Moothi Estate
Winery with a view
Spending an afternoon wine tasting is not what it was before COVID arrived, and dropping into a half a dozen wineries on the spur of the moment is not always going to work. Wine tastings at most wineries now need to be booked in advance, and have become a leisurely, seated affair with grazing plates and a preordained wine list. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, I quite enjoy sitting with friends over a cheese plate and a wine, it just means that decisions need to be made in advance as to which wines we are going to sample.
After spending a bit of time with our friend Google I narrowed the list down a bit, and one of the short list contenders was Moothi Estate. I don’t claim to be a great wine connoisseur, so my decision was not based on reviews of the wine (although they were very nice) but on the fact that many people recommended the Moothi deck as a perfect place from which to watch the sunset.
The name ‘Moothi’ means ‘nest in the hills’ in the local Wiradjuri language and this describes the Estate beautifully. A boutique, family-owned wine producer, with a picturesque view of Mudgee township and the surrounding area. Moothi Estate was founded in 1995 with a cellar door built in 2006 and renovations completed in 2018.
Booking for a wine tasting at the cellar door with seated wine flights starts from $5 for 4 wines and tasting notes. There is a range of local produce on offer including snacks, shared platters and larger meals. Sitting on the deck does indeed offer spectacular views over the vineyards which we admired for a short time before the very cold wind drove us indoors.
The wines were lovely, the grazing plate was delicious and Frankie the border collie was very friendly (and very well behaved). I had booked the latest available time for our tasting in the hope that we would see the sunset from this vantage point but sadly the weather was not on my side and my companions were eager to get back to the heater in the car.
We did see a spectacular sunset as we returned to our campsite and next time we are in the Mudgee area I will try again for my sunset from the deck – maybe at a less chilly time of year.
