R & R at a Winery – Milawa – Days 320 – 321

On leaving Echuca our plan was to go to Yarrawonga and enjoy a couple of days at a free camp on the banks of the Murray River where it ceases to be navigable, some 1,986 kilometres from its mouth at Goolwa, in South Australia. From there we hoped to spend a night or two at Ludlows Reserve by Lake Hume, not far from the larger regional towns of Albury and Wodonga which straddle the New South Wales / Victoria border. Unfortunately, as has been the case a number of times on this trip flooding has caused problems for us again. Camps along the Murray River near Yarrawonga were closed due to flooding earlier in the year and, due to recent and forecast rain in the area, we were concerned that the camping area at Ludlows Reserve might be too wet and we would get bogged – something we really didn’t want to, or need to, risk. We needed another plan.

After a short period of deliberation, we decided to abandon the river and lake and instead head to Brown Brothers Winery, in Milawa, for a few days of rest and recreation. So, as you see, dear reader, circumstances beyond our control have forced us into a winery.

An all to familiar sight along the Murray River in 2023, this particular time at Echuca

Overnight, we had a heavy frost so it was bitterly cold readying the van for travel this morning. Mornings like this make me thankful we have a well-insulated van and not a tent, though, to be fair, a tent was never an option we considered. Over a hearty warm breakfast, I was consumed by the urge to scan websites in search of a summer South Pacific Cruise. I booked one the next morning – Vanuatu and New Caledonia, here we come (in December).

As we left Echuca for the tiny village of Milawa, home to Brown Brothers Winery, there was still a slight morning frost and dew on the ground.

Our journey today was about 180 kilometres, a long run for us and the longest so far on this trip. Thankfully, soon after leaving Echuca the sun burst forth and we had a transformation to a most glorious winter day. What could be better than slowly winding our way along delightful country roads in weather like this and with not a care in the world? Well, nothing really.

Somewhere between Echuca and Milawa

After almost three hours we pulled into the Brown Brothers Winery free camp, located in an overflow car park and small grass area across the road from the winery. Bins and drinking water (to fill tanks and containers) were available but outside that we had to be self-sufficient and self-contained. We parked in the grass area, a couple of metres back from a little stream that was full of croaking frogs though we could not see them. Each night of our stay there were only a couple other caravans.

Brown Brothers Winery free camp site

While camping here is free and you can stay a couple of nights you are expected to visit the winery and partake of some of the paid offerings there, be that wine, food or a tour. We were more than happy to oblige in this regard though because we didn’t arrive until after 2pm we put off a visit to the winery until day two. On our first day, we had a bowl of noodles as a late lunch and then a short rest before ruffling up some nachos for dinner.

Rustic but delicious nachos – sour cream added

The next morning got off to a very slow and frustrating start. While the process of booking the cruise I referred to earlier proceeded without a hitch the same cannot be said of booking flights from Adelaide to Sydney to connect with the cruise.

I get an annual Qantas flight credit via American Express for holding a particular type of card. To use these credits I have to book flights through the Amex website which is supposed to, and normally does, cost the same as if I booked directly with Qantas. Having identified the flights I wanted on the Qantas site, and noted the price, I logged into Amex and found that the prices for the same flights bore no resemblance to those on the Qantas site – they were significantly higher. Long story shot, I rang Amex and then Qantas who each blamed the other for the discrepancy. Numerous phone calls and nearly three hours later I secured the flights I wanted at the lower price (90% of which was covered by the credit I had). By now it was lunchtime.

In addition to the winery, in Milawa there is an excellent cheese shop so we decided to go there and, rather than eat in which we have done on a few occasions before, pick up some cheeses, prosciutto and various condiments. We took these back to the van and had an absolutely delicious cheese board lunch which I neglected to take a photo of.

The Milawa Cheese Company

‘What about wine for the lunch’? I hear you shout.

We had a wine-tasting session booked for 3 pm but no self-respecting wine drinking caravanner travelling around Australia travels without a well-stocked ‘wine cellar’ – generally hidden under the bed. While our ‘cellar’ was getting low (to be replenished later today), last night we transferred a nice Reisling from it to the fridge and that (well about half of it – we didn’t want to be turning up for the wine tasting already tipsy) is what we consumed with lunch.

After lunch, we made our way across to the cellar door at the winery, a cellar door we have visited many times before and greatly enjoyed. While the cellar door can be busy, though it wasn’t on this visit, the staff are delightful, very knowledgable and take it all in their stride providing for a relaxed and unpressurised visit each time we have been there. Today was no exception.

Brown Brothers Winery

Brown Brothers Winery

Brown Brothers is one of Australia’s largest wine producers, serving both domestic and international consumers, including those in Enniskillen, Northern Ireland, at the other end of the world and from where I originally hail. The Brown family, now into the fourth generation, has been producing wine at Milawa in the Kings Valley since 1889, making it one of the oldest wineries in the country. While the majority of the grapes used here come from vineyards in the Kings Valley region they also source grapes from vineyards they own, or buy them from others, in the Yarra Valley, Heathcote and Tasmania, among other places. You may recall we came across one of their vineyards in the Kerang Lakes area, adjacent to Lake Charm.

A Brown Brothers vineyard in Milawa, not particularly striking looks wise in mid-winter

Sadly, long gone are the good old days when free wine tastings were the norm across all Australian wineries. Today you invariably have to pay and while some wineries will reduce the cost of purchases you make by the tasting fee amount or a portion thereof, some don’t. Brown’s offer a 10% discount on purchases of six or more bottles – worked for us :-). Actually, while I miss the free-tasting days, on the whole, the system was abused and didn’t make for a relaxing experience – great for a boozy day out though,

For our session today, we could have gone for a:

• classic (basic) experience which offered five wines from a basic list, or
• personalised seated experience offering 8-10 wines from a menu containing the majority of wines available, or
• premium seated experience offering 8-10 wines from the winery’s full listing including premium & back vintage wines.

We opted for the middle option and only selected, for tasting, wines exclusively available for purchase at the winery – cellar door releases. We were intent on actually buying wine and wanted to avoid readily available wines that can be procured more cheaply elsewhere.

There being only one other table tasting on while we were there we had the pretty much-undivided attention of our host who skilfully explained each wine to us, without going overboard or sounding like a ………… Clearly, he could not count, though, as in addition to the ten wines we selected for tasting he recommended and delivered maybe another five including a few preniums and back vintages. We did not complain and it probably helped things when he ascertained that we were staying across the road and not driving.

A rather scruffy customer awaiting a refill. How do they let people like this in?

We had a wonderful experience, well worth the $A20 per head fee.

We ended up buying eight bottles of cellar-release wines, including some for friends we were meeting in Canberra. Purchases well packed for travelling, we staggered back to our caravan, very happy.

Dinner consisted of more of the cheeses, etc which we had purchased earlier in the day. This time we enjoyed our feasting with a glass of coke!

We had an early night, sleeping to the sound of rain steadily falling on the roof of our caravan for quite a bit of the night. More about that in my next entry.

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The next review from my Adelaide to Canberra road trip can be found HERE.

Should you wish to follow this road trip from the beginning please start HERE.

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