Binnorie Dairy
Binnorie Dairy is one of Australia’s premier soft cheesemakers, and we’re privileged that their home is right here in Hunter Valley Wine Country.
Trading since 2003 (most recently from their state-of-the-art cheesemaking centre, tasting room and retail store in Lovedale), Binnorie Dairy produces all of its cheeses on-site, providing complimentary tastings for visitors between 10am and 5pm, seven days a week. If you’re lucky, you might get to see the cheesemakers at work through the viewing window into the cheesemaking room.
The cow's milk that goes into making all of Binnorie’s delicious cheeses comes from a range of different herds located between Scone and Cessnock and from a few different varieties too - like Jersey, Brown Swiss and Friesian. There is also a range of delicious goats cheeses available.
Most of the cheeses are young, soft, fresh cheeses (that’s a style), but they also make very popular single and triple cream bries and washed rind. Many visitors know Binnorie for their award-winning marinated feta (especially if you’re a local restauranteur, as it’s the essential ingredient in many a fine-dining dish).
But that’s not all. You’ll find lots more to tempt you in the cheese cabinet. There’s also the swoon-worthy triple cream brie and creamy labna (so squishable), and if you are a goat’s cheese lover, you’re spoilt for choice. Select from Buche de Chèvre, the vine-ash goat cheese log; spreadable Chèvre with dill; or plain, unadorned Chèvre that works just as beautifully in baked tarts as it does in a salad.
Don’t walk past the washed rind cheese either. It’s a soft surfaceripened white mould cheese that exhibits a characteristic orange rind and melts in your mouth. It’s guaranteed to elicit greedy compliments every time you serve it. Be sure to pick some up on your way into or out of wine country!
A visit to the tasting room will reward you not just with cheeses for your platter but a range of lovely cured meats to turn your cheese-board into a charcuterie board in just the blink of an eye. And if you’re after something a little sweeter – the tiramisu is to-die-for!
Drop into the café for a cheese platter and sit on the deck with a coffee or glass of wine and take in the tranquil view. Better yet, bring a picnic blanket and spread it out under the shade of a gum tree. You’ll find Binnorie Dairy at 25 Lodge Rd, Lovedale.
