Gourmet Hunter Valley: olives and Chardonnay

Today I’m heading to the beautiful sub-region of Broke Fordwich to visit one of my favourite Hunter Valley wineries – Margan Wines. Winemaker Andrew Margan and his wife Lisa are the new generation of innovative winemakers, who have raised the benchmarks of Hunter Valley wines to a new level since starting out in 1997. In that time they’ve grown their vineyard to include more than 320 acres of vines. The striking Brokenback Mountain Range is the backdrop for visitors who come from far and wine to enjoy the whole food and wine experience at their gorgeous Tasting Room and Restaurant. Lisa happily shows me around her one acre kitchen garden, which provides Margan with up to 90% of the fruit, vegetables and eggs for the restaurant. Lisa is very passionate about sustainable principles and practices, using them to reduce Margan’s impact on the environment and its carbon footprint wherever possible.

Semillon and Shiraz may be the Hunter Valley hero wines, but this time Andrew is going to introduce me to their vintage 2013 Limited Release Chardonnay. The Chardonnay’s primary citrus and stone fruit flavours are nicely balanced with the subtle use of new French oak. As much as I enjoy the Chardonnay, I’m more interested in trying a variety I’m totally unfamiliar with called Barbera. Margan was the first vineyard in the Hunter Valley to plant this Italian varietal. It displays dark berries, spice and earthiness on both the nose and palate – it’s also an excellent wine to pair with food.

I don’t have to go far for my next stop. Whispering Brook is a stone throw away from Margan. Here I meet Susan Frazier, the owner and winemaker of this charming boutique winery. She wastes no time in showing me around the property. The estate’s combination of terra rossa soils (ideal for Shiraz and Merlot) and sandy loam soils (Semillon and Chardonnay) mean there’s an exceptional variety of wines on offer, both white and red. The Touriga Nacional (a red wine grape varietal from Portugal) is rare in this region and definitely worth trying. But, I’m here to check out the olive grove. Planted in 1997, there are now more than 700 olive trees producing premium extra virgin olive oil, along with delicious Kalamata table olives. I can’t wait to bring these olives to my mate, Chef Emerson Rodriguez over at Emerson’s to see what he can come up with.