This was the second winery my wife and I visited as part of a wine tour organized by our travel agent. We were spoiled as we were the only two on the tour that day, so we got the private tour experience!
First of all, the estate is gorgeous! Beautiful rolling hills and the winery buildings and event rooms all look wonderful. They were preparing the banquet hall for a wedding the day we arrived, it will be quite the event! Just in case you were wondering, they spend a few days extensively preparing for weddings which impressed me.
We received a brief tour of the buildings where the work gets done. Our attendant was very polite and was able to answer almost all of our questions.(French oak barrels are expensive!)
The food was amazing. Our appetizers consisted of fresh bread, a pidgin and pork terrine with mango chutney, foie gras with plum pudding, seasonal cheeses, and a few other items. Our lunch was a meatball pasta with garden salad. I don't recall exactly what our dessert was, but 'fruit explosion' comes to mind. Everything tasted delicious. They have a bucherie on-site, so I'd be willing to bet the steaks are great.
The wines were great also. As others have suggested, the price point at this winery is noticeably higher. I gathered that this winery was purchased by a new owner about five years ago. They hired a very good winemaker, and proceeded to win prestigious awards. When you win the award for #2 Shiraz in a worldwide competition, you get to demand the kind of prices people pay for quality. We couldn't afford to buy an entire case, but did purchase as much wine as we could take home to the US in our luggage. While the reds I liked were on the pricey side, there were some fantastic whites for bargain bin prices.
I'd like to mention that the manager accommodated a special request for us even though they were under no obligation to do so. The location, staff, and food/wine were all lovely. I would recommend this winery to any foodies or oenophiles that find themselves in the Hunter Valley. read more