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Hunter Valley wine country
One of the historic wine growing areas of Australia, the Hunter Valley at first
glance seems ill-suited to producing fine wines: it's too hot, and harvest time is often
disrupted by rain. But just a two hour drive from Sydney, it is a great place for some
wine tourism, and I was pleasanty surprised by some of the excellent wines that are being
made here. This illustrated report includes full details of visits to 12 of the leading
producers.
The producers
With over 70 to choose from and only a few days for visits, deciding which wineries
to target was a difficult decision. I was fortunate to have some good advice from my
Aussie wine contacts, and throughout my winery visits I asked the cellar door staff their
opinions of the other wineries in the Hunter -- some of the answers were quite helpful,
others unprintable (e.g. secret family feuds and 'pissy wine', to quote one)! Wineries
which were highly recommended but which I didn't get a chance to visit included Lakes
Folly, Marsh and Thalgara. Otherwise, the list here includes many of the wineries that are
considered to be the best in the Valley.
The pick of the Hunter:
the best wines tasted
Overall I tasted some 103 wines; fortunately I was spitting. Here is a selection of
15 of the best, although bear in mind that some of these wines are made from fruit grown
outside the Hunter.
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