Lower Hunter Valley - Wine country!!

What we planned to do today, and what we eventually did turned out to be completely different. The plan was to head back to the coast to get some beach time at Terrigal Beach, just north of Sydney. We did get there but sadly it was pouring down. There didn't seem any point in hanging around so we headed north to the city of Newcastle. The weather there wasn't much better and besides, we couldn't find a double room for less than $100 (about 40 quid), so after a small debate we decided to head back inland to the Lower Hunter Valley region, famous for its wineries. It seemed that the bad weather must have all been on the coast, for by the time we reached the small town of Cessnock it had turned into a very pleasant evening. we checked into a very nice Irish Hotel/Pub for the night and planned out our following day.

01 Lindemans

We found out that the wine bus tours were quite expensive so Andy decided he would drive and just allow himself the legal amount of samples (which turned out to be ten due to the very small measures). Julie, on the other hand was able to have as many free samples as she liked! And did!!

02 Lindemans

We visited some well known ones, firstly Lindemans then Rosemount Estate, then McGuigans. We purchased a bottle of white from each of the first two, then a bottle of red from McGuigans. Beside the cellar door at McGuigans there was a shop specialising in olive oils for dipping. They had free samples to try out with bread and they were delicious! It was turning out to be a very hot day so we decided to have a picnic lunch in the nearby Hunter Valley Gardens.

After an hour or so we went to the last winery on our itinery which was Tyrells. Its surprising how long you can spend at these places when there is free wine being handed out. In total there are over 200 wineries in the Lower Hunter Valley and we only managed to visit four!

03 Rosemount Estate

Tyrells was one we hadn't heard of before, we were going there because it was the nearest one offering a free winery tour. The tour was very interesting, we even know a thing or two about wine now! it was given by a guy originally from Edinburgh but who had been living out there for about 30 years, the booze must be good!

After the tour we were taken into the tasting room. They were very generous with their samples, letting us try loads of different wines, including some pretty expensive ones. This turned out to be the best place we visited and was a great one to end on. Unfortunately they all close at 5pm so we headed back to the hotel for dinner, then into the bar for a few more drinks!

04 McGuigans

05 McGuigans

06 Tyrrell's