You may not have heard of Tumbarumba, but it should be on your list of regions to seek out. I hadn’t tried many wines from there before, and after visiting I am blown away by the quality of their wines, the beauty of the region and the connection of the community. This cold wine region (not cool, it’s cold – the locals will tell you) is producing absolutely outstanding wines packed full of refinement and elegance. So in this Tumbarumba Wine Guide, I want to introduce you to the region and highlight the wines and producers putting this incredible wine region on the map.
I want to start by thanking the incredible community of Tumbarumba for hosting me and a group of wine professionals for a few days. It was a wonderful experience and one I won’t forget, with great discussion and even better food and wine. You could really feel how strong the community was, and it was so special to be invited along to be part of this experience.
Where is Tumbarumba?
Tumbarumba is located in Southern New South Wales, about 480km from Sydney. It is within the Riverina region and at the Western Edge of the Snowy Mountains. Tumbarumba is known predominately for agriculture, in particular timber, having the largest timber plant in the Southern hemisphere. But they are also known for blueberries and more recently are becoming renowned for their wines.
The town itself (known as Tumba if you’re a local), is a cute little alpine town with a beautiful main street and great options for dining. There are also plenty of recreational activities if you are visiting, including fly fishing, incredible hikes and mountain biking. The landscape is absolutely breathtaking with rolling green hills, idyllic mountain peaks and bushland.
Tumbarumba wine guide: history and wine industry
It’s crazy that we don’t talk more about Tumbaraumba, because interestingly it was first really discovered by some of the largest wine producers in Australia. They saw an opportunity in their high-quality fruit to produce incredible sparkling wines. Since then Tumbaramba has made a name for itself with Chardonnay and is now expanding into outstanding Pinot Noir and other varieties, including alternatives. Kim Schroeter, the Senior white winemaker at Penfolds, talked about his love for the region, particularly the Chardonnay of Tumbarumba. He said his three favourite regions for Chardonnay are Tumbarumba, Adelaide Hills and Tasmania. He’s been using Tumbarumba Chardonnay in a few of his classic wines for years, and for good reason.
Tumbarumbah’s history
We heard the story of the beginning of Tumbarumba wine from the pioneer herself: Juliet Cullen. She had visited Beaune in Burgundy and fell head over heels for their wines, so she set her sights on finding a region that had similar conditions in Australia. With her geology background, she scoured the country to find a spot with the same mean temperatures as Burgundy, which was no easy thing at the time without Google!
After searching day after day manually calling up weather stations, she finally found Tumbarumba. She then covered her living room with maps of the topography to find the perfect slopes. Juliet and her then-husband Ian then set out to find the perfect site to start their project, getting lucky on 100 acres one day that they purchased from a lady who would not sell to anyone but fell in love with their dream.
They first planted vines in 1982 however were smashed by droughts, then frost. Finally, they were able to get their first crop in 1986, with the first vintage in 1988. Their fruit caught the interest of Charles Sturt University who made a sparkling out of the wine that took out awards, pricking the ears of Seppelts who started funding the wine industry in Tumbarumba. In fact, many larger wine companies like Penfolds have been producing wines in the region for years, and it’s only in recent years that smaller winemakers have started producing Tumbarumba labelled wines that put this region on the map.
Tumbarumba now
While there is still a big proportion of growers in the region, winemakers are starting to come together in the region too, as well as winemakers from other NSW regions and Canberra. Currently, there are approximately 214 hectares under vine.
Unfortunately, in 2020 Tumbarumba was devastated by bushfires. The grapes got smoke taint, and so nothing has produced that vintage. They are now rebuilding in the wake of the devastation, and the stories we were told around this really showed the resilience of the wine community there.
Tumbarumba wine guide: climate
The Tumbarumba climate is quite unique to Australian wine, and that’s one of the reasons that they call it cold, not just cool. The altitude ranges from 209 to 1920m, creating a range of temperatures across the vineyards. The growers have to grapple with the risk of many environmental threats from frost to bushfires.
Temperatures in Tumbarumba can be quite cold (trust me I know from experience) and you can get 4 seasons in one day. They have long daylight hours, especially in Summer which makes site selection important so the vines get just the right amount of sunlight (not too much or too little). The grapes need enough sunlight to ripen as evening temperatures remain cold even in Summer, which can lead to late ripening and late starts to the growing season and harvest.
Tumbarumba is one of the only Australian wine regions that is not cooled by a maritime influence, making it really unique. The elevation is critical to the production of these cold-climate wines. As such, grape varieties such as Chardonnay and Pinot dominate, as well as the production of Sparkling wine. There are growers now experimenting with other varieties too, such as Tempranillo, Pinot Gris, Albarino, Gamay and even Shiraz (in one vineyard).
Tumbarumba wine guide: soil
Tumbarumba has a few dominant types of soil which are scattered across the region and paired with climate meaning that every site produces very unique wines. This is one of the things I love about the region: there is a sense of place within the wines but a lot of diversity too. Some vineyards have decomposed granite and others more of red loam, and some have basalt as well. These soils are great at providing the right kind of conditions so the grapes are not too tortured or stressed.
What makes Tumbarumba unique?
The Tumbarumba wine region has made a name for itself by producing grapes of outstanding quality. Only recently has it started to promote itself as a region for winemaking under the Tumbarumba regional name, so it’s worth looking out for to try for yourself.
Having started its history with sparkling wine and chardonnay, Tumbarumba has a lot to offer in both of these as well as beyond, including its recent expansion into Pinot Noir. We did two benchmarketing exercises when we were there, comparing 6-8 Pinot Noirs and Chardonnays to other iconic regions for the varieties. It was a great experience as it really highlighted how special the wines are.
They stand out on their own as a distinctive region producing wines that are elegant with finesse and a lovely line of acidity across them. Each wine has a consistently high quality with a purity of fruit at the forefront. These wines are balanced and celebrate place beautifully with diversity to discover. They also have great aging potential. We tried a few wines that were over 10 years old, one that was even from 1992. I couldn’t believe how well they held up despite their age, showing the ability of wines from this region to stand the test of time.
What also makes Tumbarumba so special is the sense of community. I summed up the region in one word: Partnership. There is a really beautiful partnership between the growers of the region and the winemakers both within the region and beyond. Having winemakers on the trip highlighted this partnership and respect for each other’s craft. The growers want to give the winemakers the best fruit, and the winemakers want to work with growers to showcase the purity found in the region. This partnership shines through in the strength of the community, as well as how beautiful the wines are. I loved getting a glimpse into this beautiful and resilient community who are so passionate about what they do.
Tumbarumba wine guide: Winery highlights
It wouldn’t be a Tumbarumba wine region guide without looking at the wines! While a visit to the Tumbarumba wine region is a great experience, if you can’t get there, you can still check out the wines. There are many wines you can check out that have Tumbarumba fruit in them, but here are a few of the wineries we visited and the wines I absolutely loved.
Wondalma Vineyard
We visited Wondalma Vineyard as a first stop and had a beautiful tour. Stuart and Janine Barclay are predominately growers for Penfolds, CSU and McWilliams, however, they had a tasty Pet Nat and Chardonnay for us to try while we were there. I absolutely adored the Chardonnay, and Janine and Stuart went above and beyond to help organise the trip and make us feel so welcome. Janine took us on a beautiful hike on the second day which was so special, and they also welcomed us into their family home for a lovely lunch.
Obsession Wines
Obsession Wines were the first that I’d ever tried from the region thanks to Adrian Brayne sending me a couple to try. When I tried them I was blown away by the quality, and so to visit the cellar door was really special. Adrian is also about to expand his cellar door which has the most beautiful view of the snowy mountains.
The name Obsession comes from Adrian’s passion for producing wines that he believes borders on obsession. He believes in devoting yourself to something, and for him, this is his wine where he loves controlling every aspect, down to foot stomping the grapes so he can check for hot and cold spots in the ferment.
This really shines through in his wines which are a mix of traditional and alternative varieties. I really enjoyed the Albarino and Pinot Noir, as well as the Tempranillo. All his wines are worth checking out though for their quality, and also to discover a different grape variety.
Courabyra Wines
Courabyra Wines has recently won a number of tourism awards, and it is easy to see why when you visit. They are also planning an expansion, and have a beautiful cellar door overlooking the vineyard. It has a lovely outside area for enjoying wine in the sun, as well as a restaurant. They have a lovely family feel to their vineyard with their logo a homage to Cathy’s 10 siblings (she is 1 of 11).
What I loved so much about Courabyra Wines was their Sparkling Wine. They are renowned for it and it is easy to see why. Their vintage Cuvee was absolutely fantastic – we tried the 2016 and a special bottle of 2001 which was absolutely incredible. Their Rosé sparkling was also an absolute treat! Cathy and Brian Gairn have done a fantastic job, and if you are a sparkling lover, definitely add their wines to your list!
Mount Tumbarumba
Richard Cotton and Elvie Yates hosted us for a fantastic tasting at their vineyard. Their label On the Fly is a dedication to Richard’s love of fly fishing. He did take some of our group out to give it a go, and although they didn’t really catch anything they had a great time doing it.
They have a great range of wines, and my favourite was definitely the Pinot Gris. It was so full of flavour yet light and elegant with just the right amount of acidity. Their Rosé is also fantastic, as well as their Pinot. However, all their wines were standouts to me!
Johansen Wines
I absolutely loved visiting Johansen Wines. Their cellar door has a lovely warm feel to it and I felt really welcomed with Helle and Tom Southwell taking us through their wines. They had the widest range of wines for us to try, and we also had some great conversations with their parents Robert and Heather Johansen.
It was so interesting trying their wide range of wines and hearing the stories behind them. It was interesting hearing the pivots that Tom worked with winemakers to make when things didn’t work out as planned. For example, they tried a pet nat and it ended up as a cracking Grenache Rosé, and their Riesling was meant to be dry but didn’t showcase the fruit as well as Tom wanted, so it ended up as a beautiful off-dry style.
My favourite wine had to be their Chardonnay and their vintage Sparkling. However, the biggest surprise of the trip was their merlot which absolutely blew me away. Whatever you enjoy drinking, Johansen wines are one to add to the list – I really adored their range.
In summary: Tumbarumba Wine Guide
Tumbarumba is truly a special place, and I am so glad I had the opportunity to visit and experience it for myself. The dedication to producing grapes and wines that have elegance and finesse alongside purity of fruit shines through in everything they do. And the community and partnership between winemakers and growers is something really special to experience. Whether you are planning to visit an Australian wine region, or you want to try some seriously tasty wines, Tumbarumba is a wine region you need to put on your list. I can’t wait to see what happens in the next few years as Tumbarumba continues to shine!