Define red hot; so hot as to glow red; very exciting, interesting or good. Use it in a sentence; the Hunter Valley has some red hot cellar doors you really ought to visit this spring.
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There are many, like Tyrrell's for world-class wines tasted among a captivating air of history; Audrey Wilkinson for gorgeous drops and picturesque views as far as the eye can see; and Gundog Estate for searingly good semillon and shiraz, not to mention the gourmet foodstuffs stuffed inside their cellar door pantry. Plus, Brokenwood for a modern Hunter Valley via Napa wine tasting experience with an array of revered vino complemented by easy eats next door at Cru Bar + Pantry.
But as for red hot? Try these:
Vinden Estate, 138 Gillards Road, Pokolbin, 10am to 5pm. Hunter Valley rising star winegrower Angus Vinden is making some of the Hunter's most delicious wines right now. Don't let the ornate, old-school '90s stylings of the cellar door fool you: the wines come first by design and they are stunning, refreshingly contemporary throwbacks to a time when Hunter wine was all these things and more. Get a glass of the skinsy Gewrtztaminer (2019, $30), or taste the Provincial echoes of the Headcase Rosé (2019, $30). Both will slake your ardent spring thirst.
M&J Becker Wines, 2144 Broke Road, Pokolbin, 10am to 5pm. Follow the white glow of the neon sign inside M&J Becker's new cellar door, located within the Roche Estate complex, a few doors up from Oishii. Super sleek and contemporary yet warm and welcoming, the space is set out more like a wine bar dining room than a traditional cellar door. Take a seat on a stool up at the tiled tasting bench and sink into a series of stellar wines that hail from the Hunter Valley and beyond. Give the bubbly fizz of the Prosecco (2019, $30) a go before the M&J Becker Chardonnay (2017, $60) from the seriously underrated Ablington Vineyard.
Usher Tinkler Wines, 97 McDonalds Road, Pokolbin, 10am to 5pm. The Hunter Valley's "it" cellar door for a few years running now. It changed the wine tasting game when this cute blue church was first relocated, refurbished and then reopened as a Hunter Valley cellar door. Chesterfields and vinyl jams on the stereo, leadlight windows and warm timber tones underfoot, awesome art on the walls and scrumptious salumi. Oh yeah, and the wine; classy nods to the past blended with carefree waves to the future. Death by Semillon, Nose to Tail, Enneagram (2019, $30), and heavy hitters Reserve Chardonnay (2018, $45) and Shiraz.
Lake's Folly, 2416 Broke Road, Pokolbin, 10am to 4pm. More eternal flame than red hot, Lake's Folly is everything you picture when asked to think of the quintessential image that makes a winery a winery. Despite only two, maybe three, wines to taste - chardonnay and cabernets (2017, $80) - give yourself plenty of time. Chances are Rod, Roger or Pete will be around to take you through the story of Folly and its beguiling wines.
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