Hunter wine country has been beset by unrelenting pre-2020-vintage drought, bushfire smoke taint that wrote off grapes from some of its best vineyards and COVID-19 lockdowns that have shut its tasting rooms, winery restaurants and most of its cellar doors and tourist accommodation.
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Our wine and food purveyors, however, are counter-punching this triple whammy with vigour, daring and imagination.
For example, winemakers are co-operating with Hunter chefs Matt Dillow from The Deck Cafe Lovedale and Fernando Antao of the Sabor Dessert Bar, in a $65-per-person, five-course, home-delivered Degustation to Your Door feast.
Customers get Friday deliveries of the food to cook themselves under Matt Dillow's written instructions and/or by his course-by-course live demonstration on The Deck Cafe Lovedale's Facebook site.
As a $100 optional extra to the virtual dinner party, people can include matching wines for six from a different maker each weekend. This weekend Tamburlaine wines are featured. Find details at deckcafelovedale.com.au.
Top winemakers Andrew Thomas, Mike De Iuliis and David Hook are getting together to offer a special Isolation Six-Pack on their respective thomaswines.com.au, davidhookwines.com.au and dewine.com.au websites. Each six pack will come with a link to a pre-recorded 20-minute "virtual tasting" from each winemaker. The packs are priced at $150 each with free delivery, or $399 for all three packs.
Andrew Thomas's Pokolbin, cellar door is closed but, in addition to his six-pack collaboration, he is offering free same-day local delivery, including Newcastle, on orders placed on the thomaswines.com.au website before 1pm Monday to Friday.
Here's a survey of other producers:
TAMBURLAINE ORGANIC WINES Managing director Mark Davidson says tamburlaine.com.au online and phone orders (4998 4222) for its wines from Hunter and Orange area vineyards are "helping to save our bacon". They have free delivery for two cases or more and from 8am to 8pm daily there is a customer chat line. The winemaking team has also prepared online wine presentation videos.
DE IULIIS The family wine company run by star winemaker Mike De Iuliis, has shut its Pokolbin cellar door but is putting lots of effort into dewine.com.au online sales, with free delivery in the Hunter area.
Mike's two daughters Amelie, 11 and Charlotte, 9, were eager to help the enterprise established by their grandfather Joss, headed by their dad Mike and involving their great-grandparents Celeste and Maria. The pair recently took it on themselves to distribute sales promotional brochures around their Merewether neighbourhood.
TWO RIVERS The Denman, operation has been helped by the government JobKeeper program to keep its cellar door open for takeaway sales only. Brett Keeping, who runs Two Rivers with his wife Linda, says the program has allowed the company to retain staff and service loyal customers. Online sales on tworivers.com.au were up, and Two Rivers was offering free delivery packages and a gift hamper promotion.
LEOGATE The Pokolbin cellar door, tasting room, restaurant and wedding venue are all closed. The focus has shifted to leogate.com.au online and telephone (4998 7499) wine sales. The winery is holding a Stay Home and Stay Safe Sale in which customers can obtain Leogate Estate Wine Club membership entitling them to a 50 per cent cellar door retail price cuts while stocks last. Mixed or straight dozen purchases will be freight-free Australia-wide.
DAVIS WINE GROUP As producer of the Pepper Tree, Briar Ridge, Tallavera Grove and Carillion brands, the John Davis family group is opening its Pepper Tree cellar door in Pokolbin, for case sales from 10am to 2pm on Saturdays and Sundays. It has ramped up online sales on peppertreewines.com.au and is offering free freight on all six-pack and larger sales. Group chief winemaker Gwyn Olsen says the winery is operating as normal and processing some excellent 2020 Wrattonbully and Coonawarra wines and will produce a small-batch Hunter shiraz.
HUNGERFORD HILL This key part of developer-hotelier Sam Arnaout's wine empire that includes the Sweetwater Estate and Dalwood brands is offering 20 per cent discounts. All online hungerfordhill.com.au and telephone sales (4998 7666) are free freight for purchases of 12 bottles or more. The 1 Broke Road Hungerford Hill cellar door is open for takeaway sales but not tastings 10am to 5pm Monday to Saturday.
MARGAN WINES Andrew and Lisa Margan's 1238 Milbrodale Road, Broke, cellar door is open for sales and pick-up, but not tastings, and online margan.com.au sales. They are keeping their restaurant vegetable garden operational and harvesting every Friday. The kitchen team are putting together fresh vegetable packs as well as fresh pasta, sauces and bread. These are available each weekend to people who reserve by telephone and free local deliveries of wine and hampers are provided.
TULLOCH the cellar door on the corner of De Beyers and McDonalds roads, Pokolbin, is closed, except for farmgate takeaway sales at the front door from 10 am to 5 pm Monday to Friday. Tulloch CEO Christina Tulloch says customers could get 20 per cent off all products by joining the Tulloch wine club, extending from the $12.80-a-bottle Tulloch verdelho up to the super-premium, Limited Release range wines. of wine
MOUNT PLEASANT The Pokolbin winery which produced shiraz reds that in 2018 and 2019 won the NSW Wine Awards' Wine of the Year title and best red and best shiraz trophies, has had its cellar shut by COVID-19. Chief winemaker-general manager Adrian Sparks says online mountpleasantwines.com.au and telephone orders (4998 7505) in April will be given 14 bottles for the price of 12 including free delivery.
