Day 2: Sydney – Hunter Valley Wine Tour

I fell asleep last night before the sun went down and slept 11 blissful hours. One more night of that I should be back to normal.

Today was a long day. I had a small group wine tour with a 7:30 a.m. pick up time scheduled. At about 7:40 a.m., I emailed the driver to confirm, and ended up with an 8:15 a.m. pick up time (there had been a wreck on the highway). I did not know much about Hunter Valley or its wine history before this trip. The trip guide was Richard Everett. He’s been in the wine business in some way essentially his whole adult life, with lengthy careers at Penfolds and Lindemans before starting his own wine related businesses. There were only 2 other people (a couple from Chicago) on this wine tour. Because of Richard’s history and relationships with the vineyards we visited, and our small group size, our experience was very special with private tours, private rooms for our tastings.

We tasted a lot of wine.

Richard’s system of wine tasting was very specific. First check the color and clarity, then swirl and smell, and then finally, taste three separate times before making an opinion. Apparently taste one allows the palate to level set what is coming, taste two refines that, and by taste three some more accurate impressions of the wine can be made. He also had focus not necessarily on the wine vocabulary of the tastes, but more to consider when one might consume this specific type of wine. So is it a casual wine for casual acquaintances, a wine to be enjoyed over dinner with a few friends, or perhaps a more intimate wine to be shared and savored in an appropriately elegant situation. Also, anyone still using cork (versus screw top bottles) is an idiot. Similarly, most of the vineyards now run off of solar or other renewables. Our guide spend a lot of time educating us on the damage to the wine industry globally from climate change. Sydney has recently committed to zero energy buildings.

Part of Tyrell's vineyard - Pinot Noir Grapes

We started at Tyrrell’s which is a family owned vineyard that was established in 1858. The family has kept the founder’s original hut that he built when first starting the business, as a tribute and a reminder of how far this vineyard and business has come. At the start of the tour, we walked part of the vineyard getting an education related to the age of the vines. In some cases, we’d drink 2 or 3 variants of the same wine, produced with grapes with the same genetic origin, but from vines of different ages, and or processed in a slightly different barrel type leading of course to different tasting experiences and price tiers for the wines.

Tyrell’s Tasting List
Special Release Verdelho 2019
Hunter Valley Semillon 2019
Single Vineyard HVD Semillon 2014
Winemaker’s Selection Vat 1 Semillon 2014
Hunter Valley Chardonnay 2018
Single Vineyard Belford Chardonnay 2017
Winemaker’s Selection Vat 47 Chardonnay 2017
Special Release Pinot Noir 2018
Hunter Valley Shiraz 2017
Single Vineyard Stevens Shiraz 2017
Winemaker’s Selection Vat 8 Shiraz Cabernet 2017
Rufus Stone Heathcote Shiraz 2016
Lunatiq Heathcote Single Vineyard Shiraz 2016

Our next stop was Esca Bimbadgen for lunch. By the time we arrived, there was just one table finishing a meal, so again we had an amazingly personalized experience. I had the Rosemary Crusted Kangaroo Fillet– beetroot risotto, kale, red wine jus. This was my first time having kangaroo, and I might have felt a bit guilty when we saw quite a few of them on the drive back to Sydney.

The final stop was Hungerford Hill, established in 1967, and known for trying innovative things with their ones. One of the more important ones is growing many of their grapes in the Tumbarumba region of New South Wales on a hill in a much colder climate. The cold apparently lets the grapes ripen more slowly, and creates wines with more complexity.

Tasting List
Tumbarumba Sparkling Blanc de Noir 2016
Tumbarumba Sauvignon Blanc 2017
Hunter Valley Fiano 2018
Classic Tumbarumba Pinot Gris 2018
50th Anniversary Tumbarumba Chardonnay 2017
Classic Tumbarumba Pinot Meunier 2018
Classic Tumbarumba Pinot Noir 2017
Classic Hilltops Tempranillo 2018
50th Anniversary Hilltops Cabernet Sauvignon 2017

In many cases today I had no real reference point for the wine tasted today. This was the first time I had tried any Verdelho, Fiano, and Pinot Meunier. I’m not a huge white fan, but the Fiano was particularly interesting.

The big news today is really all about the fires nearby. There are more than 100 fires in New South Wales and Queensland. They are expecting ash or embers to possibly spread as far as the central business district of Sydney where my hotel is. The fire risk is “catastrophic” which is the highest level. The fires are closer to Hunter Valley and Vineyards than they are to Sydney. And most of the region is incredibly dry. Tomorrow is supposed to be very hot (90s) and very windy. Our guide recommended that we spend our time tomorrow near the water!

Day 8, #BlogPals19

2 Comments on “Day 2: Sydney – Hunter Valley Wine Tour”

Clay Lowe says:

November 11, 2019 at 2:59 pm

I’ve never been a big wine drinker, but I love the variety and the culture that surrounds the wine and winemaking.
- Catherine Kunst says:
  
  November 11, 2019 at 4:03 pm
  
  There is definitely a cult like feel around wine and winemaking culture. Our guide had very strong opinions on many topics which made the experience more interesting. Mostly I like to drink wine, and have had some unique wine tasting experiences with some extraordinary wines over the years that I’d thought I’d blogged about but apparently didn’t.