Around The Valley

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The hot months ~ food, wine, trips and a bushfire!

I’m a terrible blogger! Life has gotten in the way and I haven’t posted in ages despite my resolution to post at least once per quarter. So here’s a quick run down of our Hunter and other adventures from September to March this year.

The Cook’s Co-Op with Paul West

Over the last six months we watched our dam levels slowly declining. They got so low, and the edges so exposed, that we joked we now had a beach! But in all seriousness, we were worried they would dry up entirely and I know a lot of producers in the valley were/are facing serious water shortages.

We attended the Brokenwood Lunch at Spicer’s Retreat in September. The food and wine were wonderful but it was the company that made the day. We attended with some friends, but also made some new friends on the day. If you ever get a chance to attend a luncheon organised by a winemaker, do give it a go – so much fun! We also had lunch at Martin Boetz‘s Cook’s Co-Op at Sackville. It was cooked by Paul West of River Cottage Australia fame.

Grazing at Gundaroo

Clive and I had a great weekend away in Canberra in September, starting with lunch at Grazing in Gundaroo and an overnight stay in town. We then stayed in Canberra itself so we could dine at Chairman and Yip. It’s an Asian restaurant with a magnificent degustation menu. Of course we visited Floriade too.

Floriade

In October, Clive attended the Midnight Oil concert at Hope Estate. It was the perfect concert for a boy’s weekend. Back in Sydney we attended the Meet The Winemaker Dinner at 4Fourteen featuring Bruce Tyrell.

In November, we spent the day on Wine Island. It’s an annual event where a large number of wine producers showcase their wines on Clark Island in Sydney Harbour. The day starts with a boat ride to the island, and finishes hours later when you are dropped back at the Opera House. Very special.

Shaw & Smith (Adelaide Hills)

November saw us travelling to Adelaide. Although the trip was to see the Ashes, we stayed in the Adelaide Hills and it was nice to experience another wine region. I can recommend the Adelaide Hills Country Cottages. As far as wineries, we enjoyed Shaw & Smith, Petaluma, and Bird in Hand. Lunch at The Lane Vineyard was a highlight.

I also squeezed in a quick trip to Coffs Harbour. Amanda needed to get the hours up for her licence so we had a girl’s weekend away. I was very brave spending 12 hours in the car while she drove.

During December and January we had some quiet weekends, just enjoying time on the property. We tackled some gardening and property maintenance tasks. A pinched nerve in my neck slowed me down but we still got lots done. We took some time out to wine taste and also tried some beers. We visited the markets, both Handmade in the Hunter (where I took the photo of the Clydesdales) and the Hunter Valley Country Markets at De Bortelli.

The markets were a great place to buy some fresh fruit and veggies plus we got some wonderful produce from the Wollombi Road Providore at Cessnock.

We enjoyed a trip to Bali with our girls. We stayed in Seminyak and enjoyed the sun, the culture and spending time together.

Hunters Quarter

The pick of our meals out in the Hunter had to be dinner at EXP Restaurant. The degustation meal was fantastic with the most interesting ways of using ingredients and presenting the dishes. Leaves & Fishes was the choice for lunch – we enjoyed a wonderful meal with friends out on the deck over the water. We also took Susannah out to Hunters Quarter for lunch. The views there are amazing, as is the food and wine.

The scare of the year happened in December. There was an out of control bushfire in Lovedale with the smoke clearly visible from our property. Thankfully it was brought under control thanks to the firefighters.

I’ll leave you with a photo of Scarlett watching the sunset. xx

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Winter in the Hunter Valley – June, July & August 2017 Wrap Up

slow combustion

It’s definitely gotten cold now that winter has set in! But that means roaring fires and red wine, and snuggling up out of the chill with a good book or movie. Bliss!

Here’s my slow combustion fire. Doesn’t it look wonderful?

 

June has been another busy month. We’ve attended some more events that are part of Food and Wine Festival.

First off was the Burning of the Barrel. This unique event is held at Glandore Wines and, as the name suggests, is a giant bonfire. We’ve been before but I think this year was better than ever. The night kicked off with a magnificent fireworks display. This was followed by the fire lighting ceremony – duelling ‘canons’. The huge fire kept off the chill, and the food and wine was plenty.

The day after the Burning of the Barrel we attending a Fireside Lunch with a winemaker. Clive’s sister and her husband accompanied us to an intimate lunch held at the Hunter Valley Resort with Steve the winemaker from Piggs Peake Wines. The food and wine was fabulous. Here’s  a photo of the first and last courses – zucchini flowers and wattle seed pavlova. Yum!

Over the long weekend, we were thrilled to be joined by our friends Michelle and Geoff who spoiled us with a magnificent home cooked dinner. Lamb shanks were left simmering away in the slow cooker while we enjoyed some wine tasting. It was so nice to return to a warm house that smelled heavenly with the aromas of simmering lamb in red wine.

Bistro MolinesOur wine tasting expedition took us to Scarborough Wines (the Hermitage Road cellar door) where we tried some fabulous chardonnays,  and Usher Tinkler where I stocked up on prosecco and liqueur verdelho.

Sunday saw us visiting one of our favourite restaurants in the valley, Bistro Molines at Mountview. The food and the view are spectacular. Here’s a photo that gives an indication of just how pretty it is. I’m sure my friends won’t mind that I’ve included them in it. LOL

On the Monday, we spent some time with our youngest daughter, including taking her to lunch at Amanda’s on the Edge. It was a lovely sunshine filled day so we ate out on the patio.

During the last weekend of June we got some chores done – there’s always something to do on the property – including have some new doors fitted. We attended the Paddock to Plate dinner at Ridgeview Wines. Along with 8 magnificent courses and matching wines, we met some fun new people.

We also managed to sneak in a tasting at Peppertree Wines where Clive grabbed some more of those wonderful 2014 Hunter shirazs.

July was super busy too. Because it was school holidays we took care of routine tasks with the kids like dentist visits and driving lessons (boring but it has to be done!), plus preparing for a major council clean up while other people enjoyed the house in the Hunter.

Because we spend so much time in the Hunter Valley, sometimes it’s nice to visit other places and try new things. A highlight was lunch at Manta Restaurant at Woolloomooloo Wharf. It was a glorious winter’s day overlooking the harbour (a bit of a change from the usual paddocks!) and meal was delicious – lots of fabulous seafood.

We also made a trip to the Blue Mountains and stayed at the Hydro Magestic Hotel. I can highly recommend it. The building has been beautifully restored and the views are spectacular.

Of course no month is complete without a wine tasting. We attended a tasting of Wild Duck Creek wines at a restaurant in Glebe. Wild Duck Creek are a winery from Victoria and we get an allocation of their Duck Muck each year. It’s well worth trying to get your hands on a bottle. After the tasting we had dinner at a little Polish restaurant. I’ve not tried Polish food before so it was a new (and tasty) experience.

And continuing on with the food theme, we ended the month with lunch at the Urban Winery in St Peters (see photo although they’ve since moved to a new location) for a Chef X Winemaker Long Table Lunch with James Metcalfe.

I am going to get Clive to write a few wine posts but life has been totally crazy, both at home and work, so he hasn’t had time. But it is coming, I promise!

Nicki xx

Magnificent May
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Magnificent May

May was a wonderful month in the valley!

It’s a month we always look forward to because of the annual Margan White Label Lunch. We’ve been the past couple of years and it’s been fabulous each time. The Margan Wines cellar door is located in Broke. The building is beautiful and is surrounded by magnificent gardens that grow a lot of the produce used in the restaurant.

The White Label lunch starts with drinks on the terrace overlooking the view of the gardens and ranges, followed by a delicious meal served in the barrel room. The accompanying wines are outstanding. There’s alway fun entertainment too.

We haven’t had much rain at Providence lately, at least not enough to fill our dams. They look like they have beaches along their shores. But it is still beautiful to take a walk around them.

The temperatures are also starting to drop so a sweater or jacket is needed when adventuring out in the early hours of the morning or in the evening.

The positive thing about the cooler weather though is that it’s fire time! I love the slow combustion fire inside the house and also the chiminea outside in the courtyard.

Speaking of the courtyard, this little guy is one of the frogs who lives in our outdoor umbrella cover. It can be a bit of a shock when they drop to the table when you open the umbrella!

Last weekend we had guests join us. Clive and I started the weekend with dinner at Zaih’s. It’s located at Emma’s Cottage Vineyard, just down the road from us. So easy to get to, great food and superb service.

Our friends brought a huge wheel of butter (from Pepe Saya) with them so we enjoyed delicious butter on blueberry toast for breakfast. We then headed out for wine tasting and more food.

Because our friends hadn’t been to the Hunter Valley for a while we chose Keith Tulloch for a tasting and lunch. The wine tasting really is an experience. Guests are seated on the upper story of the beautiful Hampton’s inspired building. From this vantage point, you look over the vineyards while enjoying a personalised tasting of the wines. Highly recommended.

We headed downstairs and across the yard to Muse Kitchen for lunch. Our table was on the terrace and the weather was glorious. We followed lunch with dessert at Cocoa Nib. I couldn’t resist the chocolate raspberry cake – luckily I had Clive to help me eat it. Our friend Mike had a hot chocolate which was an experience in itself. The hot drink is served in a jug and is poured over a chocolate orb. The chocolate melts and tiny marshmallow cubes float out! And no visit is complete without buying some chocolate to take home. I chose the Macadamia Butter Crunch. Yum!

We wrapped up the weekend with a quiet night in on Sunday. We took a sunset stroll and stumbled on one of our agaves in flower! This flower spike is amazing. From what I understand, agaves take over 10 years to flower and then the plant unfortunately dies but you can replant the ‘pups’. The flowers can hit up to 1.5 metres so I’m keen to watch the changes as it goes through the flowering process.

June is a continuation of Food and Wine Festival in the Hunter so we have heaps planned.

Clive’s usually in charge of the wine so I’m trying to convince him to blog about a few of our wine experiences (of which there are plenty) and make some recommendations. Keep an eye out and see if I’m successful.

Nicki xx