Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
drying and distribution in Sydney. In the
end, the authorities had to bring in crop-
dusting aircraft and powerful chemicals to
beat the infestation. It ended up taking 9
years to eradicate.
Fortunately Hunter Valley is more
famous for another type of intoxicating
substance called wine. The oldest wine
region in Australia, established as early as
1830, it contains almost 200 wineries, most
of them in the Lower Hunter Valley. This
open, picturesque landscape, with gentle
hills and fertile plains, makes a popular day
trip from Sydney—most wineries are open
to visitors, and they run the gamut from
large and high-tech to small and rustic.
One of the most famous Hunter Valley
wineries, McWilliams was founded in 1921
by legendary winemaker Maurice O'Shea,
one of the first pioneers to recognize
the fine-wine promise in Australian
terroir
.
The winery is particularly well known for its
single-vineyard Semillon, often called the
best in the world. Visiting McWilliams, you'll
admire its grand, pioneer-style homestead
with its wraparound veranda overlooking
the vineyards. Well-clipped hedges border
a tidy lawn, and steps lead to a large court-
yard with fountain. Inside the house are
large salons with bare, raftered ceilings
and a fascinating photographic display
detailing a 60-year history of winemaking.
The on-site restaurant, Elizabeth's, comes
highly recommended for its special tapas-
style menu, where each morsel of food is
paired with a particular wine.
The actual winery itself is a gigantic
warehouse behind the homestead, where
McWilliams's excellent, well-trained staff-
ers conduct informative tours and tastings.
Seeing the modern, somewhat industrial
facilities, you can believe that this is the
largest family-owned winery in Australia.
Don't miss tasting the Semillon—it is excel-
lent, strong and full-bodied. As you swirl it
around you can understand why it is one of
the few white wines that can be success-
fully aged. Just be sure it is not a wine from
the sixties—that might give new meaning
to the term “a grassy taste.”
McWilliams,
Marrowbone Rd., Pokol-
bin (
&
61/2/4998-7505;
www.mount
pleasantwines.com.au).
(
Sydney International (173km/107
miles).
L
$$
The Kirketon Hotel,
229 Darling-
hurst Rd., Darlinghurst (
&
61/2/9332-
2011;
www.kirketon.com). $$$
Patrick
Plains Estate,
647 Hermitage Rd., Pokol-
bin, NSW (
&
61/2/6574-7071;
www.
patrickplains.com).
Southern Hemisphere
370
Vasse Felix
Walkabout in Margaret River
Margaret River, Australia
The neighbors must have thought him
mad. Dr. Tom Cullity would rise at 3am
every Saturday morning and drive 3 hours
south from Perth to Margaret River. He
would spend the weekend wandering
the forested land, hand-boring the clay
with an auger, and sleeping in a metal
shed at night. It seemed like a modern
reincarnation of the Aborigine ritual known
as
walkabout
.
Cullity did this for over a year before he
found what he was looking for—gravely
soil, which he had read was essential for
growing vines. This was in the 1960s,
when Margaret River was an inhospitable
Western Australia backwater with just a
few hardy farmers and some brave surf-
ers. The Australian government had tried
to encourage settlement there in the
1920s, but with dismal results. The land
