Southern Highlands Wines opens new winery Exeter Vineyards
A popular vineyard with over 20 years experience is expanding in the region, with its new agritourism business.
The Bowral News
Don't miss out on the headlines from The Bowral News. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Southern Highlands Wines will be opening its cellar door and restaurant at Exeter Vineyards after being given the go-ahead by Wingecarribee Council.
Southern Highlands Wines, which has been operating in Sutton Forest for 20 years, has been looking to expand into agritourism and the recently vacated site of Cuttaway Hill Wines in Exeter fit the bill.
The development application was approved by the Interim Planning Panel last week and outlines plans for a temporary restaurant attached to the cellar door at 212 Sallys Corner Road in Exeter.
The application outlines plans to create a restaurant that would create complimentary food for wine tastings and also serve more substantial meals for guests.
CEO and chief winemaker of Southern Highlands Wines, Eddy Rossi, said the winery was excited for the new venture.
“We wanted to expand into the area,” he said.
“We see a lot of future in agritourism and it’s another vineyard we’re taking on, with possibly more in the future.”
However, the restaurant will only be able to open 60 days out of the year, thanks to development restrictions on the land. The restrictions are due to the zoning of the rural land as category E3 Environmental Management, which prioritises conservation and prohibits restaurants.
Town planning consultant Darren Hogan said the E3 zone applies to 90 per cent of the rural land in Wingecarribee Shire, and particularly to productive lands generally inhabited by wineries.
“The prohibition is restricting existing wineries and cellar doors (within E3 zone land) from operating restaurants in conjunction with their facilities,” he said.
Wineries on E3 land can only apply for temporary restaurant operations, which limits the service of food to 60 days a year and creates issues around cost and strategy.
Mr Hogan said he hopes the state government will consider changing the legislation.
“Restaurants go hand in hand with wineries and cellar doors,” he said.
Mr Rossi admits there has been some frustration with the process, but says it won’t affect the vision for the winery.
He said the new restaurant was the first of many exciting opportunities in the future of Southern Highlands Wines.
“There’s more to come. This is the first of many things,” he said.
Meet the talented young artists from ARTEXPRESS 2025
The annual art exhibition which shows some of the most outstanding and exemplary artworks across NSW by HSC visual arts students has opened. Meet the students and see their amazing works.
Fatal call to drive through flood made by group, friend claims
The friend of a Sydney man charged with the manslaughter of two mates after he drove through rural floodwaters has told a court about the moments before the ute was swept away by the “ferocious” current.