What to Expect on a NSW Winery Tour: All Your Questions Answered

Going from winery to winery, tasting the best wines that NSW has to offer? We couldn't think of anything better! New South Wales is home to three amazing wine regions: the Hunter Valley, the Southern Highlands, and the South Coast. The Hunter Valley shines with its 200-year old winemaking history and is by far the most famous wine region in NSW. The Southern Highlands and the South Coast are worthy competitors however with excellent boutique wineries and scenic landscapes. We get a lot of questions on what to expect on a NSW winery tour. So, we decided to answer all of them!

Don't have time to read them all?

We are so lucky to have such a great variety of wineries in NSW that provide such different experiences. You can visit large-scale wineries such as Ben Ean Winery and small boutique wineries that you have never heard of, but that serve some of the best wines and deliver the best tasting experiences of the region. Some tastings will be conducted by the cellar door staff and others will be by the winemaker himself, which always is an amazing treat. Tastings could take place standing at the counter for $5 or you might get spoiled with a free tasting and locally made complimentary cheeses. Some wineries allow you to rock up with your mates while others only take appointments or don't even allow groups. The best tastings for large groups in our opinion are always done seated, and usually cost 2 or 3 times more than these cheaper, quick standing style tastings. You see, there is a lot involved in planning your NSW winery tour. Thankfully, we have put in the hard yards for you. Happy wine tasting legends!

** All photos in this blog post below are from real Urban Legends Tours **

Can I go on a winery tour by myself or do you recommend a tour?

Visiting the vineyards of NSW is a great day out! All three wine regions of NSW, the Hunter Valley, South Coast and Southern Highlands, can be visited both through a tour or with your own vehicle. What option is best for you depends on a few factors. We will go into the pros and cons of both so you can make the best choice for your group.

Self-drive winery tour

Let's start with the self-drive option! First things first, this adventure cannot be taken without an appointed sober driver. Are you the 'flipping a coin' or 'drawing straws' kind of group? While the driver will be able to do a little bit of the tasting here and there, we do not recommend taking on this adventure without someone who's prepared to miss out on all these delicious wines!

Heading out and finding vineyards is easily possible with resources that you can find online and maybe even a quick Google Maps search. We also recommend popping into the local tourism office for extra advice. They might even give you the names of some insider wineries that you would not have found yourself. The trick is finding wineries that allow visitors without an appointment and that accept your size of group. While a couple driving around the vineyards might be able to squeeze in, a group will be turned away in many wineries. With over 150 wineries to choose from, it is a little tricky finding all the best spots with out a little insider knowledge.

Winery Tours

So how are you able to get into all of the best boutique wineries that don't accept groups? That is, my friends, where tours come in. Many tour operators, including our founder Jared, have spent many years developing a good relationship with unique winery owners that might otherwise be reluctant to receive groups. On a NSW winery tour, you gain access to the best wineries without having to call around yourself or being turned away at the door.

The very best tour operators also work to cultivate special experiences that are exclusive to their relationship with the winery, for example epic gourmet picnic platters , longer tastings, private areas, expert sommeliers and wine makers, extended tastings and bonus wines.

Just as there is a huge variety between wineries, no tour on offer is the same. The tour price will often dramatically effect what is included, and the quality of tasting experiences you will be given. It's your job to find the perfect one for you, but we're here to help! Start by looking at the types of wine you want to taste (small artisan wines or larger scale wines) and the type of tasting you prefer (quick and dirty at the counter or slow and comfortable at a seated tasting). You’ll also need to decide if you are happy with just wine or if you want to spoil your group with incredible home made cheese platters to share during your wine tasting. Still struggling? Here are a few questions to ask yourself and your tour operator.

Do you want to learn lots about wine and bring home the best bottles, or are you just looking to taste as many wines as humanly possible?
Do you want lunch included with a variety of options, or do you prefer to take your own picnic?
Picnic by the sea are the picnic specialists on the south coast!
Do you want to enjoy epic complimentary cheese platters or artisan chocolates during your wine tasting, or do you not mind just being dropped off at the local cheese store instead?
Do you want to learn with recommendations from the winemaker, or do you prefer to drink and dash from less experienced cellar door staff?
Do you want to see exquisite landscapes during the tour with an operator that also takes time to show you the sites, or would you be happy with a shorter urban indoor experience?
Do you like to taste anything else along the way such as craft beers or liquors such as vodka, gin or schnapps?

Lots of things to think about! Want to know what is included in the Urban Legends tours? Keep on reading!

I want to book a tour! What is the day going to look like?

Awesome, we're so excited to have you and your group on one of our tours. At Urban Legends, we know how important it is to get value for money and make sure the person who organises the tour looks like a hero by the end of the day. That is why we spend plenty of time figuring out the best type of experience for each and every group. No Urban Legends tour is the same!

While we do have lots of fantastic ready made packages available, we always make a discovery call to make sure the package is right for you and tailor the tour accordingly.

A winery tour allows you to sit back and relax without having to worry about who will be the sober driver. You will also never have to worry about having enough space for all that wine that you want to bring back. We will pick you up from your chosen location, keep all your wine on ice and you can fully customise your winery tour to your group's wishes! We specialise in groups and can take any size of group in one of our private airconditioned standard or luxury buses and coaches. Our best tour guide Jared is licensed to drive any size vehicle from a 10 seater mini bus right up to a 57 seat luxury coach that looks like a private jet inside!

With Urban Legends tours you know that all the legwork has been done for you. We tend to visit only 2-4 wineries in a day and take you somewhere special for lunch. We also include at least one amazing scenic location. We focus on visiting fewer venues, but making sure they are all epic full range tasting experiences with up to 10 wines each, this allows for a smoother less rushed schedule and gives you more time to fully enjoy the experience. This is more and more important the larger your group is. Large groups take much longer to get on and off the bus as well as in and out of each wine tasting.

The perfectly laid out schedule focuses on the best boutique wineries which we only know about because we have spent a lot of time cultivating relationships with the winery owners. This means that you will never be treated like 'just another tour'. Our wineries are actually super happy to see you coming through the door! Our guests are often treated like royalty with premium seated wine tastings, explanations by the winemaker or owner himself and artisan cheeses or chocolates to accompany the star of the show, the wine!

As mentioned above, we provide winery tours to The Hunter Valley, the South Coast, and the Southern Highlands. As every wine region is a little bit different, we recommend that you check out the more detailed descriptions on each Urban Legends winery tour below:

Still can't choose? We've listed out all why we love each and every region below!

Which wine area should i choose? Hunter valley, South coast or Southern Highlands?

We might be biased but we love all of NSW! It is an amazingly diverse state which means that all these areas are great for different reasons.

The Hunter Valley is the most famous wine region close to Sydney due to its 200-year old winemaking history. There is an abundance of wineries to choose from (over 150) and plenty other delicious produce to try. The Hunter Valley's soil produces high quality vines, olives, great dairy, and much more. It also draws in craftsmen that make chocolates and distilleries that produce different kinds of liquor. There are even a few breweries and you bet that we love a good craft beer!

The best winery in the Hunter Valley? What an impossible choice! We can, however, let you in one of our favourites at the moment: Moorebank winery. The winery serves a fantastic selection of wines during their seated tasting and even includes an incredible homemade cheese and picnic platter for our tours. It's one of the best platters we have ever seen! Our guests are treated to a private tasting room “the press room” which is home to the 2nd oldest wine press in the Hunter Valley ! This family run winery has been shared by 3 generations of wine makers. You will likely be greeted by the Summer, the beautiful daughter of the owners Deb and Ian.

The South Coast winery tour has the obvious advantage of ocean views. It's also home to lush green rolling hills and due to high rainfall, this area has an incredibly fertile soil! Visit Coolangatta Estate, which is built on the site of the first European settlement on the South Coast of NSW, have a picnic by the sea and make sure to check out one of the other 5 cellar doors in the area.

Last, but not least, the Southern Highlands. While the area is better-known as a wedding destination, it is also a fantastic location for your winery tour! The area has many beautiful gardens to visit with an abundance of deciduous trees. The colder climate and high elevation above sea level contributes to the area's specialisation in Pinot Noir and Pinot Gris. Head here during the autumn to see the colourful foliage and try a Pinot Noir or three.

Bendooley estate pictured below

Can we visit a boutique winery? What's the difference?

All Urban Legends wine tours include visits to boutique wineries. This is quite unique as many tour operators focus on the easier to visit cheaper, larger wineries. What makes boutique wineries so special is the level of care that is given to visitors. These craftsmen take their time to show you all of their best bottles in the hope that you fall in love with at least one. The wines usually come with a unique story and expert tasting and pairing notes. The visits are often accompanied by complementary artisan cheeses or chocolates, bringing out the flavour of the individual wines even more. This can be in stark contrast with wineries where the tastings are done standing by the bar where a cellar door staff member gives you a quick recap of each wine and the entire tasting can be finished in 15- 30 mins instead of 1-1.5 hours at a good boutique winery.

Due to the nature of their business, many of the boutique wineries will ask you to make an appointment or call in advance. After all, they might be out working on the vineyard when you pop in. They also often are only big enough to host 1 large group at a time. If you want to visit only boutique wineries with a group, the easiest way to visit them is with tour. This way, you won't need to spend any time calling around to make sure that you can get in.

The tasting fee for both boutique wineries and larger scale wineries varies between $0-$15,+ the cost of cheese platters if included by the tour operator which should all be included in the price of your tour (it always is in ours). Keep in mind that the less you pay for a tasting, the more that is included and the longer the tasting goes for, the more the winery depends on visitors purchasing wine to keep the business going. So, do pick up a bottle when you go to show your support.

Tasting Fees

The tasting fee for both boutique wineries and larger scale wineries varies between $0-$20 per person,+ the cost of any cheese platters if included by the tour operator. This is all usually included in the price of your tour (it always is in ours). 6 - 10 premium wines are usually poured out averaging about 3.5 standard drinks in a 1 hour seated tasting experience. It is worth noting that the relatively small fee payed for a tasting, with the volume of wine that is included, as well as the time spent inside the venue, does mean the wineries depend heavily on the visitors purchasing wine to keep the business going & insure large group wine tastings are financially worth while for the wineries. So please do pick up a bottle when you go to show your support and keep the tour industry alive for large groups.

Are Gourmet cheese platters usually included on a wine tour?

The short answer is no not really, but this will depend which tour operator you choose. Cheese and produce spreads are usually an optional extra and they vary in price depending what’s included in them, how big they are, the variety of cheeses and condiments, how big your group is and whether they are locally sourced or imported just to name a few. We have seen hundreds of cheese platers over the years and they vary in quality from winery to winery and region to region. In our experience the standard for cheese platters is a lot higher in the Hunter Valley, especially at the boutique wineries we use. However they are also often included on the South Coast and Southern highlands , but tend to be a lot smaller and cheaper in these 2 areas.

In the Hunter Valley most tour operators offer the option of a cheese tasting on their tour. It is important to realise that many cheaper tour operators might just take you to a local cheese shop, such as the Smelly Cheese Shop, rather than providing a real tasting. After all, this costs them nothing as the cheese shop will be the one investing the time & money into the tasting. Our tours, however, offer the option of gourmet cheese platters with amazing local cheeses during all of your wine tastings. Hand made by the wineries with local Hunter valley cheeses. This will give you and your guests a more authentic and tastier experience. Having a cheese platter during your wine tasting will also provide you with an extra experience with better use of time, rather than having to rush to an additional stop such as a local cheese shop. We pay extra at each winery to provide our guests with gourmet cheese platters during each and every wine tasting for the ultimate Hunter Valley experience.

Should i bring extra budget on my winery tour?

Great, your tour is booked! Time to sit back and enjoy the ride. You're about to be spoiled with fantastic wines to taste, cheese platters, chocolates and panoramic views. Before you leave, we have to let you in on a little, but very important, secret. What is one of the best parts of winery tours? The wines, chocolates, local cheeses, condiments, olives and vodkas you take home!

We know that the expectation to buy wine is not talked about often, but we wouldn't be supporting our friends in the wine business if we were to let you go without telling the truth. It is actually incredibly important, both for our business and the wineries, that your group buys some bottles of wine at the wine tastings. In fact all tastings including cheese, chocolate, olives and vodka all run on this same premise. We will explain why below.

Are you on a really tight budget and can't afford a whole bottle? That is totally fine! Try buying a glass of your favourite wine instead. Or maybe a few of the cheeses or condiments that are on sale. Share a bottle with your friend or you could even buy the chutney to enjoy at home. Trust me when I tell you that buying just one glass of wine or a jar of condiments makes a massive difference. It is an important gesture of good will that you have appreciated the effort the wine maker has put in to their tasting and the many premium wines they have poured out for you and your large group.

Why it is important to buy wine on a winery tour (self-guided or in group)?

To understand why it is important to buy wine on a winery tour, we have to explain how the wine industry works. Don't worry, we won't bore you! Did you know that making wine is a long process? A winemaker invests anywhere between 3 and 5 years to grow a vine up to wine-producing quality. Knowing that most wines also need time to age before they can be sold, it can take up 7-8 years before for a wine maker is able to sell his best product. Sure, they can produce wine with the grapes off a 3-year old vine and sell it the next year, but a strong wine-making business is not built on these young wines. So how do wineries survive and thrive?

Enter the tasting system! Winemakers like our friends at Two Figs Winery pictured here bring their finest product to customers so that they are sure you are taking home your favourite wine. However, to survive, a winery needs to sell their wines by the bottle, not through the tastings. If a winery's turnover only consists out of their tasting fees, there would not be a wine industry. While the small tasting fee might cover the cost of the tasting, it does not cover the cost of their location, their over heads, the staff, the land, the cheese, and so much more. If a winery chooses to not charge or only charge $5-$10 for their tastings (which many do) they cannot even cover the cost of all the delicious wine you just had. Especially large groups, which is our specialty, can cause cash-flow problems for a winery if there are not enough bottle sales. A winery simply cannot compensate for a large group doing a free or low-priced tasting if they don’t make sales.

Especially for our Saturday tours, it is important to pick up a bottle. As this is the winery's busiest day (the weekdays are so much quieter!), it is such a great opportunity for a group to make a positive impact by buying a few bottles!

This also especially important for boutique wineries that often do not sell their wines in bottle shops.

Yes, you legends are already paying for a winery tour and this price includes your tasting fees, the transport, our wonderful guide, all the research that went into setting up the perfect tour and so much more. While we love you for joining our tours and they enable us to show people around our favourite wineries, this alone is not enough to keep the wine industry going. Especially the smaller family-run wineries, which Urban Legend Tours focuses on, which really struggle without enough cellar door sales. So, go ahead, take a bottle home for you AND for your mum, we know you'll both love it!

Remember the wine makers beautiful stories that come with each vintage and variety, and then share the story when you eventually decide to open that special bottle with your friends and family.

The Wine industry and tours

A lesser-known fact about our industry is that the wine industry and winery tours have a bit of a love-hate relationship. On the one hand, it is great that tours allow for so many people to get introduced to NSW's best wines. All wineries, big or small, love receiving people and get so much joy from seeing people enjoying their wines. It's an industry that is all about passion, hard work, and connection with their customers.

On the other hand, tour operators who bring in big groups (which is our specialty) can cause a problem when tours focus too much on the 'cheap' drinking experience. As we explained above, if a small winery lets all our guests try their best wines for a very small fee, they quickly run into trouble without the sales of bottles. Did you know that many tour operators have actually been banned from wineries all around the state? Before we knew as much about the wine industry as we do now, we even got temporarily banned from 9 wineries in the Hunter Valley for wasting their time and poor group behaviour.

The industry is still grappling with the boom in tour groups and the changes this brings to the business model. For now every winery deals with this differently, the tasting fees are always changing, groups are being more and more restricted and wineries are becoming more and more selective over which tour operators they allow.

Our prescription to help both the small tour companies and the small wineries out? Buy a few bottles on our tours and enjoy your bounty with your friends while reminiscing on the day! Didn't like the wine in one of the wineries? Buy some condiments for your next BBQ or DIY cheese platter instead!

What should i wear on a winery tour?

Another question that we get asked a lot is what the correct wine tasting attire is. Flip flops or sneakers? Something light and airy or something that protects yourself from the elements? What about themes? Could you wear that animal costume you bought for a festival last year? Sometimes it's not that easy to figure out what to wear on your wine tasting day.

Winery attire is a special type of outfit that you whip out for a day of breathtaking sceneries, plenty of photo-ops and for meeting a few of the best craftsmen in the country. The ideal outfit consists out of comfortable footwear (think flat sandals or sneakers) and a comfortable, yet stylish, outfit that you won't mind wearing on the bus ride. Throw in a hat and a jacket and you’re ready to roll. Think more chic garden party, less rowdy beach party! So, the animal costume or your loud Hawaiian shirt? Best to leave that one at home. Some of our favourite dress themes include special head peace, all white and cocktail dress, Do you want more inspiration? Check out this article!

Is there any ettiquette while at the wineries?

Yes there is a few things you should ideally keep in mind during a wine tasting, while usually common sense at the first tasting, your friends may need reminding by the end of the day.

Tastings are always fun and social experiences where you will of course always be chatting and having a great time amongst your friends through out the day.
It is worth mentioning though that it is polite to use inside voices , when in large groups and to not be shouting over the top of each other, so as not to affect the experience of other guests inside the venue.
It is also polite to pause conversation and listen if and when the wine maker is explaining a new wine he or she is about to pour.
It is quite frowned upon to pour your wine into your friends glass, you should always pour it into the spittoon if you don’t like the wine.
You must also never open take away alcohol of any kind, including wine or vodka, while still on a wineries property as this is against the liquor licensing laws the wineries must adhere to.
RSA remains a serious consideration for boutique wineries, if guests appear to be overly intoxicated from BYO alcohol or previous venues they may be denied service or entry to the venue

Supporting the Local Legends

We're not sugar-coating it, 2020 has been a rough year for our small businesses and, in particular, the rural community. First a drought, followed by the bushfires, floods and now a major health crisis. Many small businesses will struggle greatly to get back up on their feet after this is all done. Including us.

Therefore, we would love to encourage you to bring a little extra budget the next time that you go on one of the Urban Legends winery tours. The best thing you can do to help the rural community right now is buying an extra bottle or ordering an extra glass of wine. Until then order a a case of wine delivered! Both the businesses that we work with and our own business will be very grateful for this extra gesture of support!

Whoop Whoop, you just finished a very long post, congratulations! Do you still have more questions? Contact us here.

Stay safe and keep in touch,

Kind regards,

Jared Malcolm & Marijs Vrancken

Urban Legends Tour Co

What to Expect on a NSW Winery Tour: All your questions answered