There is a particular kind of Friday afternoon magic that happens when you load a car with your two best friends, point it north out of Sydney, and watch the city slowly dissolve into open sky and vine-stitched hills. The Hunter Valley is just two hours from the CBD, close enough to be spontaneous, far enough to feel like a proper escape. And for one long weekend, it delivered everything a trip should: laughter over long lunches, discoveries in beautiful cellar doors, and mornings slow enough to actually taste the coffee.
A three-bedroom villa nestled within a 100-acre resort in Lovedale, our home base for the weekend and, frankly, a destination in itself. Each of us had our own room, our own space to exhale, and we all converged on a shared living area that became command central for trip planning, late-night wine opens, and the kind of conversations you never quite get around to in ordinary life.
Breakfast at the resort’s Gather restaurant was a ritual we embraced without apology. The buffet spread, complete with a DIY pancake station and a chef cooking eggs to order, set us up beautifully for mornings of winery hopping. Between the Ubika Day Spa, the two swimming pools, and the Sydney Brewery on-site, we could have spent the entire weekend without ever leaving. But the vineyards were calling.
Pour decisions, all of them good. We visited a number of wineries across our two days, a curated selection that turned out to be the perfect pace. Not a sprint through cellar doors, but a genuine immersion. Each one had its own personality, its own story, and its own reasons to linger.
Latitude 32 Wines
Est. 2019 · Pokolbin
Gold: 2024 Casuarina Semillon | Best 2025 ‘Edward’ Semillon
This one is a love story disguised as a winery. Emma and David White left corporate careers in the UK, the glass towers, the Harbour Bridge views, and in 2019 purchased a 50-acre old-vine vineyard in Pokolbin. They faced bushfires, a pandemic, and the steep learning curve of becoming winemakers from scratch. What they’ve built is extraordinary.
Their cellar door opened in 2024, a sleek, contemporary space perched above 20 acres of vines, with the Brokenback Range as a constant backdrop. It feels like discovery: clean lines, art on the walls, verandahs where you could happily lose an afternoon. The team is genuinely curious about what you like, not what they want to sell you.
The wines challenge conventions beautifully. Emma, who calls herself a “chardonnay tragic,” produces two chardonnay expressions each vintage, while the semillon range has already earned serious recognition, their 2024 Casuarina Semillon claimed gold at the Winewise Small Vigneron Awards, and their 2025 ‘Edward’ Semillon took trophy honours shortly after. Their approach to rare Hunter Valley blends, reviving forgotten styles while working with 40-year-old dry-grown vines, makes every pour feel intentional.
Classic Flight ($15): Eight wines including Hunter staples and rare finds. Premium Flight available for icons like The Matriarch Chardonnay. Families welcome, giant lawn games and a dog-friendly policy seal the deal.
Bimbadgen
Est. 1968 · Pokolbin
Tourism Hall of Fame | Halliday 5-Star Winery 2021 | Best Tourism Winery 2002, ’06, ’07
The name itself, meaning “place of good view” in the local Indigenous language, is not an overstatement. Perched high on a hill with sweeping views of the Barrington Ranges, the winery commands attention before you’ve tasted a single drop.
Crafting award-winning wines since 1968, Bimbadgen draws from two premium estate vineyards, including some vines that are over 50 years old, to produce semillon, chardonnay, and shiraz of genuine character. The cellar door has been designed for immersion: you can peer through viewing platforms into the working winery, watching production up close before settling into a guided tasting.
And if you’re hungry after all that learning, the award-winning Esca Bimbadgen restaurant and wood-fired pizzeria (dog-friendly courtyard and all) offer some of the Hunter’s finest dining.
Grower’s Experience from $10 (six wines). Signature Experience $20 (single vineyard focus). Night Merchant Distillery also on-site for spirit lovers. Concert amphitheatre hosts A Day on the Green events seasonally.
Tulloch Wines
Est. 1895 · Pokolbin
130 years in 2025 | OAM — J.Y. Tulloch 2024 | Legends Award 2024 & 2022
There are wineries, and then there are institutions. Tulloch Wines falls firmly into the latter category. The story begins in 1895, established, remarkably, as an unusual settlement of a debt, and has run unbroken through four generations of the Tulloch family ever since. In 2024, third-generation John Younie (Jay) Tulloch was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia, one of the country’s highest honours. In 2025, the winery is celebrating its 130th year.
Their philosophy, “Wine, Your Way”, is one of those mission statements that actually means something when you walk through the cellar door. The spaces are thoughtfully designed for every kind of visitor: sunlit indoor tasting rooms, shaded outdoor areas, family-friendly corners. The range of experiences on offer is genuinely creative, from their wine and chocolate pairing (a crowd-pleasing revelation) to the premium “Hunter Heroes” tasting that takes you through the region’s iconic varieties with depth and context.
Tulloch’s Pokolbin Dry Red Shiraz has a vertical tasting experience all to itself, a wonderful way to trace how a vintage evolves over time. The cellar door also maintains an extensive museum wine selection; if you want to taste history in a glass, this is your place. Worth noting: their cellar door was recognised as one of the best in the Hunter Valley at the 2007 Legends Awards, a reputation that, from personal experience, is entirely deserved.
Hunter Heroes tasting from $16 (key regional varieties). Wine & Chocolate Experience from $16. Vertical Shiraz Tasting available. Lunch pairing at HQ Restaurant nearby ($53 with tasting). Museum wines available at cellar door.
Leogate Estate Wines
Est. 1970s vineyard · Acquired 2008
Top Winery of Australia 2025 | Sustainable Winemaking Certified
Our final stop, and in many ways our most memorable. Leogate Estate occupies a vineyard with roots stretching back to the late 1960s, when it was originally planted by Len Evans OBE, a genuine pioneer of the Australian wine industry. The Brokenback Vineyard at the foot of its namesake mountain range is considered one of the most highly regarded sites in the country.
Bill and Vicki Widin acquired the estate in 2008, and with senior winemaker Mark Woods at the helm, they’ve guided Leogate into an era of international acclaim. In 2025, Leogate was named among The Real Review’s Top Wineries of Australia. Their commitment to sustainable, certified practices only adds to the appeal.
The cellar door is exactly what you’d hope for: elegant, warm, and entirely unhurried. In summer it opens to alfresco tastings with views of the ranges; in cooler months, fireside. The range runs across semillon, chardonnay, shiraz, verdelho, pinot gris, and tempranillo, but it’s the Brokenback Shiraz and the Basin Reserve that have gathered a devoted following.
Hosted tasting of six wines from $10 per person (groups 10+ $20). New tasting menu experience available, seven award-winning wines matched with food. Open Wed–Sun, 10am–5pm. Bookings essential.
Make the most of 48 hours. The Hunter Valley is far more than its wineries, though the wineries alone would justify the drive. Here’s how to fill a weekend that feels both full and unhurried.
Hot Air Ballooning: Operators like Balloon Aloft and Beyond Ballooning offer sunrise flights over the vines, pure magic in golden light, with a champagne breakfast on landing.
Hunter Valley Gardens: Sixty acres of internationally themed gardens, from an Oriental Garden to a whimsical Storybook Garden. A beautiful, slow morning between tastings.
Hunter Valley Cheese Factory: Handmade curds, tasting boards, and local goods. Pair with a chilled Hunter semillon and find a shaded picnic spot — perfection.
Ubika Day Spa: Right at Rydges Resort, massages, facials, and full salon services. The ideal Sunday morning before the drive home.
Hermitage Road Cycleway: A mostly flat cycling trail threading past cellar doors, art galleries, and countryside. Rent bikes and let the valley come to you at two wheels.
Horse Riding: Hunter Valley Horse Riding & Adventures in Lovedale offers treks through native bushland, a beautiful way to see the region from a different perspective.
Chocolate & Olive Oil: Visit the Hunter Valley Chocolate Company and Pukara Estate’s olive oil and vinegar tasting room at Peppers Creek Village, a full sensory afternoon.
Golf at Rydges Resort: The 18-hole golf course right on the resort grounds. A brilliant morning activity before the cellar doors open.
Sydney will always be there. But some weekends, it’s exactly right to leave it behind.
“Ready to plan your own Hunter Valley escape?”
