There are a handful of cellar doors that anyone visiting the Hunter Valley for the first time will want on their itinerary.
Pre-eminent among them will be Tyrrell's, Mount Pleasant and Brokenwood.
Once you've ticked off that trio you are spoilt for choice with dozens of venues offering myriad wine styles and experiences.
One of the latest arrivals is Latitude 32, where we visited this week and were hosted by the friendly and knowledgeable Zac.
On the site of the former Mistletoe operation, there is a relaxed but professional vibe - and lovely gardens. A range of structured tastings are on offer.
We were guided to Latitude 32 by Newcastle Herald wine writer Rick Allen, GoTR's Hunter correspondent, who told the winery's story a few weeks ago. I particularly loved the 2023 The Matriarch Chardonnay.
Here are Rick's words:
Latitude 32 owners Emma and David White aren’t your everyday wine couple.
“We’re learning the wine game on the run,” English-born Emma is happy to admit.
They respect the Hunter’s tradition, but aren’t shackled by it.
The couple bought the 50-acre property in Pokolbin, including 15 acres of established dry-
grown vines - but no cellar door - in 2018 after highly successful careers as senior finance
professionals at large multi-national companies in the UK and Australia.
And while they’ve produced some wine in that time, bushfires, smoke, hail and Covid meant
there was precious little of it. Plans for a cellar door stalled too.
But now, with the purchase of the former Mistletoe vineyard that includes a cellar door, things are finally starting to take off.
What they have in abundance is a passion for good wine … their successful careers enabled them to taste the finest international drops without having to worry too much about damage to the purse strings.
“We’d sit at home sipping wine and dreaming about one day owning our own vineyard and cellar door,” Emma said. “There’s no point having a dream if you don’t live it and we were fortunate we were able to do that.”
Latitude 32 - the Hunter’s global position - officially opened on April 18 last year.
“We bought this property at the end of last year,” Emma continued.
“We originally planned to build a cellar door on our home property on Deasys Road and plant more vines, but it didn’t work out. So when this came up, with its cellar door and 20 acres of established vines that produces some outstanding fruit, we grabbed it.”
It means Latitude 32 now has 35 acres of fruit in total over the two properties, covering semillon, chardonnay, shiraz, pinot noir and muscat. The plan is to plant more vines – in Emma’s own words, “go big or go home”.
“We do the usual varieties, but also a chardonnay-semillon blend which is popular – I don’t know why it ever went out of style – as well as the old Hunter Burgundy, a shiraz-pinot. “And I’m a huge chardonnay lover, so we do two chardonnays.”
Plus there’s a couple of surprises, in very small batches, from other regions, including a new smooth 2019 sangiovese from the Hilltops region.
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