Now at the Hunter Valley Gardens after a rather achololic[sic] day wine tasting. Now having a very tasty hot chocolate of the sort you can stand your spoon up in. Also bought a few chocolate-coated goodies, so those of you in the secret location should look forward to me getting back (I have checked... They are free from alcohol!)
Random fact: Australia exports 65% of the wine it produces.
Despite that, a lot of the Hunter Valley wineries are "boutique" meaning they produce fewer than 10,000 cases a year. Most of these sell only at the cellar door or to a few select pubs/restaurants.
First stop of he day was the small village of Kollombi for morning tea/coffe and scones. The village has a pub/cafe, general store, and not much else. The village also produces a fortified wine called Dr Jurd's Jungle Juice. Sort of a port/brandy mix.
Next was the Lindeman winery. Wasn't overly impressed by their wines. They were family owned for a long time until they sold to a big BrewCo which itself was soon bought by Fosters. I think part of the problem is the serving temp.
This was followed by the Hunter Valley Resort. They represent a number of boutique wineries who don't have a cellar door. We were shown a DVD about wine production, followed by lunch and a couple of wine tastes. Its also home to yhe zzz micro-brewery tried their paddle of beers. Sadly, bot the best beers I've had. Again, I think down to serving temperatures.
Finally was a trip to the Oakwood boutique winery. 7 very good wines tasted here. Sadly, delivery to the UK was a little too expensive to be worthwhile.
Nearly time to get back on the coach for the 2 hour journey back to Sydney. Not sure I xan be bothered chugging out or food. Think hotel grub may be called for followed by bed!
Update: 1930
Just hit back to the hotel. Good day out with a good few wines sampled. However, I think the wineries could make visit more interesting by taking a look at what breweries and whisky distilleries do.
On visits to both these types of place a tour of the production plants has been included. It makes the process seem a lot more real, and adds value to the visit. I realise that wine making is jot a year-round process like beer or whisky production, buy I still think it would be more interesting to see behind the scenes.
One thing I've noticed over here is there seems to be a tendency to serve alcohol too cold. Some of today's wines have been very difficult to taste properly due to the intense coldness numbing the tastebuds. I also had this happen to me in the hotel a couple of nights ago where, again, I couldn't taste anything in the wine at first as it was far too cold. After it had been allowed to warm up a bit it did turn into a nice wine.
Now to decide what to do tomorrow. Tempted by the Olympic Park!