Glamping taken to a whole new level at Mitchelton in Nagambie

To mark Mitchelton Winery’s opening in 1974, Victorian premier Sir Rupert Hamer hovered over the top of its striking Ashton tower and lowered its famous gold tip into place from a helicopter swaying in the Nagambie plains breeze.

Legend has it the publicity stunt didn’t quite go to plan, almost resulting in an ex-premier, but it’s this kind of bold ambition upon which Mitchelton has built its reputation.

In 2011, Jayco founder and tourism visionary Gerry Ryan bought the ageing vineyard and commissioned Hecker Guthrie to oversee its stunning reinvigoration.

So, perhaps it’s fitting that the next chapter in the continual evolution of the Mitchelton story is the Mitchelton Airstream Hotel – five shiny, silver vans that are dotted along the edge of the vineyard and offer an adults-only glamping experience like no other.

Each Airstream is fully kitted out with all of the amenities you’d expect of a boutique hotel – en suite bathroom with luxe Aspar products, kitchen and minibar facilities, aircon and heating, Wi-Fi and the most indulgent fine bed linen you’ll ever rest on.

But it’s what’s outside that sets this experience apart.

Roll up the awning and awake to a brilliant green canvas of vines, towering gums lining the Goulburn River and the architecturally magnificent winery and hotel shadowing behind.

A private deck allows guests to enjoy a tranquil sunrise coffee or a Mitchelton prosecco while watching the sunset over the vineyard, and at dawn and dusk on any given day mother nature hosts a spectacular show when resident kangaroos emerge to graze.

Loved-up Airstream guests can dine in the camper with a delicious breakfast hamper delivered to the door, or take breakfast, lunch or dinner at the winery’s signature restaurant The Muse on the banks of the Goulburn River.

While it’s tempting just to put your feet up and cosy up in the Airstream, there’s so much to see you’d be mad not to soak up the full Mitchelton experience.

Book a guided wine tasting at the refurbished cellar door, take a swim in the hotel pool, or hop on an e-bike and tour the 100-hectare property.

The gold-tipped Ashton Tower remains one of the winery’s signature attractions and the top-floor viewing platform offers 360-degree views of the region.

“Mitchelton was built in the late 1960s and at the time it was a very ambitious, quite avant-garde project,” says acting cellar door manager Gabrielle Zerafa as she wanders through the football-field-sized underground cellar, the largest working cellar in the southern hemisphere.

“Today Mitchelton is still bold and ambitious but it also has a lovely boutique feel. We are inspired by the surrounding landscape and focus on sustainability and provenance; a lot of love goes into everything that’s produced here,” Zerafa says as she pours a glass of Mitchelton Estate chardonnay, made with the grapes growing right outside the Airstreams.

Like Mitchelton’s design and architecture, the wine is distinct, intimate and bold, and at just a 90-minute drive from Melbourne, it’s just the tonic needed.