Hunter Valley wine tourism: the good and the bad

On a recent holiday home to Australia with my boyfriend, we spent a couple of days in the Hunter Valley to introduce him to Australian countryside and get out of the city for a while.

I haven't been to the Hunter Valley for a long time, and it was fun to see how tourism, with its added touch of the appeal and sophistication of a wine producing areas, gets treated in regional NSW.

I've always been of the opinion that Australia knows how to do hospitality well, and I wasn't disappointed. We stayed at the Peppers Guest House retreat and had wonderful food at the Chez Pok restaurant, great surroundings and polite but friendly staff. The people we came across in the Hunter Valley were generally friendly but discreet and the Hunter provides plenty of the lovely countryside and peace and quiet we were looking for.

But when it came to wine tasting, I was disappointed. Firstly, all of the cellar doors are set up in such a way that wine producers fall into the trap of serving lots of wine to people who often know nothing about it, only to not make any sales.

Leaving aside discussions of responsible service of alcohol, we often found ourselves standing up at a kind up bar set-up, elbowing for room, while receiving patronising and offhand comments on the wines we were tasting.

At one producer, I find the quality of the wines impressive but difficult to determine as they were all served at room temperature - a problem when you're in the middle of the Australian summer. Another producer who has completely renovated their entire complex with highly sophisticated architecture and design, has their tasting room laid out such that there appeared to be a rugby match going on to fight for space.

Along with the extremely disappointing offer for that day (you can only taste from the list, and not choose generally from their range of wines), most of which was wine not even from the Hunter Valley, I was served by a screechy but bored woman with bright nail polish who subsequently told me that their Victorian riesling tasted just like a sauvignon blanc. Not a good comment to a customer who is undergoing sommelier training.

My advice to producers and customers would be to get to know each other, provide booked, private and guided tastings whereby the customer can really appreciate the story behind the company and quality of the wines. I would much prefer to sit down, be treated with some personal attention and really get to know a few wines, rather than scoffing many while standing in a throng of people trying to understand why one semillon is different from another. And I'd be far more likely to buy the wine too.

Photo | Flickr

Australian wine a winner in Italy (at least in my house)

Well they say the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach, but I’m wondering if a flash bottle of wine isn’t better. My boyfriend was very impressed with the "gluggability" of our Penfold’s Koonunga Hill shiraz cabernet and had himself a second and third (!) glass.

I am proud to say the Heineken was put back in the fridge. And I thoroughly enjoyed that teeth staining, full Aussie red for a change. Probably not something I would always drink as I think my taste, like many I think, is changing slightly and I now enjoy an elegant wine, particularly in the heat we’re having in Italy in the moment.

Buying this bottle in Italy though, I was also able to appreciate the 2001 vintage. I find when I’m here mostly I can only get hold of recent vintages, if not the latest, and this is not always a good thing when we’re talking nebbiolo. One bad Australian habit is, in my opinion, drinking our wines too young. Maybe it’s just a lack of patience when ripping the cork out of a bottle. But the patient will be rewarded!

Anyway, here’s to Koonunga Hill and taking over the world. I only need to find the funds to support my now more expensive habit.