A country town widely known for rolling hills, vineyards, art and an ever growing ‘foodie’ scene, Mudgee is one of the most up and regional destinations in all of regional Australia. It’s also my beloved home town; having lived overseas and in various of areas of the country, I have a new found appreciation for Mudgee and what this lovely town has to offer.
If you’re thinking of visiting Mudgee to check out the local wines and foods, the best time to visit is in September, also known as food and wine month. In September you can expect to find a growing number of events held at wineries such as moonlight tours, concerts and picnics.
There are also a number of social events in which take place in the town centre such as the food and wine festival and my personal favourite, Twilight tastings. These events not only allow you to capture the beauty of the town, but also give you opportunity to taste individual wines from micro wineries from in area as opposed to jumping from vineyard to vineyard which can be time consuming, costly and often leaves out some spectacular places.
Twilight Tastings
The Twilight tastings happen twice within the month of September, taking place within the picturesque Anglican church yard in Market street. It costs $35 per person for a ticket which includes five tasting tokens and a tasting glass. You can purchase tickets online or at the entrance.
The event goes from 5-8pm in the evening, making for a beautiful time of day where you can enjoy stall in a more intimate fashion to ‘Flavours of Mudgee’. There’s also a lot less queueing, allowing one to try a greater variety of food and wines as well as the chance to chat with the wine makers themselves. These friendly and talented artisans happily explain everything from the grape species, the process and every individual note of flavour that hits your palate. This gives you the chance to really dissect every wine and flavour as the sun slowly fades.
The selection can be overwhelming and it may be difficult to know where to start. Personally, I love the lesser known wineries such as Martins Hill organic wines and short sheep micro-winery, who not only provide amazing quality and tasting wine, but also provided incredible customer service, vouchers to use at their vineyard and even a sneaky top up of their wine.
The best part about Twilight tasting is that every vendor has available bottles on sale, allowing you to purchase throughout or at the end of the evening.
The best part about twilight tastings being located within the heart of the town and early in the evening means after you purchase your favourite wines or simply just finish your tasting, you can head to one of the local award winning bars and restaurants to finish your night on a high.
Wander Mak 
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