Wingecarribee Winery Wander
Ride leader: Sally Knyvett
40 km, scenic ride (slow pace), some traffic, some (good quality) unsealed roads, moderate hills. Hybrid or mountain bikes recommended.
Meet on cnr of Old Hume Highway and Wombeyan Caves Road at 10am.
A roller-coaster ride of 3 or 4 steep, short hills gets the difficult part of this ride over early. It’s worth the effort to see the rolling countryside and vineyards of this district. To enjoy the view you may wish to walk .
Beautiful Views from Woodlands Rd
The rest of the ride is fairly easy, with spectacular scenery and bushland.
There will be a tasting and tour at picturesque Joadja winery ($3.00/head), before we ride about 10km to Bousaada Winery for lunch. ($15 – $20 /head) Bousaada prides itself in using local produce. It is only a short ride (downhill) back to the cars from Bousaada.
We will provide a van at Joadja and Bousaada for those who wish to purchase wine or produce. (The Cuttaway Creek raspberry sauce from Bousaada is to die for!!)
The Ride
The day dawned overcast with misty rain, which put a few people off, however they needn’t have worried. It was a lovely ride and the weather held.
A last minute change of plans because, unfortunately Bou-saada Winery is no longer open for cellar door sales.
Fortunately Blue Metal Winery stepped into the breach providing us with a wonderful wine tasting and lunch.
The ride started with a roller coaster of hills along Woodlands Rd. The rolling countryside and views over grazing properties, dairies and vineyards made the effort more than worthwhile! We then headed towards Joadja and turned left along Greenhills Rd. Again, there are views to take your breath away with long vistas across the Southern Highlands.
Phil Gary and John on Greenhills Rd The view is spectacular!
Blue Metal Winery: www.bluemetalvineyard.com
Turning right into Compton Park Rd we headed up the hill to a wine tasting at Blue Metal Winery. We tasted a selection of delightful cool climate wines, all having the definitive taste of wines grown and produced in the Southern Highlands, then an early lunch of scrumptious pies (beef and guiness or lamb and rosemary) with salad and of course, a very nice bottle of red.
Great Lunch at Blue Metal Winery
After leaving Blue Metal, we rode down to Old Mandemah Rd . This is the part of the ride requiring mtn. bikes. A few km of bush and track, in part lined with silver eucalypts, were a big contrast to the open vistas earlier in the ride. Alpine grasses indicated that we really were in the Southern Highlands.
Old Manemah Rd
Joadja Winery: www.joadjawinery.com.au
From Old Mandemah Rd we turned right into Joadja Rd and headed to Joadja winery for our next tasting. This beautiful winery is set in stunning grounds is always a delight. Kim Moginie, winemaker, was informative and entertaining as he described each wine to us. Among others I bought a bottle of Joadja’s famous Brambelini.
A flavoursome fruit liqueur made from grape spirit, grape juice and brambleberries. It is best served chilled with champagne, on the rocks, over fruit or with ice cream. This luscious 21% alcohol liqueur tastes of raspberries and is an absolute treat for those with a sweet tooth!
Joadja Tasting
The weather was beginning to look a bit rainy, so we quickly rode the 9km back to our cars.
I think the day went very well, the wines were wonderful and the route offered a wide variety of terrain and interest. I look forward to riding it again. hic……
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