With over 150 Cellar Doors in the NSW Hunter Valley, it’s challenging to decide on how to spend your time in Australia’s oldest wine growing region. Joanne Karcz recently renewed her acquaintance with the area. Here is her suggestion on how to make the most of spending 24 hours in the Hunter Valley. 

Where is the Hunter Valley?

The Hunter Valley is a short two-hour drive north of Sydney via the M1. If you can spare an extra half hour, it’s well worth driving to the Hunter Valley via Peats Ridge Road and the quaint village of Wollombi. 

The route meanders through the countryside past small holdings and fruit stalls. Drive past stands of Gymea Lilies near Kulnura and thick bushland before descending into the Wollombi Valley. 

If you’re self-catering, perhaps stop at Laguna for coffee and pick up a few supplies for dinner and breakfast.  

Stay n’ Sip

After settling into your accommodation, sit back and enjoy your first wine tasting session without “leaving home.” 

Stay n’ Sip brings a relaxed and personable wine tasting to you in your Hunter Valley accommodation. Whether you’re a wine connoisseur or just starting your wine tasting journey, your host will tailor the experience to you.

Each Stay n’ Sip tasting includes seven carefully selected wines from boutique Hunter Valley wine producers, mostly unavailable from cellar doors. 

They provide glasses, table decorations and a light tasting plate of local cheeses and honeycomb. 

Redsalt at Rydges Resort

Having whet your appetite, it’s time for dinner. 

The Hunter Valley is known for its wine, but fine food from local produce is also on the menu. 

Redsalt at Rydges Hunter Valley offers a carefully prepared and beautifully presented five course tasting menu. Choose the wine pairing option to enjoy more Hunter Valley wines. Knowledgeable staff introduce each course and accompanying wines.  

Winmark Winery Sculpture Walk and Art Gallery

After a leisurely breakfast, take an easy drive to Winmark Winery nestled in the foothills of the Broken Back Range outside the village of Broke. Look out for wallabies as you turn into the vineyard. Then, instead of diving straight into wine tasting, grab a coffee or hot chocolate and flaky croissant from their coffee cart (open 9am weekends 10am weekdays). 

Coffee in hand, step out to explore the sculpture trail. Large bold sculptures, from an impossibly heavy pink balloon balancing on a concrete ramp to whimsical glass leaves moving gently in the breeze, there’s something to delight everyone. 

After the sculpture walk and a bit of shopping at the gallery, you’ll be ready to taste some wine. Winmark Winery only produces Chardonnay. Did I hear you say, “But I don’t like Chardonnay.”?

You’ll probably think differently after trying their Rusty’s Run. 

Wine House Hunter Valley

Before lunch, stop in at the Wine House, a one-stop Cellar Door offering wines from independent family-owned Hunter Valley winemakers. 

For a bit of fun, sign up for the Icon Wine Journey. This self-guided experience enables you to taste up to 16 wines at your own pace using the self-serve Enomatic tasting system. Insert a preloaded card into the slot, press a button above your chosen drop and hey presto, a measured tot pours into your glass.  

If you prefer someone to guide you through your tasting experience, the Hunter Unearthed personalises your wine tasting experience while the Silkman experience focuses on wines by the 2025 Halliday Winemaker of the year.

Groups of eight or more can take advantage of a Private Wine Tasting session. 

Lunch at Hungerford Hill Vineyard or Wombat Crossing Vineyard

By now, you’re probably feeling a little peckish.  

For a fine-food tasting experience you won’t go wrong with the Hungerford Lunch perfectly paired with Hungerford Hill wine. 

The menu may include Sydney Rock Oysters with finely chopped apple and finger lime, fresh bread with avruga butter and beef cheeks that melt in your mouth with rosemary fries. 

If you’re after something less elaborate, visit Wombat Crossing Vineyard. Sitting beneath a wall of framed and signed rugby jerseys taste a selection of their ready to drink whites and rosés.

Choose your favourite to accompany your pre-ordered Italian Antipasto box in the vineyard gardens. 

Only open on Thursday – Saturday, this boutique vineyard donates 50% of the tasting fee to the Cedar Creek Wombat Rescue & Hospital.

Hunter Valley Gardens

Walk off lunch with a visit to the Hunter Valley Gardens. Wander along walking paths through 14 hectares of carefully planted and manicured gardens. Discover native and exotic trees and plants in the ten themed gardens including the Indian Mosaic Garden, Italian Grotto and Chinese Moongate garden. 

Lisa McGuigan’s Cellar Door

Vamp, Lisa McGuigan’s unique Cellar Door  Behind the simple black exterior lies a rather different cellar door. 

The medieval décor with helmets, chainmail curtains and crystals hanging from a metal ring over the tasting bench top gives the venue a party atmosphere, especially on a Friday evening when the oyster bar opens. 

Sit down to a Ballz and Booze tasting experience to enjoy fine wine combined with cheesecake. Sounds weird? Perhaps, but it works. The three different, golf ball shaped, chocolate coated dessert balls go perfectly with three of Lisa’s carefully chosen wines.  

So, there you have it. A packed but broad experience of the Hunter Valley over 24 hours taking in wine, fine food, art and gardens. 

Accommodation 

There are plenty of accommodation options available in the Hunter Valley. Here are three suggestions. 

Oaks Cypress Lakes Resort – choice of one, two and three bedroom villas with kitchenettes or fully equipped kitchens. 

Mercure Hunter Valley Gardens: Offers comfortable hotel room type accommodation all with a private balcony or terrace. In the Hunter Valley Gardens Precinct. 

Voco Kirkton Park Hunter Valley: an IHG Hotel with rooms offering sweeping countryside or garden views.

The fine print: Some tastings and meal bookings require at least 24 hours’ notice. 

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