When we turned into Clonakilla winery which was just a short bus trip away from Four Winds vineyard, foodies who knew their wine got really excited. To be honest, I had never heard of Clonakilla but nor do I indulge in the art of wine tasting. I was out of my element as there was only wine tasting at this venue because who else wants more food straight away after lunch except for me apparently but I did ask several people what they thought of the wine.
These vines get progressively older as you look from left to right of the vineyard, some of their fruit also comes from down the road.
Who is ready for some wine tasting?
Sampling and note taking, we humans are good are multitasking!
There were multiple tastings and it turns out that everyone liked something different but their reds were particularly sort after. We (and by ‘we’ I mean the other humans) started with white wines like Viognier and Chardonnay and progressed through to the rich reds like Pinot Noir and the highly anticipated Shiraz Viognier. I was contemplating buying a bottle for my friend who loves good red and endorses buying locally but after guesstimations with fellow humans that the bottle I was looking at could be $100+, I was just going to settle for just telling her about coming out here and buying the wine (sorry Tanya!).
A close up of the beautiful colour of the wine, sorry I forget which one this was.
The brand is rich in history with the family’s roots extending from Ireland being translated through their wine label art work and even the name ‘Clonakilla’ means Meadow of the Church in Gaelic. It all started when John Kirk moved out to Australia after accepting a job in scientific research at CSIRO Plant Industry and planted vines in 1971. Later on in 1985, he was the first in the country to plant Viognier after some encouragement from his son. Since then the business has been kept mainly in the family having all the brothers sitting on the board with Tim Kirk as CEO and chief winemaker who has won Winemaker of the Year in 2013.
Who knew this very successful vineyard was just on our front door step! Clonakilla are in the process of expanding their cellar door and hope it will be completed in a years time. 
Venue: Clonakilla
Address: 3 Crisps Lane, Murrumbateman, NSW 2582
Phone: (02) 6227 5877
Prices: this experience was paid for buy VisitCanberra as part of the 101 local humans campaign for the human brochure.
TALES OF A CONFECTIONIST 