Hunter Valley: Ritzy tin shed is just the Tonic

Tag : tin

My partner selected an excellent bottle of Hunter Valley red fromour in-cabin "cellar" while the meal was heating up andwe could instantly feel the tensions of the week ebbing away.
The next morning we opened the blinds to reveal a stunning, remotevineyard vista with a lake.
We had our own terrace with a barbecue, chairs and table - makingthis a perfect destination for a long, chilled weekend. Pity theweather was too brisk to stay outdoors for very long.
Indoors, the kitchen fridge was stocked with everything we neededfor breakfast including smoked salmon, eggs, muesli and bread fortoasting with real coffee and tea.
Just a short stroll away is the Tonic Lounge with an honour bar setup for more deli items and plates of doughnuts and pastries.
There is also a library of DVDs and CDs to take back to the guestrooms. Or you can just mooch around on the comfy lounges, read thepaper and share Hunter Valley experiences with some of the otherguests.
Lovedale is just off the Hunter Valley main drag and it has aslightly different character: more laid-back, less touristy.
One of the best Lovedale restaurants is Leaves and Fishes , around the corner from Tonic on Lovedale Rd. A stylish boathouse, it specialises in casualmeals. Think buckets of prawns and trays of oysters.
Other local places to nosh include Tatler , also on Lovedale Rd, which has tapas on Friday nights.
And it's not every day that you can take a drive to a fashionablecafe and come across a pack of kangaroos in the distance. It's thesort of encounter that encapsulates Lovedale's luxurious yetnatural ambience.
Sooner or later, you have to head down to Broke Rd, Pokolbin, andinvestigate the heart of wine country, with its sometimes kitschofferings, including a chocolate festival at Hunter Valley Gardensand horse and cart rides.
Staying in the Hunter Valley is a major temptation with so manydifferent wineries offering the best of the local produce.
Tyrell's is one of Australia's oldest wineries and one of the mostprofessionally run.
Most important, it offers a more intimate experience to wine clubmembers (if you buy a dozen bottles of one of the premium wines,you are instantly in the club). Membership allows you to sit in aprivate room at a table, tasting the wines of your choice, fortifedwith plates
of cheese and biscuits.
Afterwards, take a tour of this historic winery - or enjoy some ofthe wine that you have purchased with a picnic lunch on theestate's grounds.
Pokolbin also offers many fine restaurants, as well as casual cafessuch as Enzo , which has the reputation of making some of the best coffee in theHunter Valley.
And after an arduous day of touring the local wineries, one of themost delicious experiences of all is to retreat to your tin shed atTonic.
The writer was a guest of Tonic.
The Sunday Telegraph