With more wineries as well as cellar doors than you can shake the proverbial at, the hunter Valley can be bewildering when it comes to selecting a wine-tasting experience. right here are 12 of our favourites.
Broad sweeping vistas, craggy mountain peaks as well as braided rows of vines striating the land, the hunter Valley is a wine-lover’s dream.
But when we very first visited the hunter Valley, we didn’t truly understand much about vineyards, cellar doors or—to be honest—wine in general. Jim had been to a couple of wineries in WA years before as well as I’d visited some with my parents before I was old sufficient to enjoy their primary purpose.
We likewise didn’t understand a great deal about the hunter Valley as well as discovered it rather confusing.
Thanks to the patience of a few winemakers as well as their households like the Scarboroughs, Whispering Brook and the great people at Bimbadgen, we have a much much better comprehending of the region as well as even have a few of their favourite wineries to show you.
Here’s a quick video of what it’s like to check out a few of the hunter Valley’s finest cellar doors.
12 hunter Valley cellar doors you can’t miss
1. Bimbadgen Estate, Pokolbin
With its iconic spire, entrance looking down on the winery floor as well as award-winning restaurant Esca, Bimbadgen is a genuine landmark of the hunter Valley.
Find a seat at Bimbadgen’s tasting space or in the garden as well as enjoy their excellent sparkling, Semillon as well as Shiraz, as well as wood-fired pizzas.
2. Comyns & Co Wines, Pokolbin
Just next door to our favourite cafe Enzo in Peppers Creek Village, owner-winemakers Scott as well as Missy Comyns have produced a awesome yet comfortable vibe in their new cellar door.
Their wines represent the small-batch parcels of premium hunter fruit finest shown in their Shiraz as well as Semillon wines.
3. Gartelmann, Lovedale
This quite cellar door as well as its veranda overlook a little lake as well as its hectic eatery—The Deck Cafe. The wines are beautifully made; bright, vibrant reds, well-structured whites as well as some extremely moreish stickies. pro tip: for an elevated experience, request Luke to conduct your tasting.
There’s likewise a smallholding with pigs, small horses as well as fluffy chooks.
4. Glandore Estate, Pokolbin
Although the cellar door is beautiful, with its subjected beams as well as sweeping deck overlooking the garden as well as vines, as well as the wines—particularly the Chardonnay as well as Shiraz—are truly delicious, it’s choosing Day that truly sets this winery apart.
Get amongst the vines to gather the vintage, stomp grapes, play games of bocce as well as feast on a lunch banquet. You can discover out more here.
5. Margan Wines & Restaurant, Broke
Its stunning cellar door as well as personal tasting space amongst the wine barrels sets Margan apart, as does its excellent wine selection. Semillon, Albarino as well as aromatic vermouth are tasty here.
Margan’s restaurant is one of the very best in the Hunter. Its aim for lowest possible food miles puts the micro-farm on the residential or commercial property into great utilize as well as adds one more dimension to this winery.
6. Oakvale Wines, Pokolbin
Across the road from Glandore Estate, Oakvale is one of the oldest, most highly-regarded wineries in the region. Its Semillon, Chardonnay as well as Cabernet Shiraz are stand-outs, as well as the Sparkling Bellini is a cheeky fun number.
7. Scarborough wine Co, Pokolbin
The preeminent hunter Valley winery as well as our personal favourite, this is the winery to whom we owe our like of the Hunter.
The cellar door is the Scarborough family’s old household home, renovated to bring you views over the damaged Back mountain variety while you taste the very best Chardonnay as well as Pinot Noir you’ll discover in the region.
8. Tintilla Estate, Pokolbin
Maxing out the rustic vibe, this cellar door set on a deck overlooking the vines, always has one of the Lusby household on hand to talk you with the wines. Their variety of fortified wines is well worth visiting.
9. Petersons Wines Broke Road, Pokolbin
Often when you believe of Petersons, it’s fun bubbles as well as hens parties—which is fantastic since that’s who they’re aiming at.
But rather than going to the bigger cellar door—Petersons House—on the corner of Broke road as well as wine country Drive, bring on about a kilometre down Broke Road. Their smaller cellar door is cosy as well as quiet, as well as has some absolutely astonishing aged sparkling Semillon (and aged reds as well actually) that will confound you.
10. Vamp by Lisa McGuigan Wines, Pokolbin
If you’re looking for a cellar door that’s totally different to any type of other you’ve ever visited, Vamp is for you. far from the bright, light timber as well as vista-driven cellar doors you usually find, Vamp is a luxe trip to antiquity.
Created by visionary as well as fourth-generation wine-maker Lisa McGuigan, black walls are decked with medieval hardware as well as chainmail, a circular tasting bar of polished steel as well as bottles are labelled with silver embossed emblems, this is a cellar door like no other.
11. Whispering Brook, Broke
From the long driveway with the vines to the cosy rural cellar door to the rows of olive trees out the back, this is a winery directly from the hills of Tuscany or Provence.
And specialising in Portuguese varietals, Whispering Brook doubles down on its European vibe with its annual Olive long Table Lunch—a gorgeous banquet set between the boughs of the vineyard’s olive groves.
12. Wild Wren Wines, Pokolbin
Light as well as airy, this happy bit cellar door in the midst of the Peppers Creek village is a fair representation of the wines that they pour: approachable, bright as well as beautifully made.
It’s likewise worth tasting their gin as well, which is served in a jigger for you to pour as you wish, to sample with as well as without tonic.
Bonus: The wine House, Pokolbin
If you’re short of time, want to discover unusual or restricted edition wines, or would like to check out the hunter wineries that are as well little to have their own cellar door, the wine home is your place.
We visited the wine home during the hunter Valley wine as well as Food celebration in June for their Grange vs the hunter experience, where you have a ‘taste-off’ with Grange up against four of the very best Shiraz the hunter Valley has to offer. truly great fun.
Readers’ recos
Over the years, we’ve had so many visitors compose in with their suggestions for which hunter Valley cellar doors to visit. right here are a few of them:
Christine Eccles: “Travertine Wines (beautiful setting as well as great Fiano as well as Chambourcin), Ivanhoe Wines for its reds as well as view, Moorebank personal Estate for its Sheila Shiraz, Muscat as well as homemade lemonade, as well as Krinklewood Biodynamic: fantastic French setting as well as fantastic wine.”
Sonia: “First Creek Wines—brilliant wines at a extremely downplayed cellar door.”
Naomi Cranfield: “Mistletoe wines are gorgeous particularly the hunter Rose.”
Sue: “My new favourite is Tamburlaine Wines—organic as well as preservative free. may noise a bit cliche, however they really taste better!
“The personnel at the cellar door were extremely useful as well as knowledgeable as well as did not push to offer in any type of way. The wines are extremely well priced. Not a sit down as well as sip wine all afternoon experience, however I will never go to the vineyards once again without calling into my favourite vineyard.”
Do you have any type of favourite hunter Valley cellar doors you want to tell us about? Leave your reco in the comments below.