Cycling and Wine Tasting in the Hunter Valley Region!

For my birthday this year, we went wine drinking tasting with our friends! Hunter Valley was our first choice! We wanted to get away from the hustle bustle of the city and enjoy the sweeping bucolic landscapes and the endless mist-cloaked hills of the Hunter Valley region! It is just a 2 hour drive from Sydney! Rajesh and I have gone wine tasting in Tuscany previously and then in New Zealand and many other places BUT…….it doesn’t matter where it happens, I find wine tasting to be a tad intimidating! While others are swirling their glass and savouring in the taste and describing the “aroma” and the “oakiness”, I sniff my wine and announce to Rajesh “I suspect that this is, in fact” *sips wine slowly and stares off into the distance like a wine expert*…”this should definitely be white wine!” (Yup that’s the extent of my wine tasting knowledge!)
Wine professional: “ But…it’s…. red……”  *Awkward silence*

Nevertheless wine tastings are a lot of fun!! The combination of wine and cheese is one of the greatest marriages I can think of! YUMM!!! In case you didn’t know, I am a cheese eating monster. Cheese is the master of all that is good and joyful and don’ttakemycheeseawayoriwillhavetokillyou! (Cheese is the glue that holds my life together!) We decided to add a bit of excitement and decided to go cycling to the different wineries! It was a super fun experience and I can’t wait to do it again! 

We decided to spend two days in the hunter valley region and visit 3-4 wineries each day! In this blog, I will list out the wineries we liked the best amongst the different ones that we visited! I might also teach you a thing or two about faking it through a wine tasting (You can thank me later!). 

Cycling around Hunter Valley!

There are multiple bike rentals around the hunter valley region! We decided to rent from GrapeMobile. We decided to go with the conventional premium bike as this allowed us to go on their off-road private trails! There are two loops (private to GrapeMobile bikes) you can follow, one is 5.4 kms and the other, 4.8 kms. The longer one has better wineries! The bikes come with baskets, water bottles, helmets and a route map too! They earlier had a bus pick-up and drop-off service which was unavailable due to Covid19 restrictions, so you will have to plan to get there yourself! We also booked bikes 1 week in advance and we were glad as it was very very busy! 

Ohh..and did I mention HERMITAGE ROAD HAS A DEDICATED CYCLEWAY ???!!!! YASSSS!! I’m easily excited, but it’s usually at the hands of a large amount of hot cheetos or kittens looking immeasurably cute, not by dedicated cycleways! But this was a very exciting development, because it had been a while since I cycled and I did not completely trust my cycling abilities!
NOTE: You will also have to book all wineries in advance else you won’t be given entry due to Covid19 restrictions! 

We picked up our bikes and helmets! We were given basic instructions and details of the route by a nice man who also offered to take our picture! We tested our bikes on the gravel road just outside the bike rental. Rajesh realised his brakes weren’t working and had to get his bike changed, which he did of course (Else he would still be somewhere in the Hunter Valley Region or possibly Madagascar..who really knows!?) The weather predictions didn’t look good earlier but fortunately for us, the weather was perfect! It was pleasant throughout the day and did not rain once! (Thank you O’ kind weather gods!). 

Scarborough Wine Company:

We cycled to the Scarborough Wine tasting venue first, because we got lost on our trail and missed our wine tasting at Constable Vineyards! I don’t always get lost…oh, wait yes I do! But Rajesh doesn’t and we were following him! Turns out we weren’t actually lost but had to cycle through the beautiful forest that looked straight out of the sets of the Avatar movie! 

This vineyard was on top of a hill! Our legs were turning into jello and our lungs were on fire BUT we did not collapse! (Well…. Almost!) 
Here is a picture of my friend NOT COLLAPSED but taking a water break or a nap (I am not quite sure which), but instead of giving her water, I took pictures of her first like any good friend would! [Rewards myself roughly a jillion extra likeable-person points]

Rajesh and I loved Scarborough Wines for multiple reasons, they had absolutely gorgeous views, you could see plenty of kangaroos on the hills and also the wine tasting here felt really professional! And because of Covid19 restrictions, they were checking temperatures of every person at the venue and making sure everyone sanitized their hands! (Which was a biggggg relief for the germaphobe in me! I have always wondered how the pope deals with people kissing his hand! Yup, I think about random stuff that doesn’t concern me all the time! This is how I imagine I would be freaking out if I was the pope “And God be with you, my child…ehh NO WAY bruh! DON’T KISS MY HAND…NO!! JEZUZ! Is that snot? DON’T kiss thee papal grips! God, if you’re up there, HAAAAAALLLPPP!!!!!). 

Anyway, the good thing about Scarborough was that they offered us our own 100 ml bottles for the tasting which we could take home with us! They had different tasting experiences for different prices. Amongst the 6 of us, we booked one of each. The cheese was great too!
Tip: I would suggest you book an outdoor table when you go here!

I think this was hands down our favorite vineyard and tasting experience! My friends and I picked up multiple bottles from here! I particularly loved their Yellow Label Chardonnay and brought a bottle home. It was also great fun to cycle downhill from this vineyard! The adrenaline boosting descent is best enjoyed with outstretched legs IMO!

Link: https://www.scarboroughwine.com.au/

Audrey Wilkinson

Audrey Wilkinson also has some of the best views of the picturesque patchwork of vines and paddocks! It is also one of the oldest wineries in the Hunter Region! It is a perfect spot for watching the sun go down!

Also for wine noobs (or people like me with non-functioning taste buds because we have assaulted our taste buds with too much flavour and spice and awesomeness from hot cheetos and nothing else is and will ever be good enough!! Yes my friends, We are ruined for life! ) here are some tips on how to fake it through a tasting! Remember words like “acidic”, “tannins”, “oaky” and “earthy”! “Acidic” can be used to describe almost any type of wine! Think “tannins” when drinking dark red wines! Also start with the lighter wines and move to the darker ones (Like Darth Vader…eventually go to the dark side!)

Also swirl your glass and gently smell your wine! Don’t snort your wine, or slurp or gargle! Don’t swirl it so hard and spill it on yourself or worse, the sommelier! The point is be confident! [YOU GOT THIS!] And you will finally feel warm and loved and happy! (That could also be because you are totally filled with wine but whatever!)

Link: https://audreywilkinson.com.au/

Savannah Estate:

This was our third favorite winery! In case I didn’t mention Audrey Wilkinson earned the second spot. This was small and cozy, their wines were pricey but from what my wine expert friends tell me, they also had some of the best tasting wines! I wouldn’t know, if you drink enough wine, they all eventually taste like love and happiness!

Link: https://www.savannahestate.com.au/

We also visited a couple of other wineries like Pokolbin Brothers Wines and Harkham wines. The first was owned by the GrapeMobile owners and they had some nice refreshing sparkling wines for us when we finally returned our bikes! Apart from wine tasting, you can even go hot-air ballooning over the Hunter Region! But this is best done during the harvest time for vineyards which is during the summer season (December to February). Did you know you needed a pilot’s license to fly a hot air balloon? Apparently you do! [Although who is going to stop me?? Balloon cops??! Buahahaha! ]. Visiting the hunter gardens is also another option.

If you are driving to the Hunter Valley from Sydney, you can stop by Maitland for lunch or coffee overlooking the beautiful river! The views are gorgeous! 

Stay:

There are a lot of pocket-friendly bnbs in Cessnock and Lovedale! We stayed in Lovedale which is just a 15 minutes drive away from almost all of the wineries in the area! Our cottage was surrounded by lots and lots of vegetation and kangaroos!!! We could see kangaroos outside at sunrise and  sunset. In fact there are plenty of kangaroos in the area!

Overall, it was a great getaway! We can’t wait to come back (when it is safe to do so)! Seriously 2020, be over already!

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