Every winter, the charming Goldfields town of Heathcote becomes a hotbed of activity for the annual Heathcote on Show wine festival. Dozens of winemakers from across the Heathcote wine regio take over more than 20 venues in the centre of town, making the main street of Heathcote a one-stop shop for some of the best wines in the country. Heathcote on Show is held on the Kings Birthday long weekend, every July.

Heathcote is one of the smaller towns in the Goldfields, but is the centre of the Heathcote wine region, which is famed for its world class Heathcote shiraz, and alternative red varieties. The basalt and granite soil in Heathcote create distinctive red wines that attract thousands of fans – myself included.

I’ve attended Heathcote on Show several times over the years, but on this particular visit my friend Liv & I made the mistake of staying out until the early hours of the morning, the night before. Poor life choices and dusty heads aside, we still had a great day at the show and exploring the Goldfields.

Our plan was to visit wineries in Heathcote, for the Heathcote on Show festival, have lunch at Mason’s in nearby Bendigo and drive back to Melbourne via Castlemaine in the late afternoon.

It was my second visit to Bendigo but my time visiting or driving through Heathcote, Lancefield, Harcourt and Castlemaine. With a smattering of pretty, historic country towns, rolling hills and vibrant Autumn foliage, the Goldfields is quickly becoming one of my favourite regions in Victoria.

Lancefield

We only drove through Lancefield, but I snapped this one through the window. Other sightings include all the makings of a perfect country town: a proper butcher’s, baker and pub, all doing a bustling trade.

Heathcote

Heathcote’s main street, High Street, is lined with well-preserved historic buildings and beautiful trees. As part of Heathcote on Show, some wineries threw open their doors while others from farther afield set up shop in various buildings in Heathcote. The region is particularly well-known for its world-class Shiraz, a varietal that is particularly influenced by its terroir. Liv will only drink Shiraz if it’s from Heathcote, so I was pretty excited to sample the region’s best.

As we walked around the town, I saw at least three or four artists, set up with easels and their paintbrushes, painting along the footpath under the shade of the trees.

Fresh produce weighed down trestle tables lining the footpaths outside a grocery store and a cafe covered in pretty red foliage almost tempted me inside – except I was saving room for a feast at Mason’s later on. The Goldfields is a few degrees cooler than Melbourne, and the cold air was actually making me feel a lot better. The combination of the chilly, fresh air and the smell of an open wood fire, wafting from further down the street, reminded me of camping with my family in winter.

Peregrine Ridge

Our first stop was the former Mechanic’s Institute, to visit Peregrine Ridge. We tried a sparkling Shiraz, an American oaked Shiraz and a French-oaked Shiraz. I preferred the American oak to the French, and overall quite liked their wines, but it was still too early in the day for me to be too appreciative of any wine. I regretted staying out so late the night before!

She-Oak Hill Vineyard

In a colourful shed on High Street, we found a pop up from She-Oak Hill Vineyard, a boutique, family-owned winery. When we arrived, we were the only customers, but by the time we left it was packed!

We met Jane Leckie, whose father-in-law established the vineyard in 1975, and she talked us through the wines they had on offer. These days, chardonnay is one my favourite wines, but at the time, in my early twenties, I usually avoided it. I almost passed it up, but I’m glad I didn’t – this was one of the first chardonnays I ever enjoyed, and I ended up buying a bottle.

They had Shiraz from 2010-2013 available for tasting, so I decided on the 2011 and 2013. The difference in vintages, due to an unusually rainy year for the 2011 vintage, was obvious, but both were beautiful wines in their own way. Jane was so friendly and informative that I could have stayed chatting to her about wine all day, but the shed quickly filled up with other customers, so we bought some wine and moved along.

Heathcote Winery

Our next stop was Heathcote Winery, which has a permanent restaurant & cellar door on the High Street in Heathcote. We sat at the bar and tasted a few of the wines in the background of the picture. Liv could only try a little bit since she was driving, so we didn’t hang around too long. I really liked a couple of their wines, so I’ll probably try and source it from the wine stores near me next time I’m buying wine. The guy behind the bar was really friendly, and in addition to talking us through the wines, also gave us some tips for the rest of our day in the Goldfields. When he heard we were going to Mason’s for lunch, he recommended stopping in at Meehan’s vineyard on the way, and getting the goats cheese cigars at Mason’s (both excellent recommendations).

Meehan’s Vineyard

We only tried a couple of wines at Meehan’s, a shiraz and a tempranillo. I really liked both of them and added Meehan’s to my list of producers to look up next time I’m at the bottleshop. Before we knew it, we were only half an hour away from our restaurant booking, so we jumped in the car and headed down the road to Bendigo. Sadly, Meehan’s is now permanently closed.

Masons of Bendigo

Masons of Bendigo is the best restaurant in Bendigo, so we had to book around a week in advance to get a lunch sitting – dinner was already all booked up! As we arrived, waiters had to turn hopeful walk-ins away. The food was divine, the hospitality was warm and unfussy, and the overall experience was the perfect complement to a day of wine tasting.

Poppet Head Lookout

Afterwards, we were feeling pretty full and slovenly, but Liv wanted to show me the view over Bendigo from the Poppet Head Lookout, an old mining tower. We walked up the Poppet Head, and it actually made me feel a LOT better after eating so much at lunch. Before we got back in the car, we had a quick stroll around the pretty Sacred Heart Cathedral.

Mt Alexander

We added one last detour on the way home, for the view from Mt Alexander at sunset. My iPhone photo doesn’t even begin to do it justice! There was so much pretty scenery driving through the Goldfields that was impossible to capture on my iPhone – next time I’ll bring my DSLR for sure.

We drove through Castlemaine instead of stopping for afternoon tea. It looks just as cute as Heathcote, so I definitely want to visit properly next time I’m in the region. This was my third time in the Goldfields and every time I love it a little bit more. Next time, I want to stay overnight so I have more time to spend in the towns and at wineries!

Have you been to the Goldfields? What’s your favourite country town?

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