Australia’s Hunter Valley – where all day drinking is classy!

If you like wine you’ll probably know that Australia produces some delicious grape based tipples. So when we got to Sydney we were keen to head to the famous Hunter Valley, which is just a couple of hours drive out of the city centre. We had intended to stay there for a weekend but somehow nine months vanished before our very eyes and we only had time left for a day trip instead.

It might not be right up there on the list of things to do for backpackers, but the day out with Hunter Valley Wine Tasting Tours is a fantastic trip and also pretty good value for money. At the very least it’s a welcome change from goon! 😉

Our lovely guide, Neil, picked us up at the crack of dawn (7am, I’m not a morning person) from Sydney city centre. We headed out  in a lovely small group of just 10 people. It took a couple of hours to get there, but we stopped for breaky at the services and there was beautiful scenery along the way, including the stunning Hawkesbury River.

The Hunter Valley itself is beautiful. There are rolling hills and mountains surrounding it and rows of grapevines all around. As we were there late winter, there were no leaves on the vines, but it was still lovely to see.

Once we were in Hunter it was straight to winery number one – Tulloch, the oldest in the region. We got to sample three whites, three reds and one port in a cute little room with a log fire. I will pretty much drink any wine but I am more partial to red, so their slightly cherry tasting Barbera red was my favourite here. But they all went down pretty easily, even at 10 in the morning!

We visited three other wineries during the day – Lambloch, Leogate, and Irongate – and tried at least six wines at each. We only got a sample of each, about enough for three swigs, but that’s probably a good thing or I’d have been hammered! Most of the wines blurred into one to be honest, but I remember Lambloch and Leogate (main pic) having the most beautiful, sweeping views around them. My favourite wine of the day was probably the Shiraz at Iron Gate, which was a lovely little red building that reminded me of the South of France. The wine tasted a bit like olives and was so delicious we bought a bottle. 🙂

We also really enjoyed the big portion of fish and chips to soak up all the wine when we stopped for lunch at a pretty cafe next to a little lake. The whole day was so much fun! All of the guides were great and really knowledgable, I feel like I learnt a lot while boozing, which doesn’t happen to me often ha! I loved that none of them were preachy on all the ‘proper’ ways to drink wine. They all basically said drink what you enjoy, how you enjoy it!

The day trip will set you back $130, which includes Sydney city centre pick up and drop off, a big lunch with a drink, and slurping more than 20 wines. They also take you to the Smelly Cheese Shop and a Hunter Belgium chocolate shop. Yum!