A secluded vineyard sanctuary where Australian native ingredients meet multicultural heritage — just 30 minutes from Canberra CBD.
Aranya — wilderness in Sanskrit — is 25 acres of vines, gums and open sky. Chef Praneel Singh’s native Australian menu, craft cocktails from the Sub Zero Native Series, and a Canberra District cellar list — with a working winery and cellar door downstairs, all under one tin roof in the hills of Wamboin — fifteen minutes from Bungendore, half an hour from Canberra.
Our Story
Where the city falls away, something more honest takes its place.
Aranya Acres lives on the former Contentious Character site in Wamboin. We reimagined it as a place where people can truly escape — a native-focused kitchen, a craft cocktail bar and a rotating gallery of local artists, all set among 25 acres of vines, gums and open sky. Three separate businesses share the address: the restaurant is ours; the winery and cellar door downstairs belong to Sapling Yard Wines; and the vineyard is managed by a third party, currently part-way through a rejuvenation project.
In the kitchen, Chef de Cuisine Praneel Singh builds each menu around the Australian landscape — lemon myrtle, Dorrigo pepper, finger lime, macadamia, wattleseed and bush tomato — woven through with multicultural heritage. Behind the bar, the Sub Zero Native Series pours at −12°C, and the cellar list showcases growers from across the Canberra District. Downstairs and independently of us, Sapling Yard Wines makes its award-winning cool-climate wines.
The same 25 acres host vineyard weddings and private functions — ceremonies among the vines, long tables under the tin roof — and the walls carry a rotating gallery of local artists.
Opening Hours
When to Find Us
Thursday – Sunday · Lunch11am – 3pm
Thursday – Sunday · Dinner5pm – 9pm
Monday – WednesdayClosed
Public Holiday MondaysOpen
TakeawayAll Opening Hours
Trivia every Thursday · Live music at least once a week · Woodfire pizzas Thursday & Sunday nights
Find Us
In the Hills of Wamboin
810 Norton Rd, Wamboin NSW 2620
A 30-minute drive from Canberra CBD.
Sculpture has moved in. For the Queanbeyan-Palerang Arts Trail the restaurant and vineyard grounds are adorned with sculpture — and for one afternoon, the artists who made it are here too. A welcome glass of bubbles on arrival and a Wild Harvest Board.
