Another trip to the Artisan Hills
"The journey is just as beautiful as the destination." Visit Yarra Valley.com
Nillumbik has apparently been so successful with their various tourist ventures, that back in 2016 'The Artisan Hills' brand won the top tourism award from the RACV. Which I didn't know. We have been intermittently enjoying their Open Cellars weekends for a few years now. It used to be a once a year event, then it became two weekends in spring and autumn and now it has been stretched to three - maybe four. One for each season. There are also Open Studios and Open Farms events scattered throughout the year. We should do the Open Farms some time.
The wineries in the Nillumbik shire are small. Although I suppose it could technically be called part of the Yarra Valley - our house actually backs on to the Yarra River after all - most of the shire is really situated in the hills above the valley. The vineyards not as famous as their true Yarra Valley cousins where the vineyards tend to be much larger, producing wine on a truly commercial scale - with Domaine Chandon at the top of the tree I suppose - at least in terms of money spent, down to small individual family owned vineyards. None of the Nillumbik wineries could be said to be on a commercial scale though. Which makes a visit so unique and so captivating.
Over the years we have found a few favourites - Shaws Road, Kings of Kangaroo Ground and Nillumbik Estate - their wines are really great - a few that we have decided are not worth visiting again because the wines are expensive and not that great (I won't name them) plus every time we try to visit one that we have not tried before. This time there were two of these.
The first was Yarrambat Estate. Which was a bit of a find. The views were gorgeous and the wines were tasty. Just about all of them. They had some super buys and, husband being a bit of a sucker for super buys, a couple of boxes were purchased, but also some of their rather lovely reserve chardonnay and a pinot I think. We should have bought a bottle of the rosé too.
The cellar door was really the owner's house. They are not open most of the time, so just part of their house near the kitchen was converted to a tasting venue and the kitchen provided cheese platters for those who wanted to sit outside on the expansive decks and look at the view. And, believe it or not, it was warm enough to do that. But in a rather nice touch, each seat was provided with a blanket in which to wrap yourself if needed. I think they make most of their sales to the odd restaurant, and they have a wine club which doubtless provides updates on their latest wines. It was indeed a very small vineyard - not much bigger than what you see in the above picture, and yet they managed to produce at least half a dozen different wines.
But the venue and the view were the big selling point I think.
And so we wended our way through what used to be called the Eltham Hills to Shaws Road, a perennial favourite.
This also has magnificent views - this time over to Kinglake - and also pretty magnificent wines - with again, chardonnay and pinot being the pick of the bunch. Well there might have been some other reds as well, but not being a red drinker I was not paying much attention to them. I know that David loves their bordeaux blend and has bought it in the past, but I don't think he did on this occasion. I did like their sauvignon blanc though and I persuaded David to buy me a bottle as well as a chardonnay. According to their website the first vines were planted back in 1982. In 2008 they purchased another winery in the Strathewen Hills and they also, miraculously, have a very small vineyard in Eltham itself. Their wines are high quality and they now have a small café too. You really feel you are in the bush when you visit here as part of the journey is through a small forest along an unmade road which opens up to the vista you see above. You can see Melbourne on a clear day. They open every third Sunday of the month and I think are also to be found at Eltham Farmer's Market.
Where you can also find the Kings of Kangaroo Ground winemakers - Ken King and Chris Ramsay. A most entertaining pair who make rather fine wines.
They now source some of their grapes from Heathcote and other local vineyards, but the majority still come from their own vineyard which was planted back in 1990. Again with pinot and chardonnay. I did ask Ken King why there seemed to be no riesling in the area and he replied that it was purely because riesling had fallen out of favour. We always end our Nillumbik tours here and today was no exception. They are so entertaining, the wines are so good and we are close to home. A mere quarter of an hour away.
But I should also mention Easthill Estate which was another new one for us. This is just up the road from Kings of Kangaroo Ground and a relative newcomer on the scene. The owners and winemakers bought the estate back in 2011 with little or no experience but have worked hard to bring their wines to the public's attention. At the time of our visit there were lots of people there, though most, perhaps, were enjoying food rather than wine, although I imagine they were quaffing the wine with the food. I'm afraid we did not buy here, and our visit was short, but it was another lovely spot and more lovely people.
We often remark on these weekends, as we are driving between the vineyards that a large part of the enjoyment from these events is exploring the truly beautiful countryside on our doorstep. Why would you want to journey further afield we ask? As well as the wineries there are little townships with their pubs, and markets, and quirky shops. St. Andrews market - famous around here for its arts and crafts and food, was in full swing as we passed through on our way to Shaws Road. And back at home, where we ate those wonderful involtini, we could also take pleasure in our beautiful surrounds. We are so lucky.
