Walk, Talk, Taste And Be Merry

Sydney Morning Herald

Tuesday March 11, 2008

Kelsey Munro

Australia's oldest wine region keeps expanding in experiences for the traveller and in the varieties of grapes. Kelsey Munro writes.

THEY say Hunter semillons are perfect with seafood but I'm not sure this is what they have in mind. Brokenwood winery launches its annual grape harvest with "grape hammers" all round: a concoction of just-crushed semillon juice, a fresh oyster and a vodka shot. It's to be downed just before heading to the vineyards to pick.

It sounds like a wonderfully bacchanalian harvest ritual until you hear that not only is grape-picking seriously hard work but the pickers all doss in bunks in the communal space above the winery at the end of the day.

That's not quite the pastoral-idyll version of the Hunter at harvest time - that's for visitors, who can roam from vineyard to cellar door, fine dining to five-star bed with no more effort than lifting a glass.

This unusually wet summer has caused sleepless nights for winemakers but the normally dry valley is verdant. It's never looked prettier: a perfect time, the Hunter's wine industry says, to get reacquainted with the country's oldest wine region.

The Hunter has more wineries than any Australian region - about 140 cellar doors. Many are boutique wineries creating small quantities of premium wines available only at the cellar door or top restaurants.

"In 1969 there were seven wine companies, no accommodation, few restaurants," says Keith Tulloch, fourth- generation winemaker who works from a picturesque Hermitage Road vineyard.

"Now there's over 150 different wine brands, an amazing array of accommodation from simple cabins to luxury resorts, and great food."

Local and international recognition of the distinct regionality of Hunter semillon and shiraz underpins the growth.

"Young semillons from the Hunter have a quality that wines from nowhere else have," Tulloch says.

Brokenwood's manager, Geoff Krieger, agrees. "The future of Australian wine is regionality," he says. Brokenwood's signature Graveyard Shiraz claims to be one of the Hunter's best.

Other region winemakers have moved beyond the longstanding semillon and shiraz, successfully introducing varieties such as pinot, tempranillo and barbera.

Duane Roy's tiny new winery, Glandore, on Broke Road, is producing a pinot noir. "With the year we've had being so cool, it's coming up a very traditional-style pinot; we're very happy with it," the winemaker says. He also makes semillon, chardonnay, shiraz and tempranillo. The three-year-old winery produces only 2000 cases a year, available at a handful of restaurants and the cellar door.

Family-run operation Scarborough - where Roy previously worked - has a superb signature chardonnay but also grows pinot rose and pinot noir from Hunter grapes.

The Margan family of winemakers recently began growing the Italian grape barbera at Broke. "We were looking at planting an Italian variety, perhaps sangiovese," restaurateur Lisa Margan says. "But barbera worked better in the Hunter ... Our barbera recently won third prize in a competition in Piedmont. It's only available here - it gives people a reason to visit."

As does the Margan restaurant: its spectacular shared platters are reason enough to visit (open Fridays and weekends).

Foodies are increasingly well served, with one-hatted restaurant Rock (at Poole's Rock winery) and vegetarian-friendly Terroir (at Hungerford Hill) joined by others such as the Smelly Cheese Shop, the Regional Food Cafe and the Hunter Valley Chocolate Co.

If your mission is to learn more about wine, there are several options. Audrey Wilkinson's, one of the Hunter's oldest vineyards, has a "Walk, Talk and Taste" tour, during which visitors taste wines while wandering through the vineyard. Other wineries have public tours: these include Tyrrells at 1.30pm daily, and Brokenwood by appointment.

Tour operator Brian Metcalfe does a "vine to table" tour, tailored to high-end customers. It may involve an educational stroll through the grapes, barrel or vat sampling, degustation lunch and tastings of classic semillons.

Hunter accommodation options have also gone upscale, including the designer Tonic Hotel and new Crowne Plaza (both at Lovedale), Grand Mercure apartments on the golf course at the Vintage, the Hermitage Lodge at Pokolbin and the historic Peppers Convent off Halls Road.

Just spare a thought for Brokenwood's pickers as you settle into your five-star bed.

Best known for Semillon

Getting there Cessnock and Pokolbin are approximately 21/2 hours' drive north west, via the F3 and head for the Hunter at the Cessnock Hunter exit.

© 2008 Sydney Morning Herald

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