The Auswine Forum

I am in Armidale, NSW at the moment and have my car with me. I'm interested in checking out some wine regions in NSW. I'll be flying solo and I have never visited a winery in NSW before. My wine knowledge is good.

My destination from here is Yamba, so if there are any New England wineries along the way worth visiting that would be good. I had a New England shiraz at dinner the other night and was surprised how good it was for the price (the chardonnay I tried, not so much).

After that I'll be heading down the coast and will end up in the Hunter. What cellar doors to people recommend there for a first time visitor? I can time my visit to be on the weekend if that makes it easier.

Lastly there's Orange, any recommendations there? I'm not much of a Sav Blanc drinker and I'm not sure what else the region has to offer?

Any help appreciated
Thanks, Chris

Hi Chris
I haven' been to the Hunter for a while, so I will leave it to the more informed however i stll have fond memories of McWilliams Mount Pleasant.
In relation to Orange, I visit relatives once a year, and must escape to a winery or to to regain my sanity: The wineries are scattered all around the area and if you are on a tight time frame, it is important to plan your itenary. Recommendations are:
Ross Hill - great range of wines, over different price points, (pop into Brangayne-which is nearby)
Phillip Shaw: great setting, good quality tasting glasses, good range of wines but a little expensive
Bloodwood: what an experience to meet Rhonda & Stephen Doyle, good wines, a bit expensive, however you will be made welcome with very personal attention, you will need a couple of hours and ring before your visit
Printhie: I have not been to the Cellar door but I have heard good things about the winery.

My favourite selection of wines from the Orange region are:
Riesling, Chardonay & S.B(although I am not a fan of S.B. Orange SB's are completely different to NZ SBs), Merlot, Pinot, & CabSav's.
Unfortunately these three wineries are not close to each other.
I hope you have an enjoyable trip.
Regards
Phil

Cheers Phil, very helpful. Timeframe shouldn't be an issue so I should be able to get to all of them if I'm still up for wine touring after I've been in the Hunter.

I've sorted myself out as far as what's available midweek in New England - not much. I should be able to get to Wright Robertson though which is good as they made the shiraz I had the other night where I was surprised at the quality (the 2011 Black Poll, for the record - $22 retail apparently, I paid only $30 at dinner).

Still looking for advice on the Hunter if anyone reads this.

My shortlist of Hunter cellar doors would be (in no particular order).... All within 1-10 mins drive of each other.

Tyrrell's
Meerea Park
McWilliams (Lunch option)
De Iuliis (lunch option)
Small Winemakers Centre

Tulloch's (Polkolbin Dry Red) and McLeish (Semillon) are also worth trying in Pokolbin and Margan at Broke is also a good lunch option. Tyrrell's has already been mentioned and is a must. Try the Rose at Robyn Draytons

Perfect, thanks guys. Small winemakers centre sounds good, there's one of them in the Barossa and I would definitely recommend it to people going there.

Have fun, ChrisV

I was in the Hunter this time last year, and it is not just about the wineries. If you get a chance to dine at (Robert) Molines restaurant, then grab it with both hands, and you could do worse than wandering across the corridor to visit Tallavera Grove wines as well.

Apart from that, I can thoroughly recommend Margans for lunch and for wine.

I have been to the Small Winemakers Center on a previous trip and can endorse it.

Hungerford Hill is a slightly more casual lunch / wine option, with some pretty good top-end wines.

I also agree you should see some history - Tyrrells, McWilliams Mount Pleasant.

Please give us a report on how your trip goes.

Cheers

Allan

Meerea Park is a must in the Hunter. If you're lucky Garth will be working and you'll get a good yarn as well as excellent wine.
Tulloch is generally worth a stop.
I always enjoy Piggs Peake. A bit out of the way and the wines are, well, pretty crazy - totally non-Hunter style, but well made. And generally a highly entertaining cellar door experience.
Tyrrell's has fantastic wine but the cellar door is pretty bus-tour heavy and it's a bit pot luck whether you get to taste many of the good wines. Probably worth persevering with, though.
Pepper Tree is good - they have a lot of Coonawarra/Wratonbully wine but Jim Chatto is the winemaker so while it may not be regional it is generally excellent.

I second Meerea Park Estate... really top notch vino.
Allandale also make some nice wines and have a good breadth of range
I do think Brokenwood is still always worth a visit too, though it can get a bit crazy
I also like Briar Ridge, McLeish Estate and Gundog Estate.

In Orange Philip Shaw is an absolute must visit, their wines are very very good.

I'm out of New England. I can recommend Wright Robertson to anyone passing through, it's on the main road near Glencoe. The woman at the cellar door was very pleasant and they had a Pinot Gris/Gewurztraminer blend which was really rather good. The blend seemed good to me as Pinot Gris generally has not enough flavour and Gewurz frequently rather too much. And New England being pretty cold, the tendencies of Gewurz to sweetness etc were kept in check.

Thanks to everyone else who has posted.

Tyrrells is a good stop but I agree, you might have a very mediocre experience or a really good one depending on what you get to taste...
Meerea park is always a must
Mistletoe has been making a lot of good stuff lately..I wish their prices didn't go up so much..

Piggs Peake is great for something different...most of their stuff is not from the Hunter but it is all well made...even if some of it is crazy big, crazy alcohol.
Pepper Tree has a lot of good stuff...and maybe their member's tasting is better but I'm usually disappointed by what they have available for tasting at the cellar door...

Briar Ridge has had some good stuff..
McLeish will have a wide range of things to try...
Scarborough is a good tasting experience as far as how they line it up for you...
Keith Tullochs
Tullochs

For something different you might try Carriages...Small Boutique hotel....Their Shiraz is made by Andrew Thomas...generally some pretty well made stuff that you won't generally see anywhere else..

Small Winemakers will have a good variety..but I don't like that they actually charge MORE than RRP...it is a bit insulting...
There is also a wine tasting centre in one of the shopping areas....They'll carry a bunch of random stuff..but they also carry Ferraris Estate...Rhys (of Meerea Park) makes their stuff..it is generally pretty good for the price..

These are the 4 of my "must stop" location everytime i head up to hunter, main reason is they all have good reds and whites(plus sweets) wine for everyone in the group.

Tyrrell's
Meerea Park
McWilliams mount pleasant
Tulloch

if you have the time to stay longer than a day, these are worth checking out too.

Brokenwood (not all wines are free tasting)
lindemans
Mcguigan
Small winemaker centre ( you can only taste the wine they have with a star symbol next to it on the list).i remember its $5 to taste 6 different wines.