A Festival to Delight all the Senses

WORDS MICHELLE MEEHAN | intouch Magazine Features Writer

On any given weekend, it’s a tough ask to even scratch the surface on all the fabulous wining and dining experiences on offer in the Hunter Valley vineyards. But during May and June, there will be even more reasons for tourists to stay a little longer, with over 40 special events being held as part of the Hunter Valley Wine and Food Festival.

Local winemakers and restaurateurs will throw open their doors to showcase everything the region is known for, including premium wines, fine food and locally-sourced produce.

Helping to bring it all together and promote it to potential visitors across the Hunter and beyond is the Hunter Valley Wine & Tourism Association.

While food and wine festivals have been held in the Hunter for more than a decade, Tourism Association General Manager General Manager Jo Thomas said the need to expand the concept beyond its traditional month-long celebration was identified a few years ago.

“Wine and food festivals in the Hunter Valley have been running over May and June for over 12 years,” she said.

“Over time it has evolved to become Hunter Valley Wine and Food Festival, which has been running as a two-month long festival since 2016.

“The Hunter Valley Wine & Tourism Association, along with industry, recognised the need to expand the events over May and June, showcasing the region’s diverse wine and food culture with two months of themed activities.

“It is such an incredible time to be in the Hunter Valley, with perfect temperatures of warm sunny days and cool nights around the fire experiencing local food and wine.”

The 2018 festival boasts its biggest line-up to date, with the addition of 15 new events to an already packed program of epicurean experiences.

The diverse calendar includes everything from delicious gourmet dinners at award-winning restaurants to wine and cocktail master classes, as well as food and wine trails, handson cooking classes and long lunches.

New additions this year include Viva Verdelho at Tulloch Wines, Magnum Madness at Hart & Hunter Cellar Door and Cheeses of the World at Two Fat Blokes, while festival favourites such as the Hunter Valley Wine Festival, Tyrrell’s Winemaker’s Luncheon and the Meet the Farmer Dinner at Margan are sure to be as popular as always.

Jo said the diversity of the activities on offer – and the chance to take part in the more intimate atmosphere of smaller events – were key to the festival’s success.

“Hunter Valley Wine and Food Festival provides you with the chance to wine and dine with leading Hunter Valley winemakers and chefs, take part in an array of fun and interactive classes to fine-tune your culinary skills or, if you’re after a relaxing experience, simply curl up beside an open fire with a glass of premium Hunter Valley wine and a cheese plate,” she said.

“One of the things about the Hunter Valley Wine and Food Festival is that you can have an intimate experience. While there are some major events; there are also smaller more intimate ones that you can be part of, and those tend to sell out quickly as well, they’re really popular.

“There a real opportunity to meet the people behind the wines and the food. You’re getting to meet with the winemakers and chefs and people behind the scenes, so I think that’s where those events really do appeal to a lot of people.

“It’s that paddock to plate kind of experience, learning about where the produce comes from, where the wines come from, with the experts.

“There’s a real trend for understanding what you’re putting into your body and where it comes from, especially with that 25-35 year age group, the Millennials, even Gen Y, they’re all

looking for that explanation of where the produce is coming from.

“And when they’re here in the Hunter Valley they want to eat local, drink local, that’s really important, so these events under this Hunter Valley Wine and Food umbrella really showcase what we do here and our local produce.

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“In terms of our agricultural area here in the Hunter Valley it’s one of the largest in the country, we grow a lot of our own produce on our back doorstep in the greater Hunter Region, not necessarily just Wine Country, and our chefs and our winemakers source what they need locally, we’re really lucky in that respect.”

The festival events attract more than 35,000 people to the region during the two months, with a mix of locals and visitors from further afield.

Jo said it was impossible to understate the importance of events such as the Hunter Valley Wine and Food Festival to the Hunter’s visitor economy.

“Local events drive visitation to our region and have a huge impact on the local economy,” she said.

“In fact, the Hunter Valley wine sector contributes $502 million to the local economy and supports 2800 jobs.

“We market the Hunter Valley Wine and Food Festival, along with our other events during the year, to local and international audiences to help build awareness of the Hunter Valley as a key destination and to encourage visitation.

“Outside of our local area, Sydney’s our biggest market, and then also regional NSW and Brisbane.

“Now that we’ve got the new airport link between Adelaide and Newcastle we’re actually just peppering the South Australian audience as well and really targeting those food and wine lovers. It’s opened up a whole new world for us.

“The Hunter Valley is the most visited wine region in Australia by wine enthusiasts. It is also the oldest grape growing region in Australia, with the first plantings here dated back in 1828.

“Events give people a reason to come, and then it gives them a reason to come back if they’ve had a great experience.” To find out more about this year’s Hunter Valley Wine & Food Festival visit www.winecountry.com.au

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