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Eating our way through the Hunter Valley

By: Lisa Wolff, Yahoo!7 Travel

I still dream about that decadent chocolate and caramel tart from Mojo's in the Hunter Valley. The melt-in-the-mouth lemon pie is also heavenly and regularly creeps into my thoughts.

The Hunter, a scenic valley of green plains and vineyards, may be best known for its world-class wines. However for me, it's a gourmet wonderland and I'm often tempted to make the easy three-hour drive from Sydney for a long lunch at one of the prized valley restaurants.

Mojo's, home of those fantasy-inspiring desserts, is a well-established restaurant run by foodies Ros and Adam Baldwin for the last eight years. It has a reputation for classy yet down-to-earth meals and warm hospitality. I haven't eaten there before so I can't confirm the reports but I have sampled the fare from their new deli.

A jellybean garden
Passer byers usually slow down their cars and peer curiously into the Mojo garden, It's topped with brightly coloured bean bags - giving the lawn a feeling of a child's jellybean playground. The unique seating arrangement is thanks to the council's objection of them having outdoor tables, which turned out to be a good thing as people tend to linger and even snooze in the sun on the comfy bags.

The deli is Mojo's latest venture and has shelves packed with tempting treats. There's a vat of molten chocolate on the counter which dispenses its tasty lava into espresso cups. There are bottles of homemade thai sweet chilli (take home at least two bottles), dukkah and caramelised balsamic. The coffee machine is the prized apparatus of Manager Dan - who is so passionate about his barrista role that he is there an hour before the 9am opening to warm up the coffee beans.

Irish hospitality
I've been to the Hunter in summer. But nothing beats the valley in the cooler climate. Sipping wine in front of roaring fireplaces, hot chocolate and sherry, savouring delicious meals, wrapping up warmly and exploring the scenery. Driving in from Sydney on a freezing cold night, it was sheer relief to arrive at Harrigans Irish Pub, bustling with light, comfort food and festive cheer.

This Gaelic style pub is not your run of the mill dark and dingy alehouse. It's warm, inviting, and classy in an unpretentious way. And it sure is popular. There was a group who practically begged the hostess for a table. Restaurant manager, Steven Thornburn has a hands-on style. Between juggling plates of gourmet pub-grub and welcoming customers, he still had time to share his strategy of how the kitchen serves over 150 meals an hour.

There's little wonder a table is in high demand. The food is fantastic. Admittedly, my expectations were low after a greasy bangers-mash-and-mushy-peas experience in a London pub made me wary of all tavern food. But my fillet steak was butter-tender and succulent, accompanied by a creamy mushroom sauce, crispy chips and salad. None of that fashionable slab of meat and nothing else, for this establishment. The beef and Guinness pie topped with a puffed square of delicate pastry is apparently the speciality so that's what I'll try next time. I'd give dessert a miss though - the Belgium chocolate tart was fridge hard and lacked substance.

Convenient place to stay
Good thing with all that food and a couple of authentic Irish beers, we didn't have far to walk to Harrigan's accommodation. It may be motel-style but rooms are upmarket and cosy with a spa bath, a massaging shower that you could stay in forever, hot drink facilities and a large bed (we actually had two double beds in our suite).

Harrigans is one of the most central places to stay in Pokolbin. It's a minute's drive to the Hunter Valley Gardens, a mini-resort with boutique shops, an aqua driving range and the most magnificent sculptured and themed gardens. Don't be put off by the $19.90 entry fee. The perfect-for-kids storybook garden, orchard and manicured Chinese and rose gardens make this a must-do visit.

Of course, if you're in the Hunter Valley, then you'll want to pop by some of the region's most revered wineries. We stopped by Adina Vineyard, where we met with proud owner Peter O'Meara. Peter exchanged a manic corporate role in Paris for the more genteel world of winemaking. But his sharp business sense is not lost in his new role. He reveals that he strategically handpicks winemakers to suit different wines. One of his varieties has three wine wizards involved in bringing the grapes to liquid life.

Olives...olives...and more olives
While we enjoyed sipping the Adina wine, it was really his other side of the enterprise that I was most interested in. Peter has a sophisticated olive factory on site complete with Roman granite grinding stone and bottling plant. Not only does his team hand pick olives for table enjoyment but they also create a superior extra virgin olive oil - a laborious process taking into account that 100kg of olives produces only 20kg of oil.

Tapenade (an olive puree traditionally mixed with anchovies and delicious with crackers) is another olive by-product created here. Peter shared his top secret method of removing excess water from the paste - they put it in a washing machine (in a bag, of course) for a good old fashioned spin.

One of my favourite wineries in the Hunter Valley belongs to Keith Tulloch - a fourth generation in the well-regarded Tulloch clan. This winery is one of those places where you just want to curl up on the comfy leather couches and spend the rest of the day with a good book and glass of buttery Chardonnay. Judging from the welcoming hospitality we received here, I think the staff would have been quite happy for us to stay as long as we liked.

Romance in the winelands
After a day of winetasting, the last thing I wanted to do was to climb behind a wheel of a car. Good thing that Pokolbin Horse Coaches were at hand for a romantic clip-clop back to our Inn. The carriages themselves could do with a touch of smartening up but the charm of our cowboy driver and the handsome horses made up for this. The horses meader through a selection of different wine farms and canter cross country through private estates. Just a note - I would opt for a private tour over the set day trip as you can personalise your choice of winefarms to visit.

Another unique (and very romantic) method of transportation is the hot air balloon ride. Disappointingly our dawn fly was cancelled due to dreary weather. Yet another excuse to return to the region.

On the way out, we had a quick nibble at the Hunter Valley Smelly Cheese Shop, where they make the best gelato in the state as well as the innovative gelato sandwich (aka icecream in a sweet bun). We also stocked up with homemade choccies and fudge at the next door Pokolbin Chocolate and Jam Company. Yum!

Bikey paradise
We took the alternative route back to Sydney via the historical village of Wollombi. It's a timewarp town with the heritage tea houses belonging to an era long past. But instead of women in corsets and puffed out gowns, there are hundreds of bikeys in Harley leather jackets who gather in the popular tavern for a pitstop. It's really quite bizarre.

The Hunter Valley is gourmet heaven in any season. It's one of those places that you can never tire of visiting as there is always something new to explore. I've already made my list for next time.

For further information about the Hunter Valley and all the winelands has to offer, check out the Hunter Valley Wine Country tourism website.