Dynasties on the doorstep
Sydney Morning Herald
Tuesday March 9, 2010
As generations of winemakers will tell you, there's more to this historic area than its world-famous drops. It's one of the great wine-producing regions in the world. People from Europe or the US talk dreamily of one day visiting. And it's right at Sydney's door.Australia's oldest wine region, the Hunter Valley, is as robust as the shiraz it produces and as timelessly beautiful as its brilliant semillons.Rich in history, with land worked by five generations of families such as the Draytons, Tullochs and Tyrrells, as friendly as the husbands and wives, mums and dads, offspring and mates who work in the cellar doors and vineyards and as surprising as the region's young winemakers, who are at the forefront of innovative new varieties and styles, the Hunter deserves its legendary status."A decade ago I fell in love with the Hunter Valley, its proximity to Sydney, the fact that it is the most historic wine region in Australia, the fact that it very specifically produces a few wines that can't be matched anywhere else in the world," says Anthony Ward, of award-winning Hunter winery Echo Ridge, which has produced wine since 2006, making a name for itself quickly."It's the history that makes the Hunter special; a number of families who have been here for 150 years or more who have created these wine dynasties," Ward says."It's hot because it's in the bush but that means we can create really special wines with really unique flavours and very fruity characters that other regions can't match."We're known as the benchmark growing region for semillon around the world. I'm very passionate about semillon as a variety. No other region can do what we can do with it. Bruce Tyrrell and Tullochs, the big family names, all are on this bandwagon of showing what we can do with semillon. It's the Hunter in a bottle."That kind of passion is also the Hunter in a nutshell. This is a region that refuses to rest on its laurels despite boasting such big names and award-winners as Brokenwood, McGuigan and Lindemans. Hunter winemakers are hard-working and visionary."We realised very early, yes, you can have a great drop of wine but you've really got to have a point of difference to attract the right people to enjoy your product," says Merralea Scarborough, of Scarborough Wines.The Scarboroughs are very proud of their cellar-door experience."We have a beautiful property and we sit on top of the hill so there's a 360-degree view all the way around. You'd sit down at the table with a plate of cheese and bikkies and we'd pour the wines and talk about the wines, as opposed to standing at a bench and using the same glass, swilling, tipping it out and going to the next one."We now have a tasting mat that starts with semillon, goes into chardonnay, then rose, into our pinot noir, our shiraz and our late-harvest semillon. People really enjoy it. But it's a glass-washing nightmare," Merralea laughs.Merralea's children, Jerome and Sally, now run the business, a typical Hunter story.As Merralea acknowledges happily, the Hunter is about more than wine and that makes it an attractive proposition for visitors."We have three vineyards that do concerts and get big names up to the area," she says."There are golf courses, spas and beautiful shops."It's interesting that the big corporations came into Hunter wine but it's come back to being more about families, not just in the wine businesses but also in the restaurants and accommodation."In all those areas, there's everything from reasonably priced to top-range, five-star - something for everybody."EATMolines Bistro, 749 Mount View Road, Mount View, 4990 9553Robert Molines, the Hunter's celebrated chef, creates a seasonal French menu.Rock Restaurant, 576 Debeyers Road, Pokolbin, 4998 6968An award-winning restaurant in a modern space with huge windows overlooking the original block of 90-year-old shiraz vines at the Poole's Rock Winery.The Cellar Restaurant, Hunter Valley Gardens Village, Broke Road, Pokolbin, 4998 7584A summer and winter favourite, the Cellar's real draw is chef and proprietor Andy Wright's restrained treatment of outstanding local produce.Amanda's on the Edge, Windsor's Edge Vineyard, McDonalds Road, Pokolbin, 4998 7900Views, comfy country-cottage ambience and unpretentious offerings make Amanda's popular.Esca's, Bimbadgen Estate, 790 McDonalds Road, Pokolbin, 4998 7585Fresh modern Australian food among some of the Hunter's most beautiful vineyards is Esca's trademark.
© 2010 Sydney Morning Herald
