Australia's Best Wine Tours

With the emergence of blue skies, the sound of Christmas beetles buzzing, and the weather heating up, the signs are clear: summer is upon us. While there are lots of ways to get outside this summer and enjoy the beautiful weather, this season is the perfect time to try one of Australia’s specialties, the wine tour. With wine regions in almost every state, it’s more than worth looking into one of the many wine tour operators across the country. If wine isn't your thing, this list also includes spirit and beer tasting tours!

With Tastes of the Hunter Wine Tours, explore the Hunter Valley wine region in New South Wales, departing from Newcastle, Sydney, or within the Hunter Valley. Tastes of the Hunter offers private, customised tours or group tours with predetermined itineraries. In addition to sampling the best wines New South Wales has to offer, their tours can take you beer, gin, and vodka tasting.

If you prefer depth over breadth, the award winning Serengale Vineyard in Beechworth, Victoria, does private tastings and tours by appointment. Established in 1999, Serengale was built from the ground up by two women passionate about great wine. Since 2015 all of their wines have been grown, vinified, and bottled on site. If you want to get a more intimate look at a winery and support a women-owned business, tours at Serengale are perfect for you.

Queensland is home to a plethora of wine tours through its hinterlands. Tasty Tours offers a variety of experiences ranging from the half-day Tasty Explorer tour featuring a trip to three separate spirit and beer tastings to the extravagant Sunday Session featuring a distillery tour, gourmet picnic, drinks package, and sunset cruise.

Also based in the Sunshine Coast is Coast to Hinterland Tours, offering a food and wine tour and brewery tour. Their tours will take you off the beaten path to local producers for a unique experience. If you want a sophisticated tour, you can take their High Tea and Wine Experience which will take you for high tea, local chocolates and cheese, and a wine tasting at The Barrel at Clouds Vineyard in the beautiful hinterland town of Maleny. Their Drop of Sunshine Drinks Tour will take you through tastings of the Sunshine Coast’s best cider, mead, gin, and beer. If you prefer a more focused tour, you can also book a Gin Distillery Tour or Wine Tour.

Further south in Queensland, Pineapple Tours offers over 50 tour options throughout the Gold Coast, greater South East Queensland region, and Northern New South Wales. They offer an Ultimate Gourmet Tasting Experience in Canungra Valley, a wine region just west of the Gold Coast, which includes tastings at several wineries and vineyards. Or you can take a winery tour that either starts with a champagne breakfast or ends with a champagne sunset. You also have the option of building your own custom tour!

If you want a wine tour with a bit of outdoor adventure, Southern Cross Tours will take you on a private group tour to Mt. Tambourine, Lamington National Park, and O’Reilly’s Vineyard. Southern Cross also offers a Scenic Rim Tour which features tours and tastings through farms and wineries, complete with a chance to speak to the producers themselves to hear their stories.

If you’re interested in a longer experience, you could consider staying overnight at a winery. In Queensland, Ridgemill Estate – located in Stanthorpe amidst a 40-acre vineyard – would be a perfect weekend getaway. They have Studio Cabins perfect for couples or a three bedroom guest house for larger groups.

Whatever kind of experience suits you, Australian tour providers have you covered! From wine and spirit tastings to vineyard and brewery tours to accommodations, there’s an experience for everyone, so make your booking today!