Year 2 – 11 February 2025 -Port Stephens – Hunter Valley
We woke to reasonable day but it had rained quite hard in the night. It was looking to be ok but according to our forecast it was going to rain heavily. We had decided to hire a car and go to Hunter Valley which has about 150 wineries and to do some tastings and the rain should not interfere with that -we hoped. We had breakfast and headed ashore and tied the dinghy up in the same place. The car hire man was there to meet us and after we had completed the formalities we were on our way. We had to travel back a little toward Newcastle to pick up the road to the Hunter Valley.
The Hunter Region, also commonly known as the Hunter Valley, Newcastle Region, or simply Hunter, is a region in northern New South Wales, Australia, extending from approximately 162 km (101 mi) to 310 km (193 mi) north of Sydney. It contains the Hunter River and its tributaries with highland areas to the north and south. Situated at the northern end of the Sydney Basin bioregion, the Hunter Valley is one of the largest river valleys on the NSW coast, and is most commonly known for its wineries and coal industry.
Most of the population of the Hunter Region lives within 25 km (16 mi) of the coast, with 55% of the entire population living in the cities of Newcastle and Lake Macquarie. There are numerous other towns and villages scattered across the region in the eleven local government areas (LGAs) that make up the region. At the 2021 census the combined population of the region was 682,465, and is expected to reach over 1,000,000 people by 2031. The Hunter wine region is one of Australia's best known wine regions, playing a pivotal role in the history of Australian wine as one of the first wine regions planted in the early 19th century. The success of the Hunter Valley wine industry has been dominated by its proximity to Sydney with its settlement and plantings in the 19th century fuelled by the trade network that linked the Hunter Valley to Sydney. The steady demand of consumers from Sydney continues to drive much of the Hunter Valley wine industry, including a factor in the economy by the tourism industry. While the Hunter Valley has been supplanted by the massive Riverina wine region as the largest producer of New South Wales wine, it still accounts for around 3% of Australia's total wine production and is one of the country's most recognisable regions.
The wine-making history of Hunter Valley begins with the European settlement of the Sydney and the New South Wales region of Australia in the late 18th century as a penal colony of the British Empire. The Hunter River itself was discovered, by accident, in 1797 by British Lieutenant John Shortland as he searched for escaped convicts. The region soon became a valuable source for timber and coal that fuelled the steamship trade coming out of Sydney.
Land prospector John Howe cut a path through the Australian wilderness from Sydney up to the overland area in what is now known as the (Lower) Hunter Valley proper in 1820. Today, the modern Putty Road between the cities of Windsor and Singleton follows Howe's exact path and is a major thoroughfare for wine tourists coming into the Hunter Valley from Sydney. As previous plantings in the coastal areas around Sydney succumbed to the humidity and wetness, and plantings to the west were limited by spring frost damage, northern reaches leading to the Hunter became, almost by default, the wine region of the new colony.
As we left the Port Stephens area and moved toward Newcastle the heavens opened and we had thunder and lightning which got quite close. In fact, we were driving along and we saw forks of lighting round us. Then we saw the lightning hit the top of an electric pylon where there was a transformer some 40 meters to the left of the side of the road and there was a bang and we saw some puffs of smoke and it must have burnt out the transformer. It was a close call.
We drove for about an hour and a half before getting to the Hunter Valley area. En route we saw signs warning us of Koala’s and Kangaroos but did not see any. Once we came into the Hunter Valley area there were some small towns which looked like from Cowboy Westerns with one storey rows of shops with an overhang and a building above with a balcony -some with a sort of wrought iron mesh. They looked quite run down and poor and a number of pubs seemed to have closed. It took some time to come to the major wine area between Singleton and Cressock and Pokolbin and Broke. In this area there were may vineyards which looked new and affluent with tended gardens and modern buildings mostly and you could almost smell the money.
We had booked a wine tasting at Tyrells (quite well known in the UK) at 11.15am. We arrived a little early and drove to Broke for a coffee. We returned at 11.15am for our tasting. We learnt essentially that the main grapes grown in Hunter Valley is Semillon and Shiraz as these grapes thrive here. They can also grow Chardonnay and Pinot Noir but it is very different from the norm and what they tend to do is blend with grapes from other areas such as Cabernet Sauvignon and Pinot Noir.
Tyrells was started by Edward Tyrrell (Having arrived from England four years previously) when he takes up a concessional allotment of 320 acres of prime Hunter Valley land. He names the property “Ashmans” after his maternal grandmother’s ancestral home in Suffolk, constructs his first residence – an ironbark slab hut that still stands on the property today – and begins to plant Shiraz and Semillon vines. He harvests the grapes for his first vintage in 1864. In 1889 at the age of 18, Edward George “Dan” Tyrrell, the eldest son among Edward Tyrrell’s ten children, takes over as winemaker. Affectionately known as “Uncle Dan”, he would go on to officiate over an astounding 69 vintages. His efforts are aided by his youngest brother, Avery, whose meticulous approach to vineyard management provides the exceptional fruit that forms the backbone of Dan’s wines and the wines Tyrrell’s make today. It is still run by the Tyrell family today.
We had a great tasting (we had to pau $15 each but we got good value) and the wine man let us try a number of Semillon, Chardonnay, Verdelho, Pinot Noir, Shiraz, and Shiraz Cabernet (brought in from Maclaren Vale). It was very interesting and the man took his time and we had a great selection and we ended up buying 6 assorted bottles between us. The buildings were old and traditional and your entry was a dirt floor with barrels lined up either side pointing you in the right direction. The man had been very knowledgeable and suggested a place for lunch and some other wineries he suggested we visit. The picture of the day is of the four of us at the tasting. Malcolm only has water which will be explained later.
We went to the lunch venue which was called Baume and was right next to Lindemans, which I am sure you all have heard of. We had a good lunch and then headed over to the Audrey Wilkinson Vineyard founded in 1866. We saw a number of Kangaroo’s as we arrived bouncing around the vines. The Wilkinson family started in 1866 and ran it until 2004 when the Agnew family bought it.
The tasting was not so good and we had paid $20 each. The server was a young lady of about 20 who told us about the wines but it seemed not as authentic coming from someone so young. In addition, the amount she put in each glass hardly wet our lips. When I asked her to pour more so we could taste properly she said those were her instructions. Whilst we just about tasted the wines and they were fine we did not buy anything. It did not feel a good experience all round.
Out third winery was called Pepper Tree and in contrast was only founded in 1991. For over thirty years, Pepper Tree Wines has been a beacon for quality wine in the heart of Hunter wine country and continues to flourish as one of the stalwart wine companies of the region. Pepper Tree Wines started with a focus on grapes from the Hunter Valley but today, the roots run deep for owner John Davis, with vineyard sites in four premium wine growing regions across Australia Orange, Maclaren Vale, and Wrattonbully. This was again a very different and welcoming experience and we had a good tasting with a wide range of wines. We then bought a selection. It shows that when you have a good welcoming experience you want to buy – so learn Audrey Wilkinson!!
Hats off to Malcolm as he volunteered to be the driver for the day and had no wine. He will of course benefit from what we bought and I pointed out that we went through all that tasting to weed out the rubbish and only bought the best. I do not think he was convinced!!. After all the wine we decided it was time to head for home. The sun came out and we could see the vineyards at their beautiful best and it was if someone had turned the colour on. It was beautiful.
We returned by car and eventually arrived to a lovely evening at Salamander Bay. We manged to get the dinghy back in with our booty and returned to Stormbird. We sat on the aft deck and watched the sun go down whilst the moon was up opposite. We had a salad and cheese supper and noticed in the distance lightning in the clouds. We hoped it would not come our way and disappeared luckily.
We will explore the bay area tomorrow.
Need/Opportunity Year Two
I am in need of more crew from late April to Mid-July so if of interest do email me at hine.nick9@gmail.com
In year two I will be going from New Zealand to Sydney and hen up the Eastern Australian Coast, Indonesia and then through Bali, Singapore and on to Thailand to end year two about the end of November 2025.
The blog will continue as we continue the journey. If you have any comments or suggestions about the blog then do email me on hine.nick9@gmail.com