Another of the “not to miss” day trips from Sydney that was recommended to us was to visit the Hunter Valley for a wine tour. 
If you know my family, you KNOW that we love wine. Spoiler alert, but that’s basically the reason that there are *no* photos from this entire day. Knowing how many photos we usually take, that’s certainly saying something!
The Hunter Valley Wine Tasting van picked us up on time at the front doors of our hotel, so we didn’t have to traipse around looking for a pickup location, which I always greatly appreciate.
We set off in a nice air conditioned van with about 12 other guests, so we had a very nice sized group. Our tour guide passed around a menu for a new restaurant the tour was trying, called Two Fat Blokes. We had elected a la carte lunch, so we skipped out on lunch ordering. More on this later.
I had grabbed a window seat in the van, so I snuggled down for a nap on the 90 minute drive to our first location. Although I napped, when I woke up at the first tasting, my brother filled me in on the awesome facts and stories that our driver / guide had shared, so for those of you who aren’t nappers, it’s not just a dry ride to the valley!
Our first location was a boutique winery that specialized in sparkling dessert wines. It was RIGHT up my alley, since Riesling is my personal favorite. The wines were delicious and it was a great start to the day.
Our next winery was another boutique but in more of a farm-style setting. We got to sample reds and whites there, and we had a lovely host!
The third stop was for lunch at Two Fat Blokes, which we LOVED. Our a la carte in their shop was spectacular — we shared 3 different pies, with fresh breads for dipping and also a package of spicy salami and a fresh beer cheddar cheese from their cheese counter. I can’t even begin to describe how perfect the lunch was. We sat in their sun-room in the front and just chowed down. Everything was farm-fresh and the flavors deep while still maintaining that “home-cooked” feel.
We were then able to walk across the parking lot to another local winery for a “bonus” wine tasting. This one was more of a choose-your-own-adventure style wine tasting, so we picked wine after wine and tasted until it was time to hop back on the van for our final winery.
Our last stop was a mass-production winery, which actually was really nice to try out since we had been to boutiques all day. We had an amazing hostess who made us laugh and taught us quite a few fun facts, even at the end of our wine and learning addled day of tastings.
After the final tasting, we hopped back in the van and were driven back to the doors of the Marriott. Still nursing a gentle buzz, I would say it was the perfect day of wine tasting!!
