High Valley Cheese Co — Attraction in Putta Bucca

My partner and I visited the High Valley Wine and Cheese Co on a recent trip to Mudgee. My first impression was that the garden where customers are seated is quite nice, although the view from the other side of the building probably would have been nicer (particularly during winter when the grape vines are bare). Our experience began with the waitress telling us that they were out of several lunch items on the menu, which was fine for us as we were there purely for the wine and cheese. We then ordered a wine, only to be told that they no longer stock that particular wine and that "it should have been taken off all the menus" although clearly had not.

My partner and I had seated ourselves along the wall where the tables were all set up for two people only. The first table we chose we quickly realised was next to the bathroom so we moved to the next table over, the problem with which was that we were seated behind a small lemon tree and it seems out of the view of the waitress. Although I waved at her several times to get her attention, she was much more concerned with the family of about eight people sitting across from us who were receiving excellent service. Unfortunately for us it was about half an hour before we were able to order our cheese, and then quite a long wait for it to arrive, despite there only being about five other tables with patrons in the entire establishment. Fortunately as we had ordered our wine early we had a nice red to keep us entertained during the wait.

Upon finally getting the waitress' attention - which involved getting up out of my seat - we ordered the Antipasto Grazing Plate for two, and chose two cheeses from the selection: the Stefan Blue and Pesto Feta. Having paid $35 total for the two of us I was not expecting much, however was pleasantly surprised. There was a huge amount of food on the plate - more than we could finish between the two of us - and the waitress was kind enough to offer us unlimited bread and crackers to go with the selection. Apart from the two cheeses we had a pumpkin and feta spread, ratatouille, chorizo, salad and a type of vegetable quiche.

All the food was absolutely outstanding, and despite the service issues it was more than enough to make me want to return when I next visit Mudgee. Definitely worth a visit if you don't mind slow service - and let's face it, there are worse places to sit around waiting than in a chair in the sun, in a nice garden with a...

We visited the winery next door and did a tasting, the lady advised that the cheese tasting was open downstairs - so we promised our two girls if they were behaved during the 45 min tasting we would take them to do it. We went out and asked a gentleman where it was taking place, he advised that the tasting was actually closed. He then heard me trying to explain the situation to my two girls (6&4) and was like oh do you girls like cheese.... he then kindly went and grabbed three different types of cheese and gave it to the girls. We were so grateful as he helped us keep our promise to the girls and saved the tears that would have come shortly after. I wish I had taken his name so I could personally thank him. Good people who are happy to help are far and few between these days. The girls loved the cheese and were reluctant to share! Thank you again and we look forward to visiting when we are in Mudgee next to sit down and enjoy a...

The other eating option at The Cellar by Gilbert is the High Valley Cheese Co. tasting room. It’s a free, progressive tasting through a range of soft and hard cheeses that are made in Mudgee using milk from suppliers like the Little Big Dairy Co, a family run dairy in Dubbo. You start off with creamy Persian-style feta ($14/300g) that they do plain or flavoured with olive, tomato, pesto or chilli. We purchased plain to eat on Althea by Zin sourdough with semi-dried tomatoes we grew ourself.

You move onto Brie, washed rind (Rouge) and a very gentle farmhouse cheddar (Caerphilly) that’d be a good, non-oily melter. You end on a pair of blue cheeses: a gentle eating cheese (Stefan Blue) and a pungent cooking cheese (Colly Blue) that’d be at home on top of a steak. We purchased the stronger blue and a wedge of the washed rind and used them on a cheese platter but I reckon I’ll be following my own advice and cooking with the rest...