Gippsland Wineries: Visiting Tambo Winery
Mr Spittoon and I recently took a drive to visit our 21st winery here in Victoria – Tambo Winery. I initially spotted Tambo on Instagram and after looking through their feed, I immediately knew we had to visit. Their Insta feed is full of pictures of their pet cat and dogs. Actually, their feed has more pictures of the animals than the wine, which I find rather funny and I am definitely not complaining.
From our base in Sale, it took us just over an hour to drive to the Tambo Winery property which is in Bumberrah VIC. It’s about a 25-minute drive out of Bairnsdale. We ended up visiting Nicholson River Winery, Metung and Lakes Entrance while we were out that way. It ended up being a really nice Sunday drive. Probably more so for me since my wonderful Mr Spittoon was behind the wheel (isn’t he wonderful!).
If you’re in the Gippsland area I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend visiting Tambo Winery and here’s why…
The Tambo Winery Cellar Door
I got a very arty feel from the property. It’s such a cute spot and if it wasn’t for the wind and rain on the day we visited, I could have quite easily sat down in the little courtyard and enjoyed a glass or two of vino.
Tastings at the cellar door are $5 which is redeemable if you purchase wine. Naturally, we tried through the range which included:
- Sauvignon Blanc
- Unoaked Chardonnay
- Oaked Chardonnay
- Pinot Noir
- Cabernet Sauvignon
The cellar door is open from 11am to 5pm Thursday through to Sunday and during school holidays. You can also make appointments, so I’d suggest you get in contact with Tambo before heading out there.
If you’re lucky and are an animal lover like myself, then you may just bump into one of the wine dogs or wine cat while you’re there. We loved meeting Italian greyhound Archie while we were there.
The Tambo Vineyard & Winemaking
The vineyard stretches down the hill from the cellar door. It really is a very pretty spot. The vines are hand trained, the grapes are hand-picked and all the wine is made on site in small batches.
If you’re not already aware, Gippsland is classed as a cool-climate region. And after living here for nearly 6 months, I can definitely confirm it does get a bit chilly at times!
Tambo Winery was actually the very first East Gippsland winery to receive a 5 Star Winery rating from James Halliday. This rating means Tambo is an ‘outstanding winery capable of producing wines of very high quality’.
I would have to agree! After tasting through the range I was extremely impressed. It was actually really hard to decide what we wanted to purchase to take home!
The Tambo Wines
It’s never easy sticking to the budget when we are at a cellar door like Tambo Winery. I wanted to buy them all! However, I ended up narrowing it down to the Chardonnay – two ways!
Tambo Wines 2017 Unwooded Chardonnay
Please excuse the empty bottle in the picture, the contents went far too quickly 😉
It’s a lovely sunny yellow colour in the glass. Notes of stone fruits & citrus come through on the nose with a hint of fresh herbs. While in the mouth it has a wonderfully smooth texture with plenty of fresh fruit sweetness and racy grapefruit. Delish and at $22 a bottle, great value!
Tambo Wines 2015 Reserve Chardonnay
We weren’t able to try this at the cellar door due to limited quantities and because it’s very special! This wine received a 97 point rating from James Halliday and oh my, it was worth the $48 price tag.
In the glass, it’s a pale yellow shade of delicious looking goodness. On the nose, I picked up notes of creamy vanillin oak, peach and a spritz of lemon. While in the mouth it’s hella smooth and juicy with notes of lemon honey and nectarine + peach. I tried my best to tell Mr Spittoon he wasn’t going to like it so I could have the bottle to myself, but unfortunately, I had to share!
Needless to say, both bottles didn’t last very long in our house! Thank goodness we are planning another visit hopefully at the end of the month when my parents come to visit. See you again Tambo!
