Nothing involving bloodsports (although a little fly fishing wouldn't go astray).
I'm heading to the Hunter Valley for the first time in years (only been there for work before). Just a quick trip, drive from Sydney Saturday morning, stay two nights, drive back Monday.
Any suggestions on where best to stay (Cessnock?) and a couple of must visit cellar doors? It won't be a cellar door onslaught, as my partner, whilst enjoying a glass, isn't into all day tasting sessions.
Cheers,
Mark
Hunter tips
Hunter tips
Cheers,
Mark
Mark
Definitely go to Mount Pleasant. If you join Friends of Mount Pleasant (free to join) you can book in a tasting in their new members lounge and pretty much get to taste not only the Mt Pleasant premium wines but other things in the Brands portfolio.
I was at Tyrrell's a few weeks ago and they had run out of a lot of stuff. But if you would like to try young/aged vat 1, the vat 8 shiraz cabernet, the 3 single vineyard semillons, those are available, and of course the raft of <20 wines they make these days.
Scarborough has lovely views, and a well organised tasting set of 8-10 wines, however the focus is on chardonnay.
Do go to the Boutique Wine Centre and try the Meerea Park wines. Caveat though: if you don't go on a weekend they might not have the super premiums open, and even if you go on the weekend and they run out of a bottle they might not be very inclined to open another for you.
Lakes Folly has probably sold out of 2007 by now, but the guy said they were going to move to start selling the 2002 cabernets, so maybe they will be open.
From my experience, avoid Brokenwood and Tower estate... the only time I've stayed we stayed in the Hunter Valley Gardens Mercure, which while nice felt a bit overpriced. ($220 gets you a bath with spa jets though... fun)
Have a very good trip.
I was at Tyrrell's a few weeks ago and they had run out of a lot of stuff. But if you would like to try young/aged vat 1, the vat 8 shiraz cabernet, the 3 single vineyard semillons, those are available, and of course the raft of <20 wines they make these days.
Scarborough has lovely views, and a well organised tasting set of 8-10 wines, however the focus is on chardonnay.
Do go to the Boutique Wine Centre and try the Meerea Park wines. Caveat though: if you don't go on a weekend they might not have the super premiums open, and even if you go on the weekend and they run out of a bottle they might not be very inclined to open another for you.
Lakes Folly has probably sold out of 2007 by now, but the guy said they were going to move to start selling the 2002 cabernets, so maybe they will be open.
From my experience, avoid Brokenwood and Tower estate... the only time I've stayed we stayed in the Hunter Valley Gardens Mercure, which while nice felt a bit overpriced. ($220 gets you a bath with spa jets though... fun)
Have a very good trip.
-
pokolbinguy
- Posts: 165
- Joined: Mon Feb 06, 2006 8:37 pm
Just so you know I grew up in the Hunter (now living in adelaide) and have a family vineyard background....take that as you will...just might show me as a lil bias towards some things anyway .
Wineries:
Mount Pleasant: I used to work here. Great mix of local and inter-region wines. Staff are pretty cruisy and willing to help out. New chef in the kitchen as well so might be worth a stab for lunch....if only there for wine make sure you try their semillon....they are know world wide for it.
Tyrell's: Much like mount pleasant this is a hunter institution....great wines and great people. Deffinatley try their vat1, 9 and 8...aswell as their single vineyard wines.
Brokenwood: Have worked in the winery there for vintage...and have to say from a customer point of view have never been disappointed. I have read a bit of negative feedback, generally relating to the fact that they are packed at times and white wines may be served at room temp. if you can look past this they are a great place to visit....there is a reason they are busy!!!
Pokolbin estate: the only producer of riesling in the hunter...and its good. great olives available here aswell. Try and buy a bottle of their 1999 sem...its bloody awesome.
Margan @ Broke: great wines and great kitchen ...yummo
Ballobourneen (spelling??) the young kid on the bloke doing some interesting things...worth a visit. Dan is a great guy.
Food
- Amanda's on the edge
- The Cellar
- Esca @ bimbadgen
- Cracked Pepper
- The Verandah
Bed
This really depends on what you are after...if you are like me and would rather spend the money on food and booze...then stay in cessnock at one of the motels or pubs...if however you want to spend plenty of coin on a bed then stay in pokolbin. Check out wotif.com for the latest deals....you can spend stupid amounts of money if you want. But cessnock is only 10-15 mins from the vineyard (less really...like 5mins) so worth the drive.....however there is a huge lack of decent food in town...eat and drink in the vineyards...sleep in town.
Hope this helps some what.
There are plenty of other great wineries and restaraunts in the hunter but my hands are getting sore from typing so I am going to go and drink some wine...and hopefully get back to my uni work.
Just make sure you enjoy your trip!!!
Brett
Wineries:
Mount Pleasant: I used to work here. Great mix of local and inter-region wines. Staff are pretty cruisy and willing to help out. New chef in the kitchen as well so might be worth a stab for lunch....if only there for wine make sure you try their semillon....they are know world wide for it.
Tyrell's: Much like mount pleasant this is a hunter institution....great wines and great people. Deffinatley try their vat1, 9 and 8...aswell as their single vineyard wines.
Brokenwood: Have worked in the winery there for vintage...and have to say from a customer point of view have never been disappointed. I have read a bit of negative feedback, generally relating to the fact that they are packed at times and white wines may be served at room temp. if you can look past this they are a great place to visit....there is a reason they are busy!!!
Pokolbin estate: the only producer of riesling in the hunter...and its good. great olives available here aswell. Try and buy a bottle of their 1999 sem...its bloody awesome.
Margan @ Broke: great wines and great kitchen ...yummo
Ballobourneen (spelling??) the young kid on the bloke doing some interesting things...worth a visit. Dan is a great guy.
Food
- Amanda's on the edge
- The Cellar
- Esca @ bimbadgen
- Cracked Pepper
- The Verandah
Bed
This really depends on what you are after...if you are like me and would rather spend the money on food and booze...then stay in cessnock at one of the motels or pubs...if however you want to spend plenty of coin on a bed then stay in pokolbin. Check out wotif.com for the latest deals....you can spend stupid amounts of money if you want. But cessnock is only 10-15 mins from the vineyard (less really...like 5mins) so worth the drive.....however there is a huge lack of decent food in town...eat and drink in the vineyards...sleep in town.
Hope this helps some what.
There are plenty of other great wineries and restaraunts in the hunter but my hands are getting sore from typing so I am going to go and drink some wine...and hopefully get back to my uni work.
Just make sure you enjoy your trip!!!
Brett
I've never been awestruck by the Tyrrell's or Brokenwood cellar door experiences. The former is very coach party and the latter friendly but inexperienced. No Graveyard tasting either, last time I was there anyway.
Not sure why Tower got a knock here - it may not be the absolute most friendly of all but I've never had any problems there and they always have something worth trying. Pepper Tree, just round the corner from there, is very pretty and I have had one really memorable tasting experience there when we ended up pretty much locking the doors and getting stuck in.
I tend to favour some of the boutique wineries - Tatler have good wine and are generally very friendly, Chateau Francois has the best value in the Hunter and Piggs Peake is great fun though the last vintages I tried of theirs had slipped a bit from a successful previous year.
Others will know this better than me, but wasn't 2008 a catastrophic Hunter vintage?
Not sure why Tower got a knock here - it may not be the absolute most friendly of all but I've never had any problems there and they always have something worth trying. Pepper Tree, just round the corner from there, is very pretty and I have had one really memorable tasting experience there when we ended up pretty much locking the doors and getting stuck in.
I tend to favour some of the boutique wineries - Tatler have good wine and are generally very friendly, Chateau Francois has the best value in the Hunter and Piggs Peake is great fun though the last vintages I tried of theirs had slipped a bit from a successful previous year.
Others will know this better than me, but wasn't 2008 a catastrophic Hunter vintage?
3, 65, 7, 50
Have to agree with the boutiques - We go up every year with family for a long weekend, and have had a few good large winery experiences (Tyrrell's for example) but they tend to churn through masses of daytripping coach buses. Besides, Tyrrell's has had very poor recent vintages so no Vat 9 has been produced since the great 2007, and the cellar door is all out of stock (as of 3 weeks ago). They are only selling the 1998, for $100 (ouch)!
Try McLeish for hunter varieties semillon and shiraz, and Petersons at Mt View (not the champagne house). Also in agreeance with recommending Scarborough, although I really enjoy their Chardonnays and see their focus on Chardonnay as a positive.
Try McLeish for hunter varieties semillon and shiraz, and Petersons at Mt View (not the champagne house). Also in agreeance with recommending Scarborough, although I really enjoy their Chardonnays and see their focus on Chardonnay as a positive.
Last edited by odyssey on Fri Aug 14, 2009 12:16 pm, edited 5 times in total.
If you want a great experience with your partner, Lindemans does an "Ultimate Indulgence" wine-matching meal that is outstandingly good. We got the following at Lindemans only a few weeks ago for $50 per person. I truly recommend trying to book:
Tiger Prawn Pate with Micro Herb Salad & Toasted Ciabatta
2004 Reserve Sparkling
2008 Hunter Valley Semillon
2004 Hunter Valley Reserve Semillon
Smoked Chicken & Roast Tomato Mille Feuille with Garlic & Watercress Cream
2008 Hunter Valley Chardonnay
1999 Hunter Valley Sparkling Shiraz
2007 Hunter Valley Shiraz
Dukka Crusted Lamb Loin with Sweet Potato Puree & Beetroot Skordalia
1999 Steven Shiraz
2005 Pyrus Cabernet Merlot Malbec
2005 Limestone Ridge Shiraz Cabernet
Toasted Macadamia Nut Tart with Dark Chocolate Truffle & Fresh Berries
2008 Juliet Moscato
NV Cheear Muscat
Penfold Bluestone Tawny
This was an amazing experience. My tastebuds can still remember the beautiful Tiger Prawn Pate, the creamy Smoked Chicken, the amazing caramelly Macadamia Nut Tart... I think I'm drooling on my work keyboard right now....
In addition the chap who presented us with the wines gave us very healthy bin-end pricing at the cellar door ($35 for the 2005 Limestone Ridge and Pyrus).
Tiger Prawn Pate with Micro Herb Salad & Toasted Ciabatta
2004 Reserve Sparkling
2008 Hunter Valley Semillon
2004 Hunter Valley Reserve Semillon
Smoked Chicken & Roast Tomato Mille Feuille with Garlic & Watercress Cream
2008 Hunter Valley Chardonnay
1999 Hunter Valley Sparkling Shiraz
2007 Hunter Valley Shiraz
Dukka Crusted Lamb Loin with Sweet Potato Puree & Beetroot Skordalia
1999 Steven Shiraz
2005 Pyrus Cabernet Merlot Malbec
2005 Limestone Ridge Shiraz Cabernet
Toasted Macadamia Nut Tart with Dark Chocolate Truffle & Fresh Berries
2008 Juliet Moscato
NV Cheear Muscat
Penfold Bluestone Tawny
This was an amazing experience. My tastebuds can still remember the beautiful Tiger Prawn Pate, the creamy Smoked Chicken, the amazing caramelly Macadamia Nut Tart... I think I'm drooling on my work keyboard right now....
In addition the chap who presented us with the wines gave us very healthy bin-end pricing at the cellar door ($35 for the 2005 Limestone Ridge and Pyrus).
Last edited by odyssey on Fri Aug 14, 2009 12:19 pm, edited 3 times in total.
-
cuttlefish
- Posts: 1014
- Joined: Thu Sep 22, 2005 1:46 pm
- Location: Sunbury
We usually stay at the Heritage Inn which is a middle of the road motel that's clean and always seems to be quiet. It's just out of the centre of town, maybe 5-10 minutes walk. On the weekends the pubs on the main drag do get crowded and have live music, but they're quite noisy, and chances are there will be brawling, etc. (girls will be girls 
)
Mount View Estate out on Mount View Road are a smaller maker firing at the moment. They may still be selling some of their Pinot Noir, which is a wine of interest, and you should demand to taste their 2007 Flagship shiraz if it's available. Next door is Petersons who make some good wines also, and you can keep driving up the hill for a rather good lookout over the town and surrounds. All this literally 5 minutes drive from Cessnock.
)
Mount View Estate out on Mount View Road are a smaller maker firing at the moment. They may still be selling some of their Pinot Noir, which is a wine of interest, and you should demand to taste their 2007 Flagship shiraz if it's available. Next door is Petersons who make some good wines also, and you can keep driving up the hill for a rather good lookout over the town and surrounds. All this literally 5 minutes drive from Cessnock.
Smack my [insert grape type here] up !
odyssey wrote:If you want a great experience with your partner, Lindemans does an "Ultimate Indulgence" wine-matching meal that is outstandingly good. We got the following at Lindemans only a few weeks ago for $50 per person. I truly recommend trying to book:
Wow, if I had known this I would have stopped there for lunch. We did Mount Pleasant for lunch last time, and the food was very good, and they also have very good flights of wines to match the food at very reasonable prices...
Agree with Loztralia's sentiments about the Tyrrell's cellar door. The staff are very generous with the pourings of the wines, you can taste everything they have opened, but I still felt a bit overwhelmed by the rush of having lots of people there.
I am put off by unfriendly cellar doors and the one at Tower was almost cold when I was there. I also don't believe in their philosophy of making wine from all over Australia anymore.
Do you golf?
If so, you could stay at one of the golf resorts in pokolbin. Could keep yourself occupied while the better half gets a spa treatment, then could head off together for 2 or 3 wineries in the afternoon.
As to tastings, the Small wineries of the Hunter centre (or whatever it is called, opposite Brokenwood) is great to try several wineries in one spot. They also have a tasting room upstairs where tastes of several icon/flagship wines from older vintages are available in Riedel glasses for a fee. Additionally, the Boutique wine centre where you taste most of the Meerea Park gear most of the time...
Have a great one...
If so, you could stay at one of the golf resorts in pokolbin. Could keep yourself occupied while the better half gets a spa treatment, then could head off together for 2 or 3 wineries in the afternoon.
As to tastings, the Small wineries of the Hunter centre (or whatever it is called, opposite Brokenwood) is great to try several wineries in one spot. They also have a tasting room upstairs where tastes of several icon/flagship wines from older vintages are available in Riedel glasses for a fee. Additionally, the Boutique wine centre where you taste most of the Meerea Park gear most of the time...
Have a great one...
) I'm not interested. Dull I know. Drives my Aussie Rules nut General manager crazy! Thanks for the tips though.