Rutherglen things to do: How the Brown winery siblings are transforming the region

Mount Ophir's tower was added to the building as an office and a nod to the family's European heritage.Credit: Nicholas Brown

It's not often you get to spend the night in a historical French provincial tower - at least in Australia - but you can at this special accommodation in an old winery at Rutherglen.

About five kilometres from the township, Mount Ophir sits on the crest of a hill at the edge of a dirt road, surrounded by a small lake, fruit and gum trees, and a small shiraz vineyard; quiet bar the sound of birds chirping and a slight breeze.

Established in the late 1800s, by the turn of the century it was one the largest state-of-the-art wine producing facilities in Australia. The tower added to the building as an office was a nod to the family's European heritage.

All Saints Estate is modelled on a Scottish castle.

Things took a dark turn for the owners in the 1950s and the winery was sold several times over and in the years that followed. The beautiful buildings – now heritage-listed – fell into neglect.

The estate came back on the market in 2016, and the Brown siblings Eliza, Nick and Angela seized the opportunity they had been waiting for and snapped it up, transforming most of its buildings into accommodation (only the central winery's fate remains undecided).

The jewel in the estate's crown is its three-storey red-brick tower, which offers resplendent views across rural Rutherglen.

Inside The Tower at Mount Ophir Estate.

The old wooden door swings open to reveal a spacious kitchen and dining room, with an arresting black spiral staircase connecting it to the first floor, which holds the lounge and a small library. A steep but short staircase connects the second floor bedroom and bathroom, which has panoramic views, especially spectacular when the area is enveloped in mist; or during sunrise and sunset.

It took the family – who are fourth generation members of Brown Brothers nearby at Milawa – a few years before they could restore the property to its former glory.

I'm meeting with Eliza Brown at one of their other properties, St Leonards Winery, on pleasantly sprawling, grassy grounds that overlook gums so dense they hide the Murray River at the New South Wales border.

Bonnie is the new casual dining option at All Saints Estate.Credit: Kate Shanasy

"St Leonards is all about sitting outside and enjoying the grass. It's a reflection of our environment – we like drinking wine with our mates," she explains.

"As kids, we used to float down the river to All Saints (their most renowned winery). And we'd roll down the hills here. It's a nice memory of being free as a child, so it was very strange being here during lockdown," she admits.

"The government had the army and drones running down the river and you could hear people enjoying life on the river because NSW was open, and we weren't."

The siblings spent two years renovating the main house and the tower at Mount Ophir, which was no easy feat.

"We initially thought, there is no way we can do this. There were possums and rats living in there, and the former owner was raising emus so we found rotten emu eggs in there too. We had the kids on the property and they would run screaming from the building because of the awful smell, " she laughs.

"Once we cleaned the property up, we went shopping for furniture which was also problematic as everything had to be able to get through the second floor window, so we had to find a couch that would fit.

"When we finally finished, we had a big party. It's been an amazing project and we're really happy for it to be open to the public again (following lockdown closures)."

The Browns are also behind the modern wine bar in Rutherglen's main street, Thousand Pound, which Eliza admits she was "a bit selfish" in wanting a meeting place for the girls to catch up over a drink that wasn't the pub.

"It's just a simple menu – country people don't want foam," she says with a laugh.

"We wanted to attract local people who would otherwise just go to the pub. Now they are saying our steaks are some of the best they've had in their life, and all the wine industry people can come here for a 'stitch and a bitch'."

Thousand Pound has been so successful it's spurning change along Rutherglen's formerly quiet main street with a second restaurant, Grace Bar and Eatery, opening up next door.

No visit to Rutherglen is complete without a visit to the Brown siblings' most well-known winery, the impressive All Saints Estate, which also owes its heritage to Europe. Built by Scottish settlers during the gold rush and modelled on the Scottish Castle of Mey, it also contains a tower, English-style gardens and a spectacular 300-metre driveway lined by English elms which are some of the oldest in Australia.

They've named their new restaurant here 'Bonnie' - Scots for "beautiful". The bright, modern airy restaurant slings wood-fired pizzas and was the sole eatery on the site at the time of my visit while the siblings developed an innovative new cellar door experience that they promise will "blur the lines between a wine tasting site and a more relaxed wine bar". Now open, it will provide another reason to revisit this rapidly-transforming region.

More

traveller.com.au; visitvictoria.com

Stay

Mt Ophir is about 10 minutes outside the township of Rutherglen at 168 Stillards Lane, Rutherglen, Victoria, Australia, 3685; mtophirestate.com.au ; A stay in the tower starts at $550 per night, with a minimum two-night stay.

Visit

All Saints Estate;