50 Hunter Valley Wines To Try

Best Hunter Valley Wines

The Hunter Valley in New South Wales is Australia's oldest wine region. The sub-regions within the Hunter include the Upper Hunter Valley, Broke Fordwich, and Pokolbin. The Hunter Valley is semillon and shiraz country, but the region also turns out some of Australia's best verdelho, fiano and chardonnay (the Hunter was one of the first regions to grow chardonnay in Australia, and helped catapult the grape to its icon status).

The region is home to some of Australia's most iconic wineries, such as Brokenwood, Mount Pleasant, Tyrrell's Wines, Lake's Folly, Tulloch, along with Silkman and First Creek Wines, which are led by the Halliday 2025 Winemaker of the Year, Liz Silkman.

Semillon and shiraz from the Hunter have a reputation for a great ageing ability. Semillon styles can develop complex and toasty characteristics – try examples like First Creek Wines' 2023 Single Vineyard Murphy Vineyard Semillon, Audrey Wilkinson's 2023 The Ridge Semillon and Briar Ridge Vineyard's 2019 Museum Release Dairy Hill Single Vineyard Semillon.

When it comes to shiraz from the Hunter, some wines can be cellared for the next 30 or more years. Top Hunter shiraz include the 2022 Mount Pleasant 1921 Vines Old Paddock Vineyard Shiraz, the 2022 Brokenwood Tallawanta Vineyard Shiraz, and the 2022 Lake's Folly Shiraz Merlot Petit Verdot (the 97-point wine is a blend of shiraz, merlot and petit verdot, and was also included in the Top 100 Wines 2024 red wines over $50). 

Below are 50 of the best Hunter Valley wines to try. You'll notice they are all gold or silver in rating, ranging from 91 to 98 points; they showcase exactly what the region does best. 

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Through Introduction to Wine, students will learn about Australian wine and wine regions, how wine is made, how to taste and describe wine, how to approach food and wine matches, along with handy tips that address common wine questions. And in part one of our Wines of the World course, discover and explore the iconic wines, regions and laws of France, Spain, Portugal, Hungary, Germany and Austria.

Image credit: Mount Pleasant.