Day 10 - The Hunter Valley

Day 10
We were again up early to get ready for the wine tour! We had to catch the Stockton-Newcastle ferry at 8am to get a connecting bus to the Hunter Valley. As Scott was getting all the paperwork ready he noticed in one of the emails that he was supposed to have paid 2 days before! Oops! We decided to still take a chance and hoped they hadn’t filled our spaces. We had a pleasant walk in the morning sunshine down to the ferry wharf which was about 20 minutes away. We bought our tickets and joined the two other people who were making the 5 minute journey across the hunter river. We then took the short walk towards the bus terminal and could see the 20 seater Wine Rover Coach waiting!

We boarded the coach and were very relieved that Brian the coach driver had 3 spaces! We only needed the two so quickly took our seats! We didn’t have the cash for him but he said there was an ATM in the Hunter so could pay him then. Brian said he was waiting for five more to pick up from Newcastle before setting off for the Hunter. As the minutes ticked by we were still waiting. Two of them appeared who were in there mid twenties and said the others were on the way. Another one appeared five minutes later and hopped on. The last two were late and this was a sign of things to come. They eventually turned up at 8:35 with Brian threatening to leave them behind if they weren’t there on time. They had all brought a picnic which Deb was very jealous of as we had just brought ourselves. We set off for the hour journey to the Hunter and Brian helpfully gave us an itinerary for the day: wine, olives, wine, liquors, lunch, wine, wine, cheese, beer, chocolate. This sounded like heaven to us!

As we approached the Hunter we picked up a group of 4 middle aged women who seemed to have made it their mission to outcompete the younger girls on volume. The high pitched wailing was almost too much to bare and we were pleased to be nearing our first tasting of the day. However, we still had four couples to pick up. The first was a young Dutch couple from a caravan site and was quickly followed by an Aussie couple and then two more couples from a five star resort everyone on the bus was jealous of! Then it was off for our 10am appointment at Kevin Sobels Winery. The scenery of the hunter is vineyards that stretch endlessly up the hill sides with occasional gaps. We later learn that the hunter has 27 different soil types and not all are suitable for grapes! These are left for general farming.

As we entered Sobels we were met by Gus who is a huge St Bernard! We were directed to a back room which had glasses lined up on the bar and jugs of water. Once everyone had filed in were able to sample a selection of wines including four whites. As you should do with wine tasting you begin with the driest whites and work up to the sweeter fruity outfits. The Semillon was first which is what the Hunter is world renowned for. Very crisp and acidic so is perfect accompament with seafood. Next were a Chardonnay then a Verdelho (tasted like pineapple juice!) and finally a Gewurtztraminer. Gewurtz is the German for spicy so indicates how the Hunter Traminer is different from its cousins elsewhere in the world. They explained how to taste wine in three easy steps.

1. Look – White wine begins clear and becomes lemon and more green as it ages. It can become brown if left too long! Reds often become deeper and darker as they mature.
2. Swirl and Sniff – Hold the stem and give it a swirl and decide what the aromas are. Berries or green apples or maybe more exotic like passion fruit and pineapple??
3. Taste – Have a sip and swill around the mouth to reach all the taste buds. You should expect at least three tastes before getting the full flavour!

Next we moved on to the reds. A glass of water to cleanse the pallet was required. The reds you taste from the fruity sweet varieties and finish with the full bodied reds. The apparent opposite way round to the whites! We started with a chilled red called ‘Sweet ‘n’ Luverly’ which did exactly what it said on the tin; this is perfect with a BBQ sat in the sunshine. We had two more reds. The first was a Merlot and then a Shiraz which is the most common red variety grown in the Hunter as it is so perfectly suited to the climate creating great wines. We finally finished with the fortified wine and tried a tawny port. This is one of the best ports we have tried!! It was toffee tasting with an almost velvety quality in the mouth. How do they make Port I hear you all ask?? You take a grape (Cab Sav in this case) then add a fine quality Brandy to it! This ups the alcohol content and ceases the fermentation process. It also halts any oxidisation so in theory will keep for a very very long time even if opened! We finished here and moved on feeling a little intoxicated after having the equivalent of two glasses of wine in the space of about 40 minutes!

Next stop was the Olive centre which was a nice break from the alcohol. They had a huge selection of Olives, Jams, Preserves, Oils, etc... All very tasty. Deb’s particular favourite was the lemon butter! A very velvety lemon curd was Deb’s description! You were able to dunk big chunks of bread in all the products (Double dips NOT allowed). Before we arrived Brian described a speciality product of the centre, The Ring of Fire. It is a chilli paste which has four stages.

1. Immediate – A burn on the tongue
2. Seconds – The burn moves through the throat and sometimes induces a cough
3. Minutes – The sinuses and eyes water
4. Next Day – It’s how it gets its name!

The girls with the picnic bought some extra supplies and we all got back on the bus! We next moved to another winery. This one was called Tulloch. The vineyard was created by a Scottish family and has been in the family ever since now in the fourth generation. We were ushered into a room with an appearance of a board room and grabbed our tasting glasses. The chap leading the tasting must have been in his seventies and had lots of tall stories to share! However, by this time the girls were getting louder and louder and beginning to start talking over the bloke leading the tasting. We tried a huge range on wines here including a white and pink fizz followed by four whites and four reds. We even tried the two ports! We bought a fizz keeper from here as we think it means we won’t need to finish an entire bottle in the future and can save it for the following evening!

Next was a visit to Golden Grape which specialise in the high alcohol liquors. Just what we needed before lunch after all that wine! We tried many different types starting from brandy based “Baileys” to Butterscotch schnapps and other variations in between. The crowning glory is a chilli schnapps by the name of Dragon Breath. Everyone tries this as a shot. It really burns the back of the throat as it goes down! Although Deb later admitted that she threw most of hers in the swill bucket! Scott actually quite liked it and someone else had another as a long drink! We left the Golden Grape and went for lunch.

Lunch was at a fairly new built place called Hunter Gardens. It seemed to give the place a center and had several restaurants and other little stores. We got some cash from an ATM to pay Brian and went for dinner! We found a place called Oscars and felt obliged to eat there! We both had BLTs which were made from the largest wedge of white bloomer bread we had ever seen! The sun was shining and there was live music playing. We decided on soft drinks instead of any more alcohol! We went back to the bus early as Brian had threatened to leave people behind if they were late and come back for them after the next tasting. As the clocked ticked by you can guess who was late! He decided to close the doors and drive off (but was actually just turning the bus!). Then suddenly the girls appeared as if by magic! We were still short of two of the middle aged women who were paying the bill. On closer inspection they were stood near a fountain. They eventually sauntered down to the bus and got on leaving us ‘only’ 10 minutes late for the next place!

We arrived late at Tintilla Estate which is owned by a vascular surgeon who lets his wife and children run it! They make some award winning wines including a very tasty Semillon. They have a white fizz named ‘Lizzie’ which was made by a son and unveiled on his wedding day for all the guests in honour of his wife! The wife of the surgeon led the tasting and had lots of interesting information but we were unable to hear everything as the table was long and the girls were getting even more vocal! Scott was particularly fond of the white port made from Semillon but only just resisted spending the $25 on a bottle!

The next stop was Mistletoe which has won many awards achieving the best rating four years running. They have an excellent bubbly rosé. There was no formal tasting session here and you just ordered a taste from the bar! They were very nice but it wasn’t quite as much fun as the other places! The owner has a big interest in art and buys a lot from the local university. He has a sculpture garden which includes a steel pair of giant stilettos worth $24,000!!

We were all back on the bus and headed to Binnorie Diary which specialises in soft cheeses. We tried all on offer whilst half of the group (guess which half!) were watching the wedding taking place in the grounds! We really enjoyed a cow’s milk based feta cheese which we bought to go with our dinner!

Our final schedules stop was at Blue Tongue Brewery where we bought a cold refreshing lager for a change to the pallet! You were able to buy a tasting pallet of 6 beers including a light, dark and even an alcoholic ginger beer! The sun was warm on our backs as we relaxed and toasted to what had been a lovely day. As we returned back to Newcastle we had just enough time to stop at The Chocolate Shop which gave us a few samples to try.

The journey back was very very loud and we were very pleased once the middle aged women had got off as they were really beginning to grate on us! Half of the young girls were then sound asleep as the competition to shout had gone and the alcohol had taken its toll on them. Brian even remarked it had gone very quiet in the back! We were back in Newcastle for 6.30pm and thought it would be best to eat something before heading back to the ferry. We found a pizza restaurant on the harbour front that looked nice and had a pleasant dinner (with soft drinks!). We got the ferry back and retired early to bed.

We were heading to Port Stephens the next day but decided that we wouldn’t set the alarm clock for the following morning!

The more observant amongst you will notice there are no photos for the day in the Hunter Valley! The camera was poorly and needed a new memory card to work. We got one the next day so you will have to wait for Day 11 photos instead! The Hunter Valley was more about the tasting and the camera can't capture that!