Discovering the Hunter Valley for a day

Gourmet Getaway Tours

I am keen to see how Jimmy Henry, the trained chef and tour guide behind Gourmet Getaway, prepares gourmet meals from the back of a bus. Today, as a guest of Gourmet Getaway, I am looking forward to an indulgent day tour which pairs good food with boutique Hunter Valley wines.

The first stop is the Sydney Fish Markets where Jimmy imparts tips on cooking and buying seafood. He buys ingredients for our meal while we enjoy a hot coffee.

The sleepy hollow of Brooklyn nestling on the Hawkesbury River, provides a pleasant backdrop for breakfast which is beautifully presented. Fresh fruit, tasty toasted flat bread filled with spinach, rocket, mushrooms and cheese are more than enough to keep us going.

We pull in to Wollombi Wines, a small primary producer. They only sell their wine direct to the public. The cellar door sits on a hill overlooking the vineyards. Interesting sculptures decorate the garden. Before any wine tasting though, we learn a new skill. I can now make the perfect sushi roll.

As we approach Mount View Estate, grapes hang wasted on the vines, spoiled by too much rain. But there is still plenty of wine to taste. Jimmy pairs the wines with a series of antipasto specially prepared in a little purpose-built kitchen in the back of our bus. He makes it seem so easy.

At Saddlers Creek Winery, we choose which of four whites and four reds we favour with the next two courses. I’ll remember the fresh, tender Barramundi and the tasty marinated Kangaroo kebab for a long time to come. Not usually a fan of sticky dessert wines, I so enjoy the one with my wattle seed crème brulée that I buy a bottle.

Today has been long, but very enjoyable. I enjoy a little snooze on the way home in the bus pleasantly relaxed after a day of indulgence.

This is an edited version of the article I wrote for another site. You can read the full article here.