We spent this past weekend visiting the Hunter Valley with our friends, Jess and Adam. Hunter Valley is considered one of Australia’s most famous wine country destinations. We headed out of work a little early to beat the traffic on Friday and made it up to the Hunter in time to check into our cottage at Cyprus Lakes and grab a bite to eat at one of the token rustic local restaurants. The best way to describe Cyprus Lakes would be to take Nemacolin Woodlands and move it to the center of Napa California...and then add a few dozen kangaroos feeding in the evenings.
We spent Friday night at the local Irish Pub watching the Australian national soccer team defeat Ghana in an entertaining soccer match. Saturday morning we got up early, grabbed some Brekky and were at our first winery by 10:30. We then spent the next six hours hopping between boutique vineyards and larger commercial wineries sampling some of Australia’s best Shirazs, Chardonnays, and Semillons, among many others. We made it to seven vineyards in all, and can honestly say each one was an awesome experience. Some offered sweeping views of what seemed to be never ending fields of grapes, some made you feel like you were a part of the wine making process yourself and others simply overwhelmed you with their endless selections of reds, whites and roses. Not only was it a perfect day of wine tasting, it was also quite an educational experience. Carey learned that once a bottle of wine has been opened it only has about a 48 hour life before it starts to lose its taste. And needless to say Carey is now more motivated than ever to finish each bottle of wine she opens within two days. Greg thinks this shouldn’t be a problem.
By late afternoon we were all a little knackered (tired for those of you back in the States). We decided to head back to the cottage and spend the remaining time before dinner chillaxing with the kangaroos back at Cyprus Lake. If we hadn’t realized we were out of the city by Saturday night, then our dinner experience sure drove that point home. Everything was great, but the service was of a noticeably slower pace. Not to mention the fact that the waiter forgot to carry the one when adding our bill and almost short changed himself about $100, which seemed to be a common occurrence in the Hunter as it happened at breakfast as well. For what they possess in wine making knowledge they seem to lack in basic math skills.Despite the lack of math skills, if you are ever in Australia and are looking for a relaxing weekend getaway in a beautiful country setting mixed in with some outstanding wine tasting then the Hunter Valley is the perfect experience. It’s one of the more picturesque parts of the country and it has no shortage of fine wines, as well as delicious cheeses and chocolates. We would definitely recommend our fabulous tour guides and wine experts as well - thanks Jess & Adam! Overall, it was a great weekend and a highly recommended trip for anyone visiting New South Wales.
