Hunter at Sunset

After a long work-filled week here in Sydney for my local friends Amani, Anna and Jake — and a bustling, fun-filled 5 days for me — we piled ourselves into a rental yesterday and escaped the city clamor for a little rest and a lot of wine in Hunter Valley.

It was as eventful as all road trips should be, with multiple stops for snacks, a series of music playlists, and an empty gas tank scare (seems you really can go pretty far with the light on). We approached the yards at dusk, met by warm, quiet, phenomenal views : vivid greens vines with sun-lit top layers, rolling mountain peaks, glimmering ponds, crisp white clouds broken by soft, orange rays. Beautiful, breathtaking, gorgeous, you name it.

Generally, of course, wine country isn’t loved only for its scenery; the main draw is drink, though tremendous food is also a pretty sure thing. Our Saturday dinner was no exception.

As my cohorts enjoyed meat and salmon, I narrowed in on grilled eggplant involtini with fresh mozarella in an almond-coriander cream, corn and chickpea fritter, roasted and carmelized root vegetables, whipped mash with chives and crisp baby sugarsnaps. We shared desserts of saffron creme brulee, warm ginger bread pudding with caramel gelato and, just for good measure, something that closely resembled baby strawberry shortcakes with mascarpone. Three bottles of red later, our tastebuds exhausted, we were off to recoup for an early rise in the morning to start experiencing more of what the Valley had to offer.

And did we! More beautiful views, more tasting, more laughing… an absolute manifestation of what a friend of mine often refers to as “good living.” Today was notably successful, with 6 winery stops, several purchases, and a lovely early dinner of tapas as the sun started to set over the mountains. We even managed to sneak in a nap on a very well-manicured winery lawn.

I mean, isn’t that what Sundays are for?

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Tasting

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