Glenmaggie Wines – My Gippsland Wine Adventures

I’ve now been living in the Gippsland wine region (Victoria, Australia) for a little over 2 months. It’s definitely is quite a different experience to our old home in Perth’s Swan Valley wine region. With the Gippsland wineries a lot further apart, it means we typically spend Sunday afternoon’s ticking a new one off the list. Last week we decided to check out Glenmaggie Wines, which was about a 30-minute drive from where we are living in the town of Sale.

Glenmaggie marks the 20th out of the 600 cellar doors in Victoria I plan to visit (read more here about the Victoria wineries and my mission to visit all the cellar doors).

I have to admit, ‘tiki-touring’ as my parents called it when I was growing up, is rather beautiful here in Gippsland. There is a lot of farmland and even though it’s been quite dry of late, it is still fairly green (especially compared to Western Australia).

Mr Spittoon is dead set on getting some sort of 4WD as there’s also a number of dirt roads which his low-ish car doesn’t do quite well. Not to mention making the car pretty filthy. So it’s probably a good idea.

I also love all the small country towns dotted around the countryside. They usually have quaint little cafes and shops to explore. After our visit to Glenmaggie on Sunday afternoon, we stopped at a town called Briagolong for a roast pork and gravy roll and I managed to find a gorgeous wee necklace at the local ‘Rust Emporium’ from a local designer, Jaxos.

All up, it was a perfect way to spend a Sunday!

To be honest, I didn’t know much about Glenmaggie wines before we went there. Mr Spittoon and I did have a bottle of their 2016 Chardonnay at the Star Hotel here in Sale a number of weeks ago, and that was our first taste of this local Gippsland wine.

The Story

Glenmaggie Wines is owned and operated by Fleur and Tony who started the vineyard in 1995. Their first vintage was released in 2001 I believe (I am not 100% sure on this, so don’t quote me on it!).

As we got chatting, we found out Fleur, like Mr Spittoon and myself is originally from New Zealand! It’s always great to meet fellow kiwis abroad.

Being in Gippsland, Glenmaggie produces cool climate wines and are known for being one of the few produces in the area to successfully produce Cabernet Sauvignon. It is quite hard to ripen around here, however, their north-facing property makes it doable. They’ve won awards for their Cab and also for numerous other wines they have produced.

The Cellar Door

It’s a nice drive up to the property as you pass the sweeping grape vines and once at the top you experience beautiful views that overlook the vineyard and surrounding area.

Before you even get out of the car you’ll be greeted by 2 wine dogs. I didn’t catch their names, but one is a little cream fluff ball and the other one some kind of border collie. They were both extremely friendly and well-behaved when we got out of the car.

Technically at the moment, there is not really a cellar door in place. Which is why we did our tasting in their kitchen! It had beautiful views over the vineyard and surrounding area.

A cellar door is in the works though, and I’m looking forward to re-visiting once they have this built and up and running.

The Wines

Naturally, we tried through the range on offer which included the Chardonnay, a Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon, Shiraz and Pinot Noir. I have to admit, they all went down pretty easily and it was hard to decide which ones to buy and stay within my wine buying budget!

In the end, we bought three bottles – tasting notes to come!

Glenmaggie Fleur’s Sparkling Semillon

We weren’t able to taste this one while visiting the winery, so we thought we’d grab a bottle to bring home. It’s a 100% Semillon sparkling wine. $32 a bottle.

On the eye, it’s a lemon colour with a gold tinge and very petite bubbles. On the nose it was very interesting, there’s definitely citrus and some kind of spice, maybe white pepper, however, I kept thinking of jalapeños! While on the palate it’s elegant yet has a great depth of flavour and a silky smooth texture. A very interesting and highly delightful bubbles. I’d definitely buy it again.

Glenmaggie 2017 Nicky’s Sauvignon Blanc

Mr Spittoon and I found that we really enjoyed their 2017 Sauvignon Blanc. It’s $25 a bottle and a great tipple to enjoy on a rainy afternoon so we found out. It’s a pale straw colour in the glass. Mandarin and citrus come through on the nose alongside slight hints of smoky suede. In the mouth, it’s rather delicate and citrus driven. A smooth and very easy drinking Sauvy! All opinions are based on my own taste buds. Wine is subjective & always evolving, so make sure you drink what you enjoy! #tcweekdaywine

Glenmaggie 2017 Pinot Noir

Monday’s are for Pinot and sexy glassware. We cracking into this @glenmaggie_wines 2017 Pinot Noir from up the road here in Gippsland. We tried it when we visited the winery a couple of weekends ago and loved it. It’s a raspberry cherry red colour in the glass. Sweet red fruits and baking spice seduce the nose with a subtle hint of cedary oak. In the mouth, it’s juicy with bright acidity and flavours of strawberries, raspberries and cherries. It’s still young, so it’ll be interesting how it develops over the next few years. All opinions are based on my own taste buds. Wine is subjective & always evolving, so make sure you drink what you enjoy! #tcweekdaywine

Visiting Glenmaggie Wines

If you’re planning on visiting Glenmaggie wines, I would suggest calling beforehand to make sure they’ll be open. I believe they only open on Sunday afternoons, however, you may be able to make an appointment. You can find all their contact details below: