Hunter Valley Happiness

Hunter Valley - home to over 300 wineries. 3 things I learnt about the region;

1. Vines are meant to survive in harsh climates - they grow around other plants and outcompete them for sunlight and nutrients. In a sense, you don't want a large yield of grapes as the flavour compounds held within the grapes are then spread out over lots of grapes and diluted down.

2. Hunter Valley Semillion and Shiraz tastes pretty unique. The Wyndham Estate Semillion has a very acid / sharp finish. Wyndham Estate Hunter Valley Shiraz actually tastes of olives rather than the usual peppery plum fruit.

3. Hunter's also famous for it's cheeses. However, given it costs around £10-20 for a block of cheddar or brie, I wasn't too keen to buy cheese. Buying wine can get fairly expensive in Hunter Valley (even though you're practically buying it at source!)