More of the Hunter Valley

The top picture is just another Hunter Valley vista with a bit too much of a parking lot. The next two are inside Iron Crest. Most of the wineries in the Hunter Valley are boutique ones. They sell to club members and from their cellar doors. They don't export though they will ship free to Sydney and at a modest cost elsewhere in Oz. Iron Crest is a bit different- it is a contract winery, making wine from grapes or juice brought in from elsewhere. We did more tasting here and I did get a bottle of Shiraz here.

There are as well some wineries of which you may have heard like Lindemanns, Rosemount and Wyndham Estates. These are large companies that have vineyards all over Oz. The Hunter Valley is as far north as you find vineyards in Oz- further North it is just too hot. I gather Shiraz grapes originated in Persia and evolved in heat. So they do well in the Hunter Valley.