Hunter Valley’s voco Kirkton Park first stop in a wine and food sojourn
Even for a non-wine drinker, NSW’s enchanting valley has temptations galore.
The cypresses stand soldier-straight, seeming to guard the dips and folds of the land, gleaming gold and green this breezy mid-June weekend. Viewed from the terrace outside Room 66 at voco Kirkton Park, the bulbous trees relax their stiffness, branches uplifted in rhythm to a silent tempo. Setting off for a pre-breakfast drive beyond the estate’s gateway, there are kangaroos hopping through rows of vines, magpies perched on wire fences. A dastardly fox darts in front of my car and I spy Ben Ean estate’s llamas popping up their heads like periscopes.
It’s just gone 7am and NSW’s Hunter Valley is shrugging off sleep, the sun climbing and wispy cirrus clouds scudding. There’s energy in the air, the promise of industrious hours ahead. This Sunday feels less like a day of rest than a reawakening after COVID-enforced slumber. The popular patch of wine-growing country a few hours’ drive northwest of Sydney is back in business.
Like all Australian regions with a dependency on tourism, the past months have seen heavy losses and what locals will readily tell visitors have been moments of utter despair. Until the valley is fully operational again, there may continue to be restrictions and modifications in place, but do not worry about any lack of enthusiasm. Every service industry staff member I meet is aglow with energy.
Visitors, too, seem attuned to all the required practices, whether arriving by car, chauffeured mini-bus or Grapemobile e-bike rental. Book ahead for that cellar-door tasting or meal so social distancing can be maintained. Understand that reservations are sacred and time slots must be observed.
Use the sanitiser provided. Observe social distancing: X marks the spot at shops, wineries and specialty stores such as Binnorie Dairy, where the locally crafted, honey-hued camphor laurel cheese boards are labelled as bacteria-resistant.
Back at voco Kirkton Park, breakfast is served at allotted times, buffets are so last February, and most guests are choosing to eat in the sun-flooded conservatory overlooking a centrepiece fountain, camellia hedges and urns of geraniums. I have booked a high tea so lunch is off the agenda.
But less than three hours later, Bimbadgen Estate’s Pizzeria tempts with its wood-fired outdoor oven and jaunty cafe furniture on a belvedere with reaching views. Esca is still the serious dining drawcard at this Tuscan-inspired estate, but Pizzeria has been added to the winery’s mix since my last visit and is evidence of the refreshed diversity afoot in the Hunter.
There are big pots of oregano, blueberry bush, finger lime and curry plants lining Bimbadgen’s paths; the air smells of tomato-rich Italian sauces and kookaburras are laughing fit to burst.
I don’t drink wine and you’d think I’d be the Hunter Valley’s worst nightmare, but for at least the past decade, there’s been a clear shift towards complementary parish-grown produce. It’s no longer just about fruits of the vine, but craft breweries, cider makers, gin distilleries and fine comestibles, including at specialty diners such as Sabor Dessert Bar, tucked amid the heritage shiraz and semillon vines at Lambloch Estate. Across the Hunter, cheese abounds, plus pastes such as quince or fig, dried fruits, locally made lavosh, liqueur chocolates, charcuterie, olives and pickles.
It’s comforting country village fare, often adapted from handed-down recipes and with a rural generosity to the big servings.
Call in at the huge Tempus Two estate in Pokolbin for a buy-up at The Hunter Valley Smelly Cheese Shop, a name that belies the diversity of its larder, from valley-made gelati to antipasti and takeaway picnic platters, There’s a walk-in fromagerie and olive tastings. This winery and restaurant complex, divided into cafes and bistros, most with outdoor areas, is home to the chic Tempus Two cellar door and Goldfish Cocktail Lounge where heady mixes rejoice in names such as Penicillin and Paper Plane.
But now it’s high tea time at voco Kirkton Park and the conservatory has been transformed. Rose petals sourced from the estate’s 300-plus bushes are strewn across tables. A three-tiered silver stand holds ribbon sandwiches, lemonade scones, savouries and tiny cakes that each dissolve in one ultra-sinful mouthful. Dilmah tea in a choice of blends is sipped from dainty cups worthy of a vicar’s tea party. Sous-chef Jesse Oakley says a High Cheese option is in the offing, in conjunction with Binnorie Dairy. Expect triple cream brie, cheddar, and chilli, garlic and rosemary labna, plus olives with feta, lavosh crackers, mini brioche rolls, mushroom and cheese arancini and, according to Jesse, “loads more”.
The hotel opened in 1988 as a Sebel property and covers a sprawl of 28ha with 70 well-appointed guestrooms ranged across separate wings that radiate from the main single-storey manor. It looks and feels like a country club, complete with several dining rooms, from ultra-casual to high-end, and a lounge bar with fireplace. Refurbished decor under newish IHG management is in tones of navy and gold, with blue-patterned lamp-bases and chinoiserie ginger jars at every turn, plantation shutters and recurring patterns of diagonals, diamonds, houndstooth checks and geometric shapes. The lower-case voco branding refers to the international group’s lifestyle-driven category but at the heart of Kirkton Park is a clear emphasis on Hunter Valley connections. Menu and bar ingredients, including roses and rosemary for martinis, and chillies charred and infused into tequila, are from the gardens, as are cumquats and citrus, and honey from two on-site beehives. Young staff enthusiastically share their insider tips. It’s all as friendly as could be and a splendid spot to recharge.
In the know
IHG operates 12 voco properties, including two in Australia, with 18 in the pipeline. The group has introduced Way of Clean hygiene protocols across all its hotels. Rates at voco Kirkton Park start at $180 a night midweek or $249 weekends. High tea is $65 a person, add $10 for a glass of sparkling wine by Peterson House, Pokolbin. Book by July 30, for stays to December 30, for inclusions such as breakfast, or three nights’ accommodation for the price of two. The hotel is also a popular wedding and events venue.
MORE TO THE STORY
■ A map showing townships, cellar doors, distilleries, dining, accommodation, providores and experiences such as walking with llamas and pony trails, is available at Hunter Valley Visitor Centre on Wine Country Drive; huntervalleyvisitorcentre.com.au.
■ Audrey Wilkinson, established in 1866, sits on a foothill of the Brokenback Range and has encircling views, a museum in the original building and three guest cottages, from two to four bedrooms, including a converted dairy; audreywilkinson.com.au.
■ The three generation-strong Usher Tinkler Wines at the tiny 1905-built deconsecrated Pokolbin Church is creating a stir with funky labelling such as 2020 Death by Semillon, and its Mr T’s limited-edition fortified verdelho with “a whisky twist” sells like proverbial hot scones. Book a tasting with a generous cheese and salumi board; ushertinklerwines.com.
■ Chef-owner Frank Fawkner and his team at EXP. in Pokolbin Village on Broke Road, serve a six-course tasting menu in a strikingly simple setting of open kitchen, black wall tiles, sit-up counter and hewn timber-topped tables. It’s seasonal cuisine with a pared-back Japanese sensibility, the valley’s version of omakase (leave it to the chef) surprises. Even the house-made sourdough’s big blob of cultured butter is a revelatory blend of cinnamon berry, myrtle pepper and wattleseed flavours. Set menu (vegetarian option offered): $100; add $70 for wine pairings by ace sommelier and restaurant manager Harrison Plant, kicking off with an Usher Tinkler La Volpe prosecco. The team is resolutely local; the remarkable food a fitting celebration of NSW’s regional bounty; exprestaurant.com.au.
Susan Kurosawa was a guest of voco Kirkton Park and Destination NSW.
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