“Australia’s unique gift to the world”. That’s what Jancis Robinson MW said of Hunter Valley Semillon. There’s a good chance that if you’ve been to Sydney as a tourist, you have also been to Hunter Valley to taste some of their fine produce. I was there in 2008. It’s actually even easier to get to from Newcastle, just north of Sydney. Another great place to visit if you’re in Sydney is the Blue Mountains, just an hour or so out of town on the train.

As a tourist destination there’s probably not a better equipped wine region in the world. From the brilliant accommodation, to the top class restaurants and golf courses, Hunter Valley has something for everyone. For many producers, particular the smaller ones, tourism is actually making them more money than the wine sales outside of the cellar door.

Wine has been produced successfully in the Lower Hunter Valley since the 1860s, although despite some truly amazing wines, particularly from Shiraz and Semillon, and the long term success of producers big and small – Wyndham Estate, Rosemount Estate, Keith Tulloch, Tyrrell’s et al – the Hunter is not in fact the easiest place to grow grapes. A lot of the land is unsuitable for growing, consisting of hard, acidic clay. Winter droughts are common and the rain often arrives just when it’s least wanted.

The varieties (source: Wine Australia)

A world benchmark wine, Hunter Valley Semillon is the stellar white variety in the region. Semillon is at its delicate best when picked early to make a wine of ten to 11.5% alcohol and almost invariably has ripe flavours at low sugar concentrations. This is the style of wine that best responds to bottle age, during which it develops outstanding lemon curd and toasty complexity and becomes barely recognisable from its demure beginning. Most companies release their Semillons when only a few months old when they are crisp and lively with a light body and fresh, lemony and grassy fruit. A few keep some wines for bottle-maturation and release after five years or more when they have deepened in colour, become rounder and softer in the mouth and developed the most brilliantly complex flavours of vanilla and buttered toast.

Chardonnay started its Australia-wide popularity when the late Murray Tyrrell produced the 1971 Vat 47 Pinot Chardonnay. Today, virtually every winery in the region produces a Chardonnay with three different styles produced. The first is the traditional style with a rich peachy flavour, new oak & a full body; the second is an earlier picked tighter style, lighter in body & a little higher in acidity; the third is an unoaked or lightly oaked chardonnay that has been fermented in stainless steel.

Verdelho ripens early in the harvest, so there’s usually little difficulty in getting very ripe flavours and a full body. Verdelho is made using the same methods as Semillon, with the exception that it’s usually picked somewhat riper. It goes into bottle early and is usually at its best in the year or two after it’s made, when it shows ripe, tropical flavours. Its easily appreciated flavours make it a popular variety for cellar-door sales.

Shiraz is undoubtedly the Hunter Valley’s outstanding red grape. The typical young Hunter Valley Shiraz is a medium bodied wine showing red and dark berries, spices and plenty of soft tannin. It is quite deceptive, as the best can age for a considerable time, more than their constitution often suggests. With bottle-age, it becomes much more complex, with earthy, leathery overtones and a beautiful perfume. It also acquires a silkiness and grace, becoming a smooth, wonderfully complex and richly flavoured wine.

The Hunter Valley has successfully produced Cabernet Sauvignon for many years and of recent has introduced several Mediterranean varieties such as Tempranillo, Sangiovese & Pinot Gris.

Pictured: Legendary Hunter winemaker Keith Tulloch.

20% off Australia until the end of August, including Keith Tulloch’s Hunter Valley Shiraz-Viognier.

Wine tourism has become a big business that the New World in particular is taking real advantage of. You go to Australia’s Hunter Valley (pictured – that’s me), California’s Napa Valley or Marlborough in New Zealand and each winery will welcome you with open arms. You can’t help leaving with bags of love for their product, passion and way of life.

Wine tourism is viewed quite differently in the Old World. I had a great trip to Loire Valley in 2009 but the philosophy there is different. In my visits to Australia, New Zealand and California, producers were very keen to get you to the cellar door, to tell their story and let you sample some wines. That turned out to be less so in France.

The New World approach is obviously paying dividends to the respective regions. They seem to fly the flag together, not only putting a spin on their own wines, but educating people on what their country or region as a whole has to offer. Every single person who passes through their cellar door represents another opportunity to spread the word and I’m convinced it has played a big role in making the wines of these countries so successful in foreign markets in the last twenty years or so.

I came back from New Zealand telling my friends and family all about New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc and actively trying to find those wines at home so I could try them again. I had become a walking, talking advertisement for New Zealand wines without even knowing it because I’d had such an amazing experience, I was happy to have the region and its superb product sold to me.

From recent evidence, Spain is making big efforts to bring more visitors to her wine regions. Junta de Castilla y León, in partnership with Wines from Spain, is promoting its eight UNESCO World Heritage Sites alongside gastronomy and wine. Ribera del Duero has an excellent looking wine route with an abundance of wineries, restaurants, bars, accommodation and leisure facilities. The French Way of the Pilgrims’ Route to Santiago, a 400km hike over breathtaking landscape, has caught my eye – maybe next year though. High speed trains take you to Castilla y León from Madrid. Inexpensive flights are available from Dublin to Madrid.

While on the topic of wine tourism, Mendoza is becoming one of the top choices for gay tourists according to a recent article published on winesur.com. Wine, wineries and landscape are deemed to be the most important attractions.

While the concept of Curious Wines was a mere twinkle in Michael’s eye, I was fortunate to be traveling around the world with my mad girlfriend. Visiting some of the most famous wine regions, I was without the knowledge that just over a year later I’d be sitting at the front line of the industry.

After the most incredible few months traveling through South East Asia, and south down Australia’s eastern coast, we arrived in Newcastle, just north of Sydney. This is where Australia’s enthusiasm for food and wine really became noticable and with Hunter Valley being only an hours drive away, it didn’t take us long to decide what we were going to spend one of our days doing.

Our expectations were only heightened by the beauty of the region, and we weren’t let down by our first stop at Lindemans, where we enjoyed our first taste of Hunter wines, before heading to Sobels, where, as well as being overwhelmed by their range and St. Bernard puppy (pictured), I was impressed with their 100% Semillon. This grape variety possesses prominent citrus flavours, which you’ll notice also comes to the fore when blended with its usual partner, Chardonnay.

We all love small, homely boutique wineries, and Hanging Tree has to be one of my favourites, alongside Huia of New Zealand, visited a few months later. The grounds, the interior and the wines were tantalising, the sparkling Shiraz being my pick. Keith Tulloch was next on the list, with no idea that Michael would select them for our list! I was delighted when I heard, because like some of the wineries before, you could really tell that the Tulloch family were steeped in the proud tradition of creating handcrafted, characterful wines focusing on quality as opposed to quantity. Despite reaching as far as Ireland, they still maintained that family-owned, boutique feeling.

I won’t mention their name, but the last winery visited was a little disappointing. It was one that you would know, a big international brand sold in nearly every supermarket in the country. I wouldn’t say the wines were disappointing, they just didn’t stand out. It was over-crowded, impersonal and more like a trip to Disneyland than a quality-focused, proud and humble producer. Saying that, it was part of the experience and didn’t stop us having a brilliant day.

I’ve heard of wine snobs who say that Hunter Valley is now more of a tourist attraction than a world-class producer of wine. All I can say is as long as there are those smaller producers, such as Sobels and Keith Tulloch, Hunter Valley is in no danger of becoming just another tourist attraction.

Click here for our range from Keith Tulloch, and if you would like to see an earlier post on my time in Marlborough, New Zealand, click here.