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Experience
Murrumbateman
Murrumbateman is a vibrant rural village 30 minutes from Canberra and 2.5 hours South of Sydney. The village is made up of a diverse and active community and is home to a large number of small business owners. Historically based on wool and beef cattle it has recently emerged as a centre for wineries, regional cafes and restaurants and award winning B&Bs.
Clonakilla Winery
Clonakilla's wines are handcrafted in limited quantities so connoisseurs unearth them like rare jewels. In 1971, Irishman John Kirk founded the prestige winery.
Serendipitously placed to be the herald of the region's wine industry, John, a Canberra-based research scientist, came to Australia with his young family in 1968 to work with the CSIRO Division of Plant Industry.
He was perplexed that there was no wine industry in the cool Southern Tablelands of NSW around Canberra, despite the suitability of the environment. So he purchased 40 acres beside the village of Murrumbateman to explore the idea.
With a climate not so dissimilar to Bordeaux and the Northern Rhone Valley in France he thought it worth a shot. He planted Cabernet Sauvignon and Riesling grapes and dubbed the property Clonakilla ('meadow of the church') after his grandfather's farm in County Clare.
John's son Tim caught the family wine bug in the late 1980s. Tim's obsession with Shiraz lead him to the wilds of the Rhone Valley in France where he tasted a number of impressive Shiraz wines including Marcel Guigal's single vineyard blends of Shiraz and the rare white grape, Viognier.
Inspired by these fine wines, he began including a small amount of Viognier with his Shiraz. Encouraged, he eventually purchased the neighbouring property and planted Shiraz and Viognier grapes and a pocket olive grove on the sunny northeast facing slope.
Clonakilla now boasts 30 acres under vine with further plantings earmarked for the future. From humble beginnings, Clonakilla's handcrafted wines have gone from strength to strength.
The flagship Shiraz Viognier has been named NSW Wine of the Year in 1999, Penguin Wine of the Year in 2002 and 2006, and Wine of the Year (Max Allen, Weekend Australian Magazine).
It is ranked 'outstanding' in the prestigious Langton's Classification of Australian Wine and one of only seven Shiraz wines to receive a perfect 1 rating in Jeremy Oliver's much-revered Australian Wine Annual. James Halliday describes it as "an icon wine, one of the best in Australia".
Canberra's world-class wine industry is forever grateful to Clonakilla and an optimistic Irishman's cool climate dreams.
"One of the leading small wineries in the country" - Huon Hooke
"One of the country's most important small vineyards" - Jeremy Oliver
"...some of the country's most breathtakingly beautiful wines." Max Allen.
Clonakilla Winery
Crisps Lane
Murrumbateman NSW 2582
Visit Website
02 6227 5877
Opening hours:
7 days - 10am - 5pm
Nearby Experience
Jeir Creek Wines
Cellar door and winery where passion can be bottled.