The ultimate Australian wine 'valley' showdown: Hunter v Swan

Both destinations are replete with history and centuries-old vines, but where is best to raise a glass?

By Amy Cooper

The Hunter Valley was one of the first places I visited in Australia. I remember standing on the rolling green landscape beside Mount Pleasant vineyard, where torchbearer Maurice O'Shea made wine and history in the 1920s, and realising I was somewhere very special.

I'd wandered two hours north of Sydney for a day out and a drop and found myself at the birthplace of Australian wine, first planted with some of the world's oldest vines almost 200 years ago.

"Some of the greatest wines ever made in Australia came off this ground," said my guide that day, eminent Hunter winemaker PJ Charteris. I could believe it. Beneath those serene slopes pulsed a vital, volatile energy. You could see it in the soil, shifting restlessly from sandy to clay to volcanic within a few footsteps.

The Hunter tests its winemakers' mettle and sometimes breaks their hearts with its patchwork terroir and mercurial weather. But if you're up to the challenge, the rewards are sweet.

From some 150 wineries and cellar doors pour elegant shiraz, sumptuous chardonnay and semillon hailed as "Australia's gift to the world" by wine luminary Jancis Robinson (who had presumably concluded that neither Kylie nor Vegemite paired quite as well with seared scallops).

Tasting in lovely old sandstone buildings and atop vine-cloaked hillsides that make the Loire look blah, I was immediately hooked - not just on the wine but the people, too. No other region has birthed so many trailblazers, renegades and visionaries. For me, the Hunter's epic tales of graft and glory were a field guide to the best Aussie attributes: tenacity, camaraderie, optimism and an up-yours sense of humour.

From dynastic names like Tyrrell, Tulloch, Drayton, Wilkinson, McGuigan and Lindeman to new-guard iconoclast Usher Tinkler ripping up rulebooks with his nine-variety sparkling Enneagram, to Andrew Thomas's benchmark Kiss Shiraz (say it fast, you'll get it), the Hunter is endlessly exhilarating.

Wine is happiness enough, but it's also the party starter for all kinds of grape-adjacent adventures. Award-winning restaurants like Muse Dining, Margan and Bistro Molines outdo their big city counterparts. More than 20 breweries and distilleries serve palate cleansers from hoppy ale to single malt moonshine.

Hunter grape escapes encompass splashy spa resorts, boutique hotels, farm stays and more. You can soar in a hot air balloon, see massive gigs with rockstars like ZZ Top (playing today at Bimbadgen), shop for antiques, cycle or play golf.

Every region has its own allure, but the Hunter Valley is where all Australian wine journeys begin. I should know. I popped in for a drink and fell in love with an entire country.

By Mal Chenu

The first vines took root in the Swan Valley at Olive Farm in 1829, the same year the "Swan River Colony", which eventually became Perth, was established. Those nascent Sandgropers had their priorities right - grog before government. If Albo or Dutts had run on that platform, they'd have at least two votes locked in today, eh Amy?

This was also just four years after the first plantings in the Hunter Valley, which they only did to produce something less intoxicating than the hard rum that was "savaging" the NSW colony. When measuring tipples in the wine-time continuum, there is relatively no difference.

The Valley boasts 40 wineries, plus microbreweries, distilleries and cideries. They even have a meadery, honey. It is renowned for fortified wines, especially Pedro Ximenez and Muscadelle, produced with techniques handed down the generations, such as Olive Farm's famed Stari. The chenin and verdelho here are spectacular, and you'll also find excellent petit verdot, shiraz, grenache and sparkling.

One advantage the Swan Valley has over the Hunter is proximity. The Hunter attractions are spread thin, like political leaders on the national hustings. In the Swan Valley, the next cellar door is just around the corner. And the nearest Sandgroper, who will happily take time out of their busy day to disparage the eastern states, is even closer.