Hunter Valley

New South Wales

Winemaking

The Hunter Region is the premium wine region of New South Wales and one of Australia's most well-known and historically important wine regions.

The Chardonnay vineyard selected for the Bylines Chardonnay is on Deasy's Road, Pokolbin. With its sandy loam over clay and limestone soils, it is a perfect site for Chardonnay. The aspect is NE and has an elevation of 130m. With a tiny yield of below 1.5 tonnes/acre, the 30 year old Chardonnay vines produce fantastically flavoured grapes which are picked by hand.

 

Travel Notes

The Hunter Region is the premium wine region of New South Wales and one of Australia's most well-known and historically important wine regions. Distinctive styles of Semillon, Chardonnay and Shiraz are the hallmark of this region.

The region is unofficially divided into the Lower Hunter and Upper Hunter Valley, with the greatest concentration of vineyards is in the Lower Hunter between Cessnock and Branxton.

The two main topographical features are the alluvial flats of the valleys and the gently undulating hills. The region is fed by the Goulburn, Hunter, Paterson and Williams rivers.

The capital of the Hunter is Newcastle with many significant towns within the region, including Cessnock, Maitland, Singleton, Muswellbrook, Scone and Murrurundi.

James Busby—the man credited with bringing the vine to Australia - was associated with the Hunter Valley through his brother-in-law William Kelman. Kelman is thought to be the first to plant vines in the Hunter.

George Wyndham planted grapes in 1832. Penfolds bought the property in 1904 naming it Wyndham Estate. Dr Henry Lindeman purchased land around Raymond Terrace in the 1830s. So too did James King whose legacy passed onto Maurice O'Shea who came to the forefront of Hunter Valley winemaking in the 1920s. The area fell into depression for many years, but gradually made a comeback in the early 1960s. Today the region is booming.

There is a large concentration of wineries in Polkolbin which is also a major tourist destination.

Festivals such as Hunter Valley Harvest Festival, Budfest and Jazz in the Vines have fuelled enormous interest in the region that serves the very large population between Sydney to Newcastle. The recently opened Vintage Hunter, Wine and Visitors' Centre is also serving the industry as well as tourism by profiling the regions facilities and providing accommodation booking services.

The region has a hot, humid summer and cool winter. Harvest time is late March to late April.