Gippsland Wineries: Narkoojee Winery & by Jorg Restaurant

There’s one cellar door I have visited twice already here in Gippsland and that’s Narkoojee in Glengarry. From Sale it’s about a 40-minute drive, however, it’s only about 15 minutes from Traralgon town centre (which makes it about 2 hours from the Melbourne CBD).

Narkoojee is the 17th out of the 600 cellar doors in Victoria I plan to visit (read more here about the Victoria wineries and my mission to visit them all!).

I was so impressed with the cellar door tasting I had on the first visit that Mr Spittoon and I  made sure we went back for lunch shortly after.

Firstly here are some quick sips about Narkoojee

• It’s been rated as a 5-star winery by James Halliday
• It’s family owned and operated, with the winemaking done by a father and son team
• ‘Narkoojee’ means ‘place of flowers’
• The property was originally a dairy farm, with the first wine grape vines being planted in 1980
• The Narkoojee vines are planted on a mixture of clay, silt, sand and ironstone gravel soils
• If you like at the vines at Narkoojee, you’ll notice they have a unique trellis which is known as Lyre Trellis (read more about it on the Narkoojee website)
• On the property, they grow Chardonnay, Viognier, Pinot Noir, Shiraz, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc
• Narkoojee produce cool-climate wines

The Narkoojee cellar door

When we visited, late one Sunday afternoon, the cellar door manager was out doing a tour so it ended up being one of the chefs from the restaurant who took us through our tasting. And I have to admit, I was shocked and incredibly impressed by his knowledge about the wines and property. He told us near the end of the tasting that he was good friends with Axel, the son and vineyard manager/winemaker.

I wanted to purchase nearly all the wines I tried, but alas, the purse wasn’t as willing!

There are plenty of delicious treats at the cellar door you can also purchase, including the red wine salt which I bought. I am actually yet to use it as I wasn’t sure what to put it on. However when we visited by Jorg, the on-site restaurant, a few weeks later, we enjoyed it with bread and oil. Simple and delicious!

The cellar door is open daily (however please double-check on public holidays) from 10:30am – 4:30pm.

Narkoojee has a stunning location which is backed by the Strzelecki Ranges.

Tasting Notes

I did manage to sneak a few wines into the car without the bank manager seeing, here’s what we got and my tasting notes for each.

As per all my tasting notes: All opinions are based on my own taste buds. Wine is subjective & always evolving, so make sure you drink what you enjoy!

Narkoojee 2013 Sparkling Cabernet Merlot

I’ve found myself enjoying sparkling red more and more and this Sparkling Cabernet Merlot went down like a treat. It’s a deep garnet colour on the eye. Jammy berries, mulberry and juicy Ribena aromas entice the nostrils. While in the mouth blackberry and plum flavours dominate for me. I love the wonderfully silky texture.

Narkoojee 2017 Viognier

I was incredibly impressed with all the wines I tried at the cellar door and this 2017 Viognier ($30) was one of them. If you’re wondering how to pronounce that it’s “vee-ON-yay” – you can find more details on how to pronounce Viognier & a sound clip here. It’s a pretty straw colour in the glass. Notes of fruit oil, sweet pineapple, lemon, apricot and spice entertain the nostrils. While in the mouth it’s incredibly delicious and dry, with a hint of beautifully integrated oak and some orchard fruit. It’s incredibly elegant with a lengthy finish. YUM!

Narkoojee 2017 Wild Rose

I fell in love with this über delicate ‘Wild Rose’ at the cellar door. It certainly made unpacking all our boxes from Perth a lot more fun! It’s a very pale onion skin colour on the eye. On the nose, it has a wonderfully enticing cherry perfume with hints of mango. While in the mouth it’s delicate, elegant and lush with delicious juicy peach and lemon flavours. Yum!

Narkoojee 2017 Lily Grace Chardonnay

This was actually my first introduction to Narkoojee wines (thanks for the heads up Marieke!) which I picked up from the local Dan Murphy’s here in Sale during our first few weeks. It’s a sunny yellow in the glass with creamy honeydew melon and buttery fruit Danish on the nose. In the mouth, it has a great balance of freshness and creaminess with flavours of vanilla infused fruits (think peach and melon) and a lovely lingering finish. I’ll be seeing you again Lily Grace!

Lunch at by Jorg

We booked in one Saturday for lunch at by Jorg. Mr Spittoon and I decided to just grab a couple of things to share while we enjoyed a bottle of the Narkoojee Yarra Valley Chardonnay.

We had a lovely visit, the staff were super friendly and that fresh warm bread with oil and the red wine salt was divine! As was the salumi plate for two 😉

Visiting Narkoojee Winery

Address: 220 Francis Rd, Glengarry North VIC 3854
Website: narkoojee.com
Phone: (03) 5192 4257

If you’re in Victoria, I’d highly recommend stopping by the Narkoojee cellar door. Or if you get the chance to try some of their wines, do it!