Midnights Promise

The name is literal: the fruit here is machine-harvested at night, often around midnight, so the grapes reach the winery cool and sound. The estate waited fifteen years for its Semillon block to mature before making a wine from it, and that 2013 debut took a gold medal at the local show. Alex Woods and Matt Burton make the wine.

Tastings are by appointment at a small cellar door on Talga Road at Lovedale, across the Semillon, Chardonnay and Shiraz and the cheaper Wine O'Clock range, and no price is published, so ask when you book. Three self-contained retreats sit on the property, including Villa Janji, a Balinese-style adults-only villa with a heated plunge pool, and two cottages that take children. There are no pets, to protect the local wildlife. It is a stop to arrange rather than drop into, and a good one if a bed on the vineyard is part of the plan.