Hunter Valley Region

The most obvious trait is the noticeably typically Australian beauty of the Valley. Having said that the statistics state clearly that the Hunter Valley is not a friendly place in which to grow grapes. The coastal fringe around Sydney is too wet and too humid, and if one moves too far west, spring frosts pose threats, furthermore rainfall patterns show excessive rainfalls during harvest time.

The early vineyards were established further to the northeast of where the centre of the present Hunter Valley is. Around the 1860's the first vignerons moved into the Rothbury and Pokolbin Subregions, where numerous of the Hunter Valley vineyards are located today.

The Hunter Valley came to dominate viticulture in New South Wales extremely rapidly.

History shows that at the Paris Exhibition of 1855, James King of Irrawang Vineyard had his sparkling wine - said by the judges to have 'a bouquet, body and flavour equal to the finest champagnes' - and it was served at the table of Napoleon III during the closing ceremony.

The Hunter Valley is no longer the largest wine producer in New South Wales, however it remains in quality by far the most important region.

The Hunter Valley wine industry today is inseparably linked with tourism. Beginning in the mid 1960's the wineries brought in the tourists and today more dollars are generated by the tourism support industry than from wine. The Hunter Valley has no equal in Australia for the profusion of exceptional quality accommodation, restaurants and other tourist facilities including cellar-door sales outlets of the wineries that are full from morning till evening.

From the outside looking in, it is an ideal lifestyle (the reality is a little less perfect), and we will see more, rather than fewer, wineries in the future. So there is a mix of the big and the small, the new and the old, the professional and the amateur. All are geared to make the visitor welcome, and almost all succeed.

Semillon
Semillon is regarded as the great wine of the Hunter Valley. It requires time in the bottle to move from a thin lemony, herbaceous varietal character and faintly grassy young wine to a honeyed, nutty, buttery and toasty mouth filling opulently rich at 10-20 years of age.

Chardonnay
Chardonnay started its Australia-wide supremacy when the late Murray Tyrrell in 1971 produced the Vat 47 Pinot Chardonnay. Most wineries today produce Chardonnay - some are richer, with a significant oak overlay, incredibly rich and complex, toasty, textured and creamy. Others without oak, but all with a peachy, deep golden, buttery viscous opulence of aged Hunter Chardonnay. Semillon Chardonnay blends are popular, however straight Chardonnay is regarded as the outstanding wine of the region.

Pinot Noir
Some really splendid Hunter Valley reds have been made from Pinot Noir or a blend of Pinot-Noir, wines that say a lot about the Region.

Shiraz
The Hunter Valley imposes its regional stamp on two wines, Semillon and the Shiraz. Furthermore, Shiraz makes the same change in bottle as Semillon, moving from a harsh, sharp and prickly youth into a velvety, almost radiant maturity at 20 or even 30 years of age. Cross-regional blending is popular and Mudgee is a major source as is Orange, both from within the Central Ranges Zone.

Cabernet Sauvignon
Cabernet Sauvignon was re-introduced to the Hunter Valley by Dr Max Lake at Lake's Folly in 1963 and since that time has been planted at almost every vineyard in the valley. It produces a characteristic style and some fine wines are made from it, however cooler regions of Australia are more suited to the variety.