One of the things that I love about the Southern Highlands is the abundance of wineries that can be found nestled in the rolling hills around Mittagong and Berrima. I also love the bakeries, restaurants, antique shops, friendly people, beautiful countryside… maybe I just love everything. Anyway, hubs and I have been slowly working our way through the numerous cellar doors in the area over the last few years. When we stopped for lunch at Eschalot recently (super highly recommended by the way!) we were directed to try the pinot noir from Artemis, a local winery. We were both so taken with it that we immediately looked up the opening hours of the cellar door to see if we could make it after lunch. Unfortunately, our lingering lunch meant that we missed the closing hours and so, a return trip was necessary. As if we needed an excuse to come back!
I immediately fell in love with this sweet old tractor. It has such character and made the place seem so friendly!
There is something soothing about the rows upon rows of vines that surround the cellar door
and I always feel better about a winery when you can actually see the vines that they use.
I was pleasantly surprised to find that as well as a tasting station, this cellar door was filled with barrels of wine that was fermenting. These barrels were full of a sparkling wine that was being developed and the little clear valves popping out of the top kept bubbling away the whole time we were there. It was pretty exciting to watch! For me at least…
Our server was friendly and knowledgeable about the range of wines on offer. She was keen to answer all our questions and spent lots of time explaining their methods for creating their range of tasty Sunshack Ciders as well as their signature Bee Mead. Hubs was super skeptical about the mead as in the past it has been very heavy on the honey and quite sickly sweet. These were pleasantly light and came in three delicious flavours – honey and ginger, manuka honey and lemon myrtle and kaffir lime. This one was my favourite as you all know I can never resist anything to do with wine. We were able to buy a mixed case but there was only one lemon lime left so I will have to wait until next time to stock up on that one!
Of course, we also left with our bottle of pinot noir and we were surprised on our way out with a little gift of a bunch of reisling grapes straight from the vine. These little babies were juicy and sweet and I have no doubt that the wine they would turn into would be fabulous.
Cellar doors can sometimes be a bit hit and miss but our experience at Artemis was so all-round lovely that we would definitely go back, even though you can purchase many of their products from Dan Murphys and BWS. I always think that it’s much nicer to see where everything is grown and speak to the people that make the wine. Someone, it adds to the atmosphere when you finally break out that coveted bottle.
So what is your favourite type of wine, my lovelies?
Artemis Wines
Cellar Door: 46 Sir Charles Moses Lane, off the Old Hume Highway, Mittagon
Opening Hours: Wednesday to Friday 10am-4pm, Weekends and Public Holidays 10am-5pm
Phone: (02) 48721311
Website: http://artemiswines.com.au/pages/contact
