Tingha’s own Toppers Mountain Wines, the dreamy, high altitude vineyard nourished by volcanic soils, is counting down the days to the 2023 Harvest Feast on Sunday 21 May. We chat with owner Mark Kirkby about what visitors can expect on the big day.

What is Topper’s Harvest Feast?

Every year, we have a party to celebrate the end of vintage – this year is our vintage 2023, starting in spring 22 and finishing in autumn 23.

The annual Harvest Feast is all about enjoying ourselves with friends (and celebrating in such a way that the ancient Greek god of wine, Dionysus, would be so pleased he will look after our vineyard for future vintages).

This year we have brisket and pulled pork supplied by Smo-KING Barbeque from Inverell, and our vegetables are being supplied by the Danthonia Christian Community across the road. Our wines will be offered by the glass and the bottle (including some new releases), and we’ll also have local craft beer from the New England Brewing Co and Deepwater Brewing.

We’re also running the trivia quiz again, this time on New England wine, food and history – the winner will walk away with two bottles of wine of their choosing.

Can you tell us about this year’s harvest?

For the first time in five years, we’re picking things when we want to pick them, not when Mother Nature forces us to pick them. Because it was so wet in November, we’re down on yield but we have really good fruit, so that’s the main thing – I’d rather be short on yield and have good fruit than the other way around. Obviously, we’re still in the early days, but the wines are looking good.

What’s your process?

We bottle age a lot of our wines, so we make the wine, put it in bottles and label it, and then we hang on to it for two to five years depending on the wine and what’s in the cellar. For instance, our Nebbiolo at the moment is 2017 Vintage, so it’s six years old, our Sparkling is 2017, and our Bricolage Rouge is 2014.

At the earliest, the first of our wines from our 2023 vintage, the Submarine range, will be released in October or November this year. Our Sparkling probably won’t be on the market for another five years.

Find out more

To learn more about Toppers Mountain Harvest Feast, check out the links below.

13420 Guyra Road | Tingha NSW 2369 | 0408 987 675 | Website | Instagram | Photography Toppers Mountain