying some fabulous local foods! We tasted 3 different styles of Sauvignon blanc, including a 100% natural style, a superb Pinot gris, a beautiful Grenache/Mourvèdre blend, 2 styles of Shiraz, an amazing Cabernet Sauvignon and a Pinot gris dessert wine.
Jeff is a huge proponent of sustainable farming and the Southern Highlands and his wines are excellent - very impressive.
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Located close to both Bowral and Mittagong, Artemis is owned by 2 brothers, Antony and Mark Balog, who are also the winemakers and is known for its premium wines, especially its Rieslings and Pinot noirs. In addition to wines, Artemis produces a range of premium spirits.
Artemis is an extremely popular wine tourism venue, with a large range of tastings on offer at the cellar door as well as cheese and meat platters, fresh pizzas and lots of entertainment at the weekend.
We enjoyed a wonderful tasting and our host, Barry, provided an excellent introduction to Artemis and the wines. We tasted a sparkling cuvée non-vintage, 2 semi-dry Rieslings, a Pinot grigio, a Chardonnay, a pink Pinot grigio 2022 and finally 2 Pinot noirs. Oh and 2 different gins!!
Our favourites were the sparkling non-vintage, the Pinot grigio, the Chardonnay and the Pinot noirs. Excellent wines.
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Centennial Vineyards is the first and only five star winery in the Southern Highlands. Centennial is known for its award-winning wines, produced from grapes grown on the 80 acres of vineyards in the Southern Highlands, as well as its vineyards in the Orange wine region.
You can enjoy a range of wine tastings at the Cellar Door and enjoy lunch or a ‘high tea’ at the Centennial Vineyards Restaurant.
This is a well-known and popular cellar door and wine estate and is also home to many functions, including large-scale music concerts. Booking is advisable!
Southern Highlands wine tour - around Berrima:
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The historic Bendooley Estate is not just a wine estate, with an excellent cellar door for wine tasting, it has an acclaimed restaurant - set in the amazing Berkelouw Book Barn - a paradise for book lovers and Australia’s most atmospheric bookstore. You can also stay in one of the fabulous cottages on the estate, set in the most beautiful grounds, with a lake. This is a very popular venue for weddings, functions, lunch and wine tasting - so you must book ahead!
We enjoyed a fabulous lunch at the Berkelouw Book Barn restaurant - the food was excellent and it’s a fabulous setting, surrounded by lots of amazing books!
We also enjoyed a wine tasting in the Cellar Door, which overlooks the 5 acres of vineyards. We tried 8 different wines, paired with local toasted sourdough bread and bacon chutney, which was delicious!
We loved all of the wines, especially the Riesling and Chardonnay, but the late harvest Botrytis wine - with hints of ginger and lime marmalade - was also a real discovery!
Bendooley Estate is located in between the main town of Bowral and the lovely historic village, Berrima.
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PepperGreen is located in the centre of Berrima, not far from its famous gaol! It has an excellent winery, cellar door, restaurant, tasting room and olive grove.
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Joadja Winery is the Southern Highlands oldest vineyard and winery
Southern Highlands wine tour - around the village of Sutton Forest:
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Eling Forest is located on the Hume highway, close to the village of Sutton Forest. It has a boutique-style winery, a cellar door, offering cheese platters to accompany wine tastings, as well as a café offering breakfasts, light plates and lunches. Before our wine tasting we enjoyed an excellent lunch in the café, along of course with a glass of Eling Forest wine!
Eling Forest has been making wine for some 40 years and they farm about 7 acres of vines. We tasted an excellent rosé, a sparkling wine and an aged Merlot, which were all very good.
What is unique about Eling Forest is its history, dating back about 200 years.
The first owner was John Morrice - a British immigrant - and there is a heritage cottage on the site which was built by the inmates from the gaol at Berrima.
The heritage-listed accommodation offers 7 rooms set in beautiful grounds with a lake and there is also a large function room here.
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Cherry Tree Hill Wines, close to the village of Sutton Forest, is known for its superb Rieslings and Pinots - in fact, they have a reputation for producing ‘the best Riesling in NSW’. They farm 60 acres of vines, including Riesling, Chardonnay, Sauvignon blanc, Pinots, Cabernet sauvignon and Merlot.
We tasted a range of wines here, but focused on the Pinot noirs and the riesling, which we thoroughly enjoyed. These are top wines.
The cellar door is open every day for tastings and a variety of light meals and snacks are also offered, including local tasting boards and their famous gourmet pies!
This is a really relaxing place to spend an hour or 2 enjoying some superb quality, local wines and some typical Southern Highlands hospitality!
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Although we didn’t get to visit, Sutton Forest Estate Wines is known as a ‘little piece of Italy in the Highlands’ !
Southern Higlands wine tour - around the village of Exeter:
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St Maur Winery is located in the lovely village of Exeter and is anItalian family-owned business, managed by Marco.
The excellent cellar door is set in a rustic vintage dairy farm, with sweeping views over the countryside and vineyards. There are 16 acres of classic grape varieties including Pinot noir, Cabernet sauvignon, Merlot and Chardonnay and St Maur is known for its premium, single vineyard, low-yield, hand crafted wines.
We enjoyed tasting a range of the St Maur wines - this is a great place to drop in and enjoy some fabulous wines, in a fabulous setting!
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Dawning Day is a small boutique winery and cellar door in the heart of the village of Exeter and is the culmination of a 20 year long dream of the owners, to own and run their own small vineyard. 3 acres of vines were planted in 2017, including Gamay, Chardonnay and Pinot noir and the first vintage was in 2020. The lovely tasting barn overlooking the vineyards and winery opened in 2021.
Dawning Day is one of the highest altitude vineyards in the Southern Highlands at 720m, so the wines certainly classify as cool climate wines!
Visit Dawning Day as we did to taste their lovely wines and perhaps to enjoy a Private Winemaker Tasting and a tour around the vineyard and winery. You can also enjoy platters of cheeses and meats, as well as a variety of local pickles which are made onsite.
Boutique accommodation is also available to rent if you fancy an overnight stay in the vineyard.
Dawning Day is a wonderful example of experiencing the best of Southern Highlands hospitality, wine and food in the most relaxed of settings!
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Sally’s Corner Wines is a boutique vineyard/cellar door with award-winning wines - sadly we didn’t get to visit but Sally’s Corner has a great reputation!
Southern Highlands wine tour - around Moss Vale:
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The Southern Highlands Winery is located close to the town of Moss Vale and is set amongst beautiful rolling hills. You can enjoy a wine tasting and winery tour at the cellar door, but it is also well-known for its restaurant and the Italian-inspired menu, prepared by head chef, Marco.
We had an excellent lunch here, with the most wonderful Italian burrata cheese, followed by salmon gnocchi, paired with some delicious wines.
The restaurant overlooks beautiful Southern Highlands scenery and is located adjacent to the winery. Despite the rain that day, we enjoyed a superb lunch and wines here.
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Mount Ashby Estate is a beautiful boutique vineyard and restaurant
Planning a trip to the Southern Highlands
As mentioned earlier, getting to the Southern highlands is easy - from both Sydney and Canberra - and it’s a superb region to explore, even just for a few days. Travelling round is easy as everything is located quite close together.
When to visit:
The Southern highlands has so much to offer - whatever the time of year! We visited in early autumn and it was beautiful. Yes cooler, darker evenings, but lots of sun and no oppressive heat. There is lots going on here too during the winter months and a very popular time to visit is during the annual Tulip festival in Bowral, during late September.
Accommodation in the Southern Highlands
There’s lots to choose from in terms of accommodation in the Southern Highlands - see here for ideas.
We can personally recommend 2 excellent options:
The Berida Hotel in Bowral
A privately owned hotel next to the golf course in Bowral, the Berida Hotel has 46 rooms, a fabulous whisky bar and an excellent restaurant, an indoor pool, a spa and treatment rooms and a games room. The hotel is tastefully and elegantly furnished throughout.
Moss Manor Hotel in Moss Vale
If you’re looking for a luxury, boutique hotel, centrally located and you love art, then Moss Manor Hotel in the centre of Moss Vale is for you! Moss Manor is a boutique art hotel, offering 8 luxury and individually styled rooms in a beautiful old Georgian building dating back to the 1890s. There are lots of lovely personal, thoughtful touches in each room and the ambience is very relaxed and elegant, making for a wonderful place to use as a base whilst exploring the Southern Highlands.
Things to do in the Southern Highlands
Visit its towns and villages
We would definitely recommend you visit the main town of Bowral, with its historic buildings, boutiques, antique and vintage stores, homeware shops and great cafés and restaurants.
Great places to eat including Caffé Rosso for its breakfasts, excellent croissants and selection of fresh breads, Italian restaurant Onesta Cucina and Eccetera Trattoria Pizzeria.
Just 10 minutes from Bowral is the small, rural town of Moss Vale. This is home to a new, contemporary restaurant called Birch. We also loved eating at an excellent Thai restaurant in Moss Vale, Thai Som Boon.
A must is to visit one or more of the lovely southern Highland villages:
Berrima has to top this list, with bags of character, charm and history, awarded best small village in NSW and widely recognised as the best preserved example of a Georgian village on the Australian mainland.
Spend time strolling the picture-postcard main street, with its lovely Georgian buildings, the General Store and the Berrima Village Pottery shop. Visit the Berrima gaol and the Berrima Vaults just opposite and the Surveyor General Inn - Australia’s oldest continuously licensed inn. Enjoy a lovely riverside walk along the Wingecarribee river, then head for a meal and a glass of wine in one of the lovely cafés and restaurants, including the award-winning Eschalot, considered one of the finest restaurants in the Southern Highlands.
See here for the Top 5 things to do and see in Berrima!
Also take time to visit the village of Robertson, known as ‘the Green Heart of the Highlands’, due to Its rich red fertile soil providing an abundance of rural farmland. It’s also known as a bit of a foodie magnet!! Make sure you have breakfast or a snack in the popular café Moonacres (the bread is incredible here), or enjoy a pie in the famous Robertson Pie shop, or some cheese and wine at Pecora Dairy!
Visit the Joadja distillery
Visit and take a tour of the historic Joadja distillery, once the site of the Australian Kerosene Oil and Mineral Company and home to an expansive shale mine and Scottish mining settlement during the late 19th century. Now it’s home to a very successful and award-winning distillery, producing aged spirits, whisky, brandy and rum and also gin and vodka. In fact a gift of Joadja gin was presented to the late Queen to celebrate her platinum jubilee, on behalf of the people of NSW.
Joadja is unique in terms of sustainability, having its own spring water supply and barley crop and it is also solar powered. Visit the remains of the Scottish mining settlement - now a ghost town - and the fascinating distillery. We found it a unique and highly enjoyable experience!
Visit Fitzroy Falls and Morton National Park
Under 30 minutes away from Bowral, Fitzroy Falls is one of the most spectacular waterfalls in Australia. Set in the beautiful Morton National Park, there are excellent walking and hiking trails and lookout points as well as a visitor centre.
Visit Retford Park and the Ngununggula art gallery in Bowral
Retford Park is the former home of James Oswald Fairfax AC, of the Fairfax newspaper publishing empire and is now owned by the National Trust of Australia. You can visit the beautiful house and gardens and also at the same time visit the Ngununggula regional art Gallery. ‘Ngununggula’ means “belonging” in the traditional language of the Gundungurra First Nations people and through this wonderful art collection we learned a lot more about Australia’s Aboriginal People and their culture.
Planning your Southern Highlands wine tour:
Hopefully we have given you lots of ideas, information and inspiration to plan your own Southern Highlands wine tour - here are some other great ideas for you:
An excellent wine trail you can follow, which includes a lot of the wineries/cellar doors included above (there is also a ‘pie’ trail, celebrating the great Australian pie!
Also a suggestion for a 3 day tour itinerary, giving you a perfect introduction to the beautiful Southern Highlands;
A suggestion of the ‘must-try’ experiences in the southern Highlands;
Or - take away the hassle and let us plan the perfect tour for you!
We partner with an expert, local organisation called ‘Wild Food Adventures’, operating private, luxury, group tours and overnight stays in the Southern Highlands. We can propose a fabulous ‘1 day private wine tour, visiting several top wineries, with lunch included, departing from either Sydney or Canberra’. Alternatively we can create and propose a totally bespoke wine tour and travel experience for you in the Southern Highlands! Contact us to find out more!
Summary and personal highlights
We were fortunate enough to be able to spend a few weeks in NSW, based in the Southern Highlands and we absolutely loved our time and experience there. We discovered some wonderful cool climate wines - so very different to the normal perception of Australian wines - we enjoyed some amazing sights and scenery and we enjoyed the most friendly and welcoming hospitality wherever we went. The Southern Highlands is definitely a wine region that’s ‘under the radar’ but we would really encourage you to visit, especially as it’s the closest Australian wine region to beautiful Sydney!
More information:
Pick up maps and local knowledge from the Southern Highlands Welcome Centre in Mittagong;
Check out the events calendar to find out what’s on, from festivals and shows to concerts and exhibitions;
See Visit NSW and VisitSouthernHighlands for lots more ideas and information about getting the most out of your visit to the New South Wales’ Southern Highlands!
