Wine Tasting and a Picnic in Maleny, Australia

For Veronika’s birthday this year, she decided that she wanted to go and do some wine tasting. When most people think of Australia, wine generally doesn’t come to mind, however the country has many excellent wine regions such as the Barossa Valley in South Australia, the Hunter Valley in New South Wales and Margaret River in Western Australia. Queensland is a little more lacking, but there are several smaller areas of wine growing in the South East. We decided to visit Maleny Mountain Wines in Maleny – a small town in the Sunshine Coast Hinterland.

Driving past the spectacular Glass House Mountains, the winery is reached by heading up the Blackhall Range and is located just before the town of Maleny. You can’t miss it as the building looks like a huge wine barrel!

Veronika standing outside Maleny Mountain Wines

The winery had quite a good selection of wines and at good prices. We tasted five or six different wines and ended up buying a bottle of Cabernet Merlot, a Shiraz and a lovely bottle of their fortified port wine. They have a good selection of white wines as well, but we are definitely red wine people.

Tasting wine at Maleny Mountain Wines

Wine for sale

Veronika purchasing some wine

With our wine taste buds fully satisfied, we headed into town and picked up a few picnic supplies for lunch, including a fresh french bread stick from the local bakery. Our picnic spot on Lake Baroon is reached via a short scenic drive though the beautiful countryside outside of Maleny.

Our picnic spot on Lake Baroon

A Kookaburra comes down to watch us eat our lunch

The Blackall Ranges is a beautiful area located only 2 hours drive north from Brisbane. The small towns of Maleny, Monteville and Mapleton are surrounded by lush green countryside, national parks and rain forest, with Lake Baroon right in the center, making it a perfect location for a day trip from Brisbane.