Hunter Valley

We had a very early start to the day for our wine tour up to the Hunter Valley. Hunter Valley was the first wine region in Australia, but is also its smallest, and is about 2 hours north of Sydney. The tour operator is Gourmet Getaway Tours, essentially a one man show. The owner started out as a chef but after a decade or more decided he wanted a more balanced life style. So, he became a tour guide for several years. His mother suggested that perhaps he should start his own business and combine his love of cooking with being a guide. Thus, a new venture was born.

We are picked up a little after 7:00 at the Sydney Fish Market where Chef Jimmy provided a quick tour of the market then selects items for the day’s adventure. Sydney traffic is really busy early in the day. We drive for about an hour and stop at the small town of Brooklyn at McKell’s Park, where Jimmy proceeds to prepare us a breakfast consisting of warm ham and cheese croissants, fresh banana bread, wild mushroom and herb quesadillas and lots of fresh fruit and juice. After breakfast, we learn to roll our own sushi rolls to eat later using some of the fresh fish from the market.

After re-boarding the tour van we head on up to Hunter Valley.  We are only visiting small boutique wineries and have private tastings for our group at each.  First stop is Savannah Estates – all their wines are quite nice.  Close by is Mount View Estate for a tasting where we have a wine/food pairing with several appetizers from Jimmy. He started with a lovely cold asparagus dressed with truffle oil and lemon juice with a sprinkling of Parmesan cheese, then Chorizo sausage, and a cheese and olive tray. Our last stop was Saddler’s Creek, a new and upcoming winery. In addition, to the regular wine tasting, we also had a food pairing featuring our own sushi rolls, and a lovely fresh scallop with a Cauliflower mash. Also, a Kangaroo Slider, that I was surprised I liked. We finished off with a great dessert wine paired with a Wattleseed Crème Brulee. All, in all, quite lovely.

After the tour, Dick and I end the day at the Sydney Opera House where they have an short outdoor show of aboriginal art projected on the sails of the house at sunset.

Mary

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I can’t add much to Mary’s nice description of the wine tour except to note that Hunter Valley is noted for its Semillon and Shiraz varietals, neither of which we are very familiar with.  We had a fun group of folks, 14 in all.  It was a diverse bunch with couples from the UK, Singapore, China, Virginia, California & Washington.  It’s amazing what a few glasses of wine will do to stimulate conversation – regardless of nationality or native language!

Jimmy’s business model is cool – serving appetizers which he has prepared on his mobile chef’s station with each of the wine samples at the cellar doors.  Brilliant!  Mary had some major breakthroughs – her first taste of sushi & roo!

‘Badu Gili’ is a fascinating exhibit at the Sydney Opera House. Held each evening at sunset and 9pm, the exhibit is a projection of indigenous art motifs and ‘First Nation’ stories on the outside sails of the Opera House. Fascinating stuff. A you-tube video of the exhibit is worth checking out: Badu Gili.

Dick

• Foodie
• Wine