A visitors guide Hunters Valley

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A visitors guide Hunters Valley, New South Wales

Less than two hours North of Sydney lies the Hunter Valley – one of the world’s most famous wine growing regions.

This is not without good reason too – around 140 wineries cram themselves into this tiny corner of the globe, and with so many, competition is fierce. So fierce, in fact, that most of them are quite happy to let Joe and Jane Public come and taste wine for free.

The Hunter Valley wine country is made up of several regions. Almost all of the Hunter falls within an east-west strip about 80 kilometres wide beginning 160 kilometres north of Sydney. It is a very large area at 12,000 square kilometres and it’s difficult to imagine how many millions of litres and thousands of bottles of vino from here actually end up in cellars around the world.

Most of the wineries – or at least their tasting centres – are based around Pokolbin. On the map, it looks like a fairly major population centre. But this is a cunning trick. Realistically it is two or three shops, surrounded by loads and loads and vines.

The best tours, tasting sessions and scenery can be found at every cellar door – some of which have been open for business for over 150 years – along with top quality traditional Hunter Valley wines such as Semillon, Chardonnay, Shiraz and Cabernet.
And as well as wonderful wines you also have the chance to sample cheeses, breads, chocolates, fudge and all manner of other fine foods.

What to do

If you want to look vaguely professional whilst in the posh-looking tasting rooms, here’s what to do. Swish the wine around in your glass. Not over the sides, mind. Stick your nose in and give it a good hard sniff to see if you can detect any particular flavours in there by sense of smell alone. Take a sip, and swirl it round your mouth so that your whole palate gets to taste it. Say in an obnoxious tone of voice which barely detectable fruits you can pick out, or whether it tastes ‘oaky’. Chug the rest of it down. Wash your glass out with water before moving on to the next sample.

Wine aside, what else is there to do in the Hunter Valley?
Whilst the Hunter Valley’s main drawcard is quite clearly the 140 or so wineries that churn out some of the world’s most famous plonk, but there are plenty of other things to do while you are there.

Golf – Visitors to the Hunter Valley, not only visit for the excellent wines, but have the choice of four championship golf courses.

Horse Riding – The Hunter Valley is undoubtedly in the country, and that means horses. There are few better things to clear the hangover than the clean country air. Granted, great big stinking nags don’t really help matters, but it’s undoubtedly good fun whether you’ve ridden before or you’re a complete novice.

The Hunter Valley from above – From the air, the Hunter Valley looks really quite special and those with a bit of spare cash can see it in either a plane, helicopter or hot air balloon.

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