Hunter Valley Wine Region

May 1st

Vineyards outside Draytons in Hunter Valley

Day trip to the gorgeous Hunter Valley, where many people are wed each year. Hunter Valley is the oldest wine producing region in Australia. It has a rather small production compared to other wine regions but only produces finer wines. It is located two hours north of Sydney. In some ways it reminds me of Austria or Vermont (warmer of course and with vineyards) with valleys and hills as far as the eye can see. It's how I'd imagine what Italy might look in the countryside.

Draytons Wine cellar

Our first winery was Draytons, a family owned winery that makes a small production of fine wines. This was my first wine tasting ever. We sat in a wine cellar that looked almost like it could be in someone's home and tried six of their wines.

Trying Tickled, a very light wine that almost tasted like juice

They were mostly sweeter wines, which is good because I just started getting a bit into wines, and those seem easier to acquire a taste for.

Scenery (and bird) outside Draytons

After Draytons we ate lunch then went to Bluetongue Brewery, an Australian brewer. We tried a paddle of different beers and got to choose our favourite one at the end. We received a middy of this flavour, which is a beer size in New South Wales that is slightly smaller than a schooner, the normal size you get at bars. It reminded me of Vermont again, being very similar to Harpoon Brewery.

Me and Andrew with our beer paddles

Our 2nd winery following the brewery was McGuigan, which won international winemaker of the year, and Australian producer of the year recently. I found a really palatable bottle of red wine from here that was only 15 dollars. I'm going to try to bring it home to have for dinner with the family.

One of my favourite things in the world...FOOD!

The cheese maker we went to next door to McGuigan was a small operation. It reminded me of a less processed version of Cabot Cheese. The cheese was so delectable! It was hard to hear about all the cheese samples in front of us while chomping on crackers and cheese.

Outside Golden Oaks

Our final winery was Golden Oaks, where we changed things up by sampling liqueurs instead of wines. The liqueurs included butterscotch, strawberry, and irish creme flavours. The final kicker was a chili schnapps that had an actual chili floating in it. I was the first to try it as everyone watched. Luckily, I'm used to spicy things, but most everyone else who went after me didn't look like they could handle it!

Behind Golden Oaks

What a wonderful day trip away from the hustle and bustle of Sydney! I couldn't have had a more classy day drinking wine and devouring cheese right at the source.

My findings in Australia: Dragons Breath chili schnapps from Golden Oaks, Noon Harvest red wine from McGuigan, Pioneer Tawn port from Draytons, and Villa Maria white wine from a bottleshop

Keep it level!


Jono