Waking up at 5:30am on a Saturday sounds like a nightmare to anyone, but when the alarm means an all day wine tour through Hunter Valley getting up is a lot easier! This weekend I spend a day in a vineyard alongside my friends Mariana, Natsumi, and Jess. We hopped on a bus bright and early Saturday morning with our tour guide who would take us to three vineyards, a chocolate factory, a brewery, and an organic vodka distillery.

We started the day at a boutique winery called Travertine Wines. There we tried 8 different wines. Our top choice there was the Sparkling Petit Verdot/Merlot (Natsumi’s overall favorite), it was a sparkling red wine which was surprisingly amazing. A few other noteworthy wines we tried there were the Fiano (Mariana’s top pick) and their Chardonnay (my #1 pick). At this stop we learned a ton about the making of different wines and also how to taste wine like a pro. We became such experts we could open our own winery… stay tuned for that! From there, we made a quick stop at a chocolate factory and indulged in fudge and fondue with strawberries before lunch. I strongly believe chocolate should be served before lunch every day. Lunch included endless servings of delicious pizza, tasting 4 more wines from Hope Vineyard, and then onto craft beer tasting. What a hard day!

Our next stop was my personal favorite. We went to an organic vodka distillery and tried 10 different flavored vodkas out of small test tubes. The best flavors were chocolate, mango, and coffee. It was great because none of it actually tasted like vodka and it was all organic, so it was kind of healthy right?! Our last stop was Lucy’s Run Vineyard. We not only enjoyed more delicious wine, including Jess and my favorite, the 2014 rose, but we also got to try many decadent cheeses and fresh olive oil. The family who owned this vineyard were the sweetest people– true Australian locals who were really passionate about their wine.

If you ever come visit Sydney, Australia I would highly recommend going on a Hunter Valley Wine Tour. We used Zepher Tours and had a great experience start to finish. You can check out the tour here http://zephertours.com.au/hunter-valley-wine-tours-from-sydney/. I will definitely be back to Hunter Valley, and can’t wait to get my hands on more Lucy’s Run Rose!

xoxo, Ace