Meet your new favourite Uncle
Mount Uncle Distillery at Walkamin has an excellent reputation for world class spirits and liqueurs and is run by the same people who founded it 18 years ago. Gins, rums, whiskies and liqueurs – many made with locally grown fruit – are produced on site at this craft distillery.
Drop by for a drop of the good stuff – the cellar door is open seven days from 10am to 4pm though call ahead just to be sure. Highlights include Helga the 1500 litre copper pot – quite a gal – and the barrel room with more than 200 barrels. Built on a piece of paradise, the lovely grounds include a banana plantation and friendly alpacas, donkeys, goats and peacocks who call Mount Uncle Distillery home. Roam around the parklands, enjoy a tasting with knowledgeable staff and have a peek at how things are done in a boutique distillery with a giant reputation.
*Mt Uncle Distillery is signposted from Chewko Rd, 15.5km south of Mareeba.
Fruitful visit to boutique winery
De Brueys Boutique Wines blends tradition and innovation to make wines, ports and liqueurs from a diversity of fruits, including lychee, mango, jaboticaba, bush cherry, mulberry, passionfruit and star apple. It has won numerous awards at the Australian Fruit Wine Awards including the top gong for liqueurs with its Flagship Coffee Elixir.
De Brueys started life as a mango farm and has developed into a trailblazer for fine fruit wines.
This winemaker is full of surprises: a nice dry red wine made from jaboticaba fruit or a tasty port from mulberries anyone? There’s a cellar door for tastings and attention has been lavished on the grounds, including preserving the natural setting, which includes kangaroos, wallabies, possums, quolls bandicoots and birdlife – plus freshwater crocodiles in the creek at the rear of the property.
De Brueys makes the most of Tropical North Queensland’s natural assets and wants to share the riches with visitors.
*De Brueys Boutique Wines is on Fichera Rd, 2km off the Kennedy Highway off Tinaroo Creek Rd.
A drop of the good stuff
Golden Drop Winery as its name suggests makes luscious wines from mangos. This mango farm turns its distinctive fruit into wines, ports and liqueurs such as cellos. Visitors can sample the fermented product but also take a tour of a working mango orchard and in season, buy some of the golden harvest on the spot.
Golden Drop is a family run business and it took the Nastasi family a great deal of research and development – along with blood, sweat and tears – to make their first dry, medium and sweet mango wines in 1999. The process is quite different from grape wines and their dedication shows in all their products. A visit to Golden Drop is more than just a wine tasting, it’s a chance to visit one of Australia’s largest mango farms, savour the immaculate surroundings and talk to friendly people passionate about the glory of fruit wines.
*Golden Drop Winery is at Biboohra, 10 minutes from Mareeba. Turn right off the highway and follow the signs for 2kms.