Winter in the Hunter

It is raining so hard that cars are pulling into shoulders, windscreen wipers have no discernible impact and overtaking vehicles blast enough water to make aquaplaning a reality.

So when the F3 freeway from Sydney gives way to the Hunter Valley, and the rain abates, I feel liberated. It wasn’t exactly sunny, but it was at least dry enough to celebrate with a winery tasting.

In the cellar door, the drivers are easily identifiable as those cradling the spit bucket. But despite being the day’s designated driver, I refuse to follow their lead. Forget the inelegance of spitting in public – it’s wasteful. Besides, swallowing wine and steering legally are not mutually exclusive, and it starts with a passenger whose duty it is to drink the full tasting menu of each cellar door and make recommendations to the designated driver who then swirls, sniffs and slurps the pick of the bunch. It is an exercise in experiencing quality over quantity.

Of course, the more cellar doors that greet us, the more this strategy deteriorates, thanks to the passenger’s ever more enthusiastic recommendations of pretty much everything on the tasting menu.

If, on the other hand, you want to taste the full viticultural selection of the Hunter’s 150 cellar doors, a bicycle is the way to go. For me, it starts out wobbly thanks to a lack of practice and it ends wobblier thanks to the wine. Hunter Valley Cycling provides mountain bikes to your hotel and it is a relaxed and breath-test free alternative to driving.

Be warned though, country air and cycling conspire to ramp up your appetite. For dinner, try Redsalt restaurant at the Crowne Plaza. Hotel chain restaurants often disappoint, but my expectations were exceeded here and with a steady flow of local clientele to confirm it, this eatery should be on your culinary agenda. The entr√àe of puff pastry topped with roasted beetroot, toasted hazelnuts, watercress and yoghurt labna was enough to make my night. One taste of the local labna, which is a strained yoghurt of Middle Eastern origin, and it became my mission to take some home. Binnorie Dairy’s labna was recommended and, the following day, after a wooden stick sample I was sold.

Binnorie Dairy’s produce followed me to Chez Pok restaurant on my second evening, where the dessert menu featured a cheesecake made from their goat’s cheese. Have you ever wanted your cake and your cheese platter too? If so, this meal-ender is the answer. Every bite starts sweet on the palate and ends like you’ve just eaten goat’s cheese on a digestive biscuit. Chez Pok has recently returned to it’s original name and it was one of the first restaurants in the Hunter Valley. Other menu highlights include a sweet corn tortellini that is more akin to a steamed Asian dumpling than its heavy Italian namesake, served with asparagus and zucchini flowers.

Aside from eating flowers, guests can also admire some at the Hunter Valley Gardens, walking distance from the Mercure, the closest hotel to the village and the gardens. Currently hosting Snow Time in the Garden, there is ice-skating, snow fights and tobogganing for children as well as illuminated snowmen and reindeer among the trees. One of the ten feature gardens is the storybook garden. A gingerbread house, Alice in Wonderland’s tea party and Humpty Dumpty sitting on a wall are all set to nursery rhymes played over a speaker system. It’s no doubt delightful for the kids, but it might wear thin after a short time for adults.

It is while visiting this garden that it starts to rain again. Luckily there is a seven-foot red-capped concrete mushroom to shelter underneath. As surreal as it sounds, that’s not the wine or even the cheese talking. Go find it for yourself, it’s there, I promise.

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