Our stay at the headland was short but we still managed to check out some of the local lookouts and sample some fresh seafood at the marina. Weather the following day cleared up just in time for us to enter the southern region of the Hunter Valley. Rows upon rows of grape vines stretching to the horizon and waves of passing road signs, each promising delectable restaurants or cellar doors at the end of the drive way. Not wanting to waste a moment, we pulled into the first brewery we found at the Hunter Beer Company. Hoping to experience a full spectrum of local brews we ordered a tasting plate with four beers to accompany our pub lunch meal. The kolsch on the left was our favourite, but the wheat beer, bock and ginger beer were pretty nice too.
We were booked into Patrick Plains Estate for two nights, a little slice of opulence that started with complimentary canapes and wine from the vine yard our balcony overlooked. A nice fruity red but we were honestly too busy raving about the labna covered in chilli grape sauce to pay much attention to the wine we gulped down.
Of course, this was just the tip of the gorging to come. Dinner on our first night was just down the road at The Mill. A charming little place where I uncharacteristically failed to finish my meal, a succulent mountain of lamb shanks over a bed of apple cous cous and topped with tzatziki and papadoms crisps. Quite an amalgamation of cultural cuisine but it worked well in concert. The extra side order of chat potatoes roasted in duck lard might have pushed my appetite over the edge.
Second day in the Hunter and we trekked across the area, aggressively collecting bits and pieces for a memorable picnic. A wheel of smear ripened and a wedge of blue cheese from the Hunter Valley Cheese Company. Some smoked Italian sausages from the Lovedale smoke house to go with Italian ciabata baked in Morpeth. For some extra sides we also picked up a handful of white anchovies and balsamic pickled onions from the Smelly Cheese Shop. For a little dessert we swung by the Hunter Valley Chocolate Company for fudge, chocolate morsels and a glistening bar of macadamia crunch. All consumed with great gusto at the park beside Hunter Valley Gardens. I’m sure that smear ripened cheese isn’t doing my arteries any favours, but crikey that’s good stuff.
Dinner was a little extravagant, but Alison and I reserved a table at The Rock for a night of gratifying gastronomorgy. I’ll refrain from listing the entire menu, saliva inducing as it may be, but you can imagine that with “Veal tenderloin with herb crouton, white anchovy, red pepper, lemon and caper butter” as an appetiser followed by “Grilled Wagyu rump with stuffed confit tomato, straw potatoes and light foie gras sauce” my taste buds were singing for the rest of the evening.
We felt that a wine tour was absolutely mandatory on our last day in the area so we signed up for one at McGuigan’s winery to be educated. I know next to nothing about wine so all the factoids were pretty interesting. Who would have thought that so much effort and cost would go into actually making, storing and bottling the stuff. $1500 for a wine barrel that needs to be replaced every five years? What I really wasn’t prepared for though was how much I enjoyed the wine tasting afterwards. We didn’t actually buy any bottles of grog but I do know that I really enjoyed a drop of oak chardonnay. I might turn into a wino yet.
Of course we couldn’t leave wine country without buying at least some booze. I’ve now acquired an appreciation for Blue Tongue ginger beer, alcoholic mind you, so we loaded up a slab in the car along with a champagne bottle of Hunter Beer Co. kolsch. All good things come to an end unfortunately so we now make our way to Scone for a short stop over, before continuing to Stanthorpe and then good old Brissie. Now that we know how good the food is here we’ll be sure to come back. It’s like an amusement park wonderland of food and drink and just our sort of place.
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