McCaffrey's Estate

McCaffrey's Estate runs a small, family-owned cellar door at 614 Hermitage Road, Pokolbin, open 10am to 5pm every day. It has the convivial, owner-run feel that bigger doors lose: tastings are intimate, often poured by the winemaker, with wine and cheese pairings, fortified wines and small-batch French-oak-aged reds alongside the Hunter classics.

Dogs at the cellar door

Dogs are welcome under the mature trees in the shaded outdoor seating, and generally inside the blending room and cellar door area as well, provided yours is happy to settle on the floor while the tasting goes on. Water bowls are kept outside the tasting room. Keep the lead on and stay close: this is a working vineyard with on-site accommodation, so a calm dog keeps the indoor welcome intact. Pick your spot by the weather, not the policy.

Max: I slept through an entire blending tutorial under a big tree. The winemaker still explained it twice.

Worth knowing

The signature experience is A Winemaker for the Day, a hands-on blending session where you build your own bottle, and it gets consistently good word of mouth. There are also self-contained two-bedroom cottages on the estate if you want to stay rather than drive, complete with kitchens, fireplaces and private patios over the vines, plus a pool, barbecue areas and an EV charging station.

Getting there and parking

The estate sits in the Hermitage Road hub in the middle of Pokolbin, with a free gravel car park right at the cellar door and flat, easy access from the car to the tasting room. Mid-week mornings are the most relaxed time to visit.

Pair it with

Piggs Peake Winery and Tulloch Wines are boutique neighbours along the same strip, close enough to make an easy Hermitage Road loop with the dog between stops.

More options are on the NSW wineries guide and the Pokolbin destination page.