Leading Hunter Valley wine tasting facility Wine House has new owners and a new direction.Well-known local couple Matt and Kylie White bring a range of wine industry experience and contacts to the Pokolbin facility and give Silkman, Valley Rising winemakers, and a line-up of Hunter icons, a new spot in the heart of wine country.
Wine House Hunter Valley operates as an independent regional cellar door and wine retailer, a single central destination where visitors can taste, drink and buy wine in one sitting.
Matt White has three decades of wine buying experience in Australia and the UK, while wife Kylie has a Hunter Valley specialist wine marketing consultancy.
Among the brands that will be showcased is Silkman Wines, with wines made by four-time Hunter Valley Winemaker of the year Liz Silkman, whose brand has never had a cellar door of its own.
“I've spent years telling people how good these small producer Hunter wines are and often having to explain there's nowhere to actually taste them,” says Kylie White.
"That's the piece that's been missing for brands like Silkman and many of the newer emerging wine brands who are making some of the region’s most awesome wines. Wine House closes that loop.”
Matthew White (below) has a massive knowledge of Hunter wines.
“Every wine on our tasting list is here because I've personally tasted it and rate it," he said.
Bringing back a line-up of truly iconic Hunter wines like Brokenwood Graveyard, Tyrrell's Vat 1, Maurice O’Shea, Thomas Braemore and the likes is something I think this region really needed – on tasting and all under one roof.
"And for brands without cellar doors like Riggs & Wiggs and Silkman and the newly formed Valley Rising winemakers many of which are even lesser known [think Aeon, Noman, Sabi Wabi, Thea, Gun Powder, Glover, Pokolbin Vintners and the likes] all doing extraordinary things with a tiny footprint - we're the place they can finally point people to.
"Naturally we’ll also taste and stock a great selection of other local independent icons to make it convenient for enthusiasts and novices to tick off the Hunter in a day or less.”
The Hunter Valley is Australia’s oldest and most-visited wine region and is home to more than 150 independent winemakers, many without a cellar door of their own.
The new-look Wine House also introduces one of the region’s largest local wine-by-the-glass lists, where guests can sit and enjoy being in the heart of the Hunter choosing from over 35 wines by the glass, and over 100 by the bottle alongside a plates of food and coffees.
* Wine House Hunter Valley was founded in 1987 as the Small Winemaker Centre and was later rebranded Wine House Hunter Valley.
