When you think of wine regions within NSW, you think the Hunter, Mudgee and Orange right? Well, I’ll let you in on a little secret, the Hawkesbury also produces award winning wines comparable to these popular wine regions, with the added bonus of no crowds!

The Hawkesbury doesn’t just stop there. It also produces international award winning Gin and fresh Apple Ciders, and there is no better way than to sample Hawkesbury’s finest beverages than onboard the Hawkesbury Valley Winery Tour. Here’s how our awesome day panned out.

Around 10am we were picked up from our doorstep at Dido’s Place and greeted by energetic and outgoing Glen, the owner and driver of Hawkesbury Valley Winery Tours. Before we knew it, we were whisked off to our first destination, Karu Distillery. Yes, we hit the hard stuff early but glad we did. Our palates were fresh and ready to sample some of Australia’s ….. no I mean ….. THE WORLD’S BEST GINS. That’s right, Karu, though new to the scene have taken out numerous international Gin awards including Gold at the World Gin Awards in 2020 for their Affinity Gin (my favourite too) as well as Gold for their Lightning Gin and Silver for their Affinity Gin in the SIPS Awards International Spirits Competition. If you like your Gin, Karu MUST be on your visit list. These guys are definitely ones to keep an eye on, both with their Gins and their future venue plans.

After completing what felt like our warm up, we took a short drive down to Tizzana Winery in Ebeneezer where we were personally met by Johnathan, one of the owners. There we heard about the incredible history of the sandstone cellar door which dated back to 1887 and how it burnt down and was restored by his parents in the 1960’s. We sampled a number of wines and particularly enjoyed their reds and fortified wines. There was something about sitting inside the dimly lit, cool sandstone cellar door that complemented their full bodied red wines and transported us off to Italy.

Next on our list, Jubilee Vineyard wasn’t very far at all, in fact it was just across the road. There we were greeted by none other than the charismatic Ray, the owner himself. Jubilee Vineyard has some amazing wines and while it has won numerous awards, we think its well earnt recognition is yet to come. Ray certainly turned our tasting into more of an experience, so much so, that we didn’t want to leave! Had our stomachs not started to grumble, I would have been more than happy to spend the entire day there, by the water sampling his magnificent wines, listening to Ray delve into the history of the Hawkesbury.

By that time, lunch at Tractor 828 was well called for. Glen had pre-booked us a table at the busy café saving us the worry of queuing up for a seat. While lunch is not included in the price of the tour, the prices were reasonable, the food was great and of course, it was served with none other than Hawkesbury’s wholesome country hospitality. After all the good wine and gin we had for breakfast, who wouldn’t go past a steak sandwich tower and chunky chips?!

With a full belly, it was now time for a change in scene and beverage. We headed up into apple country, Bilpin and got stuck into the fresh and crisp apple ciders on offer at Bilpin Cider Co. What I particularly love about their ciders is that they aren’t too sweet and you can actually taste the real fresh fruits that go into their ciders. There is certainly nothing artificial in these ciders, they are the real deal! They have a great variety including non-alcoholic ciders and a pear cider too. Our personal favourite was the Bilpin Archibald Cloudy Apple Cider, a must try.

After the tastings, we took a stroll through their gorgeous lush green gardens and explored the apple orchard before jumping back onboard for our last stop, the Hillbilly Cider Shed.

Hillbilly Cider’s new shed is the latest and greatest, new addition to Bilpin. We were in awe, HILLBILLIFIED if you will! Everywhere you turned, there was something that would take your eye, the incredible cider barrel wall, the old logging truck, the excavator bucket fireplace and the very impressive cider tasting float. This place was pumping, popular and had such a great vibe to it. Winding up the afternoon at Hillbilly Cider was the perfect end to a wonderful day out with Hawkesbury Valley Wine Tours.

We had such a great day and what I particularly loved about this wine tour was the lack of crowds, the non-commercialism of each of the places we visited, being able to personally meet the winery owners, pick up and drop off at our doorstep at Dido’s Place and having a driver who is fun and goes the extra mile to make your day special. We did the tour with a group of couples but it would also certainly suit a girl’s/boy’s weekend away, a hens party and a group of friends. After we had such a great experience with Hawkesbury Valley Winery Tours, we decided to create our Sip ‘n’ Sleep packages which include 2 nights accommodation (Fri-Sun) at Dido’s Place, tickets onboard the Hawkesbury Valley Winery Tour (Sat) and 2 bottles of East Kurrajong’s local Bull Ridge Estate Wines. Click here for more information on our current package deals.