Hunter Valley 2023

The Hunter Valley is the birthplace of Australian wines. It is Australia's oldest wine region. It is popular for its Shiraz and Semillon and no amount of time is enough to taste all the wonderful produce that comes out of its 150+ wineries. For that reason and its close proximity to Sydney CBD, like many Sydneysiders, I have been to Hunter Valley a few times now.

This post is influenced by my two most recent trips to Hunter Valley - less than two months apart!

Oenophilia as per Wikipedia

Oenophilia is a love (philia) of wine (oinos). In the strictest sense, oenophilia describes a disciplined devotion to wine, accompanying strict traditions of consumption and appreciation. In a general sense however, oenophilia simply refers to the enjoyment of wine, often by laymen. Oenophiles are also known as wine aficionados or connoisseurs. They are people who appreciate or collect wine, particularly grape wines from certain regions, varietal types, or methods of manufacture. While most oenophiles are hobbyists, some may also be professionals like vintners, sommeliers, wine merchants, or one who tastes and grades wines for a living.

Wine and Me

What started as a cheap and easy way of getting tipsy has turned into an organized and passionate drinking experience and an augmented learning experience. By developing an interest in winemaking, I have started to better understand my own palate and form an opinion of my own. I am not a qualified sommelier (yet 🤷‍♂️) and I've never actually referred to myself as an Oenophile, I only learned about the word while writing this blog. But, there is a sense of humble brag and it does sound cool 😜.

How does this all have anything to do with going to Hunter? Having been to at least half a dozen wine regions in NSW, Victoria and South Australia in 2023 alone, I wanted to revisit Hunter Valley to put my passion and interests to test and well, drink more wine!!

What else is on in Hunter

For me, a trip to Hunter Valley without a fair amount of wine tasting would be blasphemous but that does not discount the fact that it is a perfect location for any relaxing weekend getaway.

One such relaxing weekend was my long weekend trip to Hunter Valley, in October, with Michal and Briana - two of my closest friends who are not as avid an alcohol drinker as I am. We love to cook together and it is something we have bonded over, in the last year. During this long weekend, like many other times, we took the time and opportunity to plan some decent dishes and bring them to life. Executive Chef Michal came up with a premium tiramisu recipe. I love tiramisu (I mean who doesn’t, right?) and I’ve tried tiramisu at many cafes. I have to admit, this was right up there with some of the best we’ve had. We had truly outdone ourselves. To counter the calorie intake, we had a BBQ chicken night (prepared by yours truly) with a fresh leafy salad (thanks to Bri). In Hunter Valley was also Michal’s first exposure to “chai” - prepared in true Indian fashion - which soon turned into a passion (or as I like to call it - addiction).

Now, I did not grow up playing many board games (more like “bored” games) and have never been open to trying them. But recently, Bri has single-handedly managed to convert me into someone who is much more receptive and sometimes even looking forward to them. It is on trips like these where the board game queen brings some of her favorites and we spend the time after dinner trying some new games out. I also did not watch many movies until recently and this meant that I missed out on many blockbusters from the early 2000s and the 90s. This is where Michal’s expert recommendations have come in extremely handy. My first exposure to “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” was during the Hunter trip and it is now one of the best movies I’ve ever watched. Although not initially keen to watch a Chinese movie, I was pleasantly surprised by the writing, plot and action scenes in this movie. Being tipsy on wine, full on tiramisu and having consumed all my brain cells for the board games was a perfect occasion to try movies and I was not disappointed - highly recommend!

Amongst all of this however, my favorite memory is a jam sesh Bri. Having known her for almost over an year, this was my first exposure to her singing and instrumental talent! After midnight, we picked one pop banger after another and Bri was spot on with her guitar 🎸

If you happen to be in Hunter Valley during Christmas, like I was with the boys, then you must visit the Christmas lights at Hunter Valley Gardens. It is not something I’d do again but I like to think it is worth visiting as a one time experience. One thing I would definitely do again is practicing my golf swing at aqua golf! This is a perfect afternoon activity for any age and group. My only previous encounter with golf was back in Colorado in 2019 where I managed to hit the ball off the tee once every three swings - yep, it was embarrassing.This time around, I was slightly better, getting the ball at least 3 meters away from me every time and longer some of the time. Grab a basket of balls and have the best time, even better if you are a little tipsy 😉

My other favorite things to do when I am in and around Hunter valley are going to one of the many live music venues trying a range of boutique coffee shops and brunch cafes. We enjoyed a delicious brunch at Lovedale cafe - perfect start to a day of wine tasting (they also have alpacas!).

On Wine

“Wine tasting” brings me to my favorite part about the Hunter Valley 🍷Lately, my approach to wine regions has been a selection of wineries that have something different to offer. I believe that this gives me the best chance of discovering the terroir and wine making patterns across the region.

In Hunter, the largest estates and production belong to Brokenwood and McGuigan wines. When I went to Brokenwood, our tasting was a bit rushed, the wines were good but there was not much flexibility for choice and the customer service for the first half of the tasting was underwhelming. This was disappointing given the good things I’d heard about this winery, the advance booking and the premium tasting fee. In contrast, the experience at McGuigan was truly personal, there was virtually no limit on the amount of wines that you can taste and the wines themselves were objectively better! Between the four of us, we ended up buying 14 bottles! Their Noon Shiraz (estate only) is one of the best sweet-ish full-bodied reds that is fit for any occasion and is best served chilled and they also have a decent Carménère that I haven’t found elsewhere in Australia - both of which are now sitting in my little collection 😋

Audrey Wilkinson is a winery that sits at the top of a hill that overlooks vineyards and a beautiful lake, perfect for sunsets! Having rocked up here without a booking, we had to wait for an hour and I am glad we did! The staff here was charismatic and chatty, receptive to naive questions and allowed us to tailor the tasting to our preference with utmost patience. They had a great Gewurztraminer, a German wine that I only recently encountered in Adelaide and have started to like and recommend for red-wine drinkers that are starting to explore white wine.

In the small wine department, Tumburlaine has a delicious GSM - Grenache, Syrah, and Mourvedre. It is an organic winery that produces a somewhat small but extremely delicious selection of wines. I’ve been there two times already and I will definitely make another stop next time. Not only are the wines organic, they also experiment with different sustainability methods for logistics including thinner bottles made from recycled plastic that are easier to pack and deliver. The best part - the weird looking bottles are only $12 for something that is otherwise $30 😛 Another beautiful boutique winery is The Little Wine Company, owned and managed by a couple. They have an enormous selection of Italian wines, including my favorite - Sangiovese. They let you try as much as you want and are more than happy to talk about winemaking.

By far the best experience, and arguably the wines too, were at Tulloch. Initially, Tulloch was not part of the wineries I wanted to cover in our trip. However, on a quick pit stop here (on the way to Audrey Wilkinson), I noticed the homely ambience and the selection of wines. Having thought about it a bit more after leaving, we decided to make a booking for the day after. Next day, we got there around 3.30pm, just in time to be the last group for the day. Clare (our wine mum) immediately captured our attention with her 10/10 energy and told us to sit down and listen. This set the tone for a completely unexpected tasting session. Throughout the session, Clare not only shared with us well over 15 wines, but also tailored the session to our palates, enabling us to enjoy what we like to our hearts' content. She told us about the wines themselves, the history of the winery and most heartwarming of all - stories from her own life and family 💗This whole experience was tear jerking (tears of joy) and perfectly complemented the holiday season. It would be a lie if I said that there was a single wine that I did not enjoy. Almost entirely because of the experience however, I will likely visit Tulloch many more times!

Cheers 🍷!