Hunter Valley Wine Tours

Semillon above all. Hunter Semillon is picked early, made without oak and ages for a decade or more into something quite unlike a young one. Shiraz is the other signature, medium-bodied and earthier than Barossa fruit. Chardonnay and Verdelho round out most cellar door lists.

The number of wineries we will visit will depend on the Hunter Valley Winery Tour you choose for your adventure, but the average number of wineries we visit is three for the day.

Pokolbin is the heart of the Lower Hunter, the sub-region where most of the well-known cellar doors sit, about ten minutes from Cessnock. When people say “Hunter Valley wine tour”, Pokolbin is usually where they mean.

Cheese and local produce tastings, chocolate, and a restaurant lunch are built into our tours. The region also runs to gardens, brewery stops and vodka tastings on some itineraries, which is the practical answer for anyone in the group who does not drink wine.

Vintage runs January to March, when the vineyards are working and the region is busiest. Winter is quiet, cool and good for reds by a fire. September and October give you vines in leaf and mild days. Cellar doors open year round, so there is no closed season.

On a tour, no. Bookings and tasting fees are handled for you as part of the day. If you drive yourself, most Pokolbin cellar doors now expect a booking on weekends, and some charge a tasting fee that is refunded against a purchase.

That is the reason most people book one. There is no useful public transport between cellar doors, they are spread over kilometres of back roads, and the drink driving limit makes self-driving a poor fit for a tasting day. Our coach picks up in Sydney and drops back.

No, children aren’t permitted on our wine tours. As the tours include wine tastings, all guests must be 18 or over, and a valid photo ID is required.