As seems to be the case with any wine country that I’ve been to, the ride out was scenic enough on its own to make the trip worthwhile. The route to the Hunter Valley wound through scenic river valleys and the northeastern fringe of the Blue Mountains along a few twisting back country roads that provided a much needed horsepower fix. After reaching the Hunter Valley, I took a drive around to scout out wineries for the next days' sampling and was surprised to find that the region was fairly compact. Dozens of wineries were lined up all within no more than 30 minutes drive in any direction of my guesthouse.
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| From The Hunter Va... |
The next morning I awoke to begin exploring the dozen wineries I’d selected for sampling. Within a few moments of stepping out of the guesthouse, I discovered a unique characteristic of the Hunter Valley that I hadn’t experienced in other wine regions. The Hunter Valley gets hot - very hot. The temperature was easily 85F by mid morning and hovered around 90F most of the day.
As I learned during my tasting tour, the climate plays a big role in which grapes can be grown in the area, thus dictating which wines are produced by the Hunter region. Chardonnay and another white, Semilion, which I hadn’t tried before, are the area’s main product. While not a usual white drinker, the majority I sampled tasted very good. Merlot and Shiraz also thrive in the warm conditions, although I found most of those to be a bit lacking compared to what I was used to drinking in that style. The Margaret River Valley in South Australia, a more heralded wine region of Australia, seems to produce the best reds, but it was still interesting to try Hunter’s versions for comparison since Merlot and Shiraz are two of my standard wine choices.
The wineries themselves provided even more variety than the wine styles. Few opted for the standard wine estate look, instead most had a feeling of a ranches whose crop just happened to be grapes and wine instead of other produce or cattle and the ranch houses serving as tasting rooms. Each had its own character and style and the staff were more than willing to provide information and background on the wines and the area which I found immensely helpful to better enjoy the experience. A few embraced a more chic style with ultra modern design that seemed a little out of place in the laid back area but didn‘t seem to affect their popularity. Very few, if any, seemed like they were out to conquer the world with most seemingly happy with whatever level of business they currently enjoyed.
At most wineries I usually found just one wine that I liked, white or red. But at my favorite winery, Tulloch, I enjoyed all the wines sampled as they seemed to match my taste buds well. Unfortunately, as I found to be the case with most of the wineries in the Hunter Valley, Tulloch doesn’t export to the US so I had to settle for a few extra swishes around my cheeks before depositing the sample in the nearest spittoon. Toting a couple bottles in my bag for the next few months didn’t seem to be a viable option.
I made ample use of the spittoon during my day driving myself around sampling wines. But, I was glad to have booked a second night at my guesthouse to sleep away any possible effects the couple sips of wine that found their way down my throat could’ve had. It also gave me the opportunity to take a detour through the Blue Mountains on a long, twisty and scenic back country road on my way back to Sydney the next day. One last workout to satiate my lead foot for the next few months.
HUNTER VALLEY & BLUE MOUNTAINS PHOTOS: http://picasaweb.google.com/gscottie/TheHunterValleyTheBlueMountains07
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