Winetastic

Wyndham Estate is located in Branxton, around 20-30min drive north of Pokolbin in the Lower Hunter Valley. Located on a sizable estate, there are function facilities which cater for weddings and other events, along with a cellar door that contains two very large tasting bars. The staff are good for a laugh and during our late afternoon visit, were engaging in a fair amount of friendly banter.

The Wyndham Estate “Bin” range of red wines were a pleasant surprise, all are multi-regional blends, so those looking for “single vineyard expressions of hunter valley terroir” should stop probably reading now, however most of the reds were very promising for mid-week glugging purposes and are widely available in major bottle shops.

The Bin 555 Shiraz is produced from South Australian fruit, sourced mostly from McLaren Vale, Langhorne Creek and the Barossa Valley. Two versions are made, the Bin 555 Sparkling Shiraz NV ($12) was as good as any entry level sparkling red I have tried, showing up front berry fruit and a hint of sweetness. The still version, Bin 555 Shiraz 2004 ($12) also showed a good amount of character for the price, somewhat comparative to Hardy’s Oomoo Shiraz.

Surprisingly, the pick of the Bin Range was the Bin 888 Cabernet Merlot 2003 ($12), which exhibited a sound structure typically only found at higher price points. Decent quality fruit flavours of berry and plum came through, I could see myself drinking this wine from the bottle with a straw.

None of the white wines are really worth a mention, although the Late Harvest Semillon ($15) was a fair example for the money. Those in the know felt that the George Wyndham Old Tawny Port ($20) was pretty good as well, with distinct raisin flavours and not too much oak influence.

Last but not least is the Wyndham Estate Hunter Valley Shiraz 1999 ($30), one of only two Wyndham wines made exclusively from locally grown fruit. The price is very reasonable considering the bottle age, thus we picked one to review in the near future.

This would be a great cellar door to visit if you are fairly new to wine or a place to introduce friends to the joys of crushed and fermented grapes. The function facilities are very good and competitively priced and I feel that the estate is worth checking out for your next big event.

Website: http://www.wyndhamestate.com