Hope Estate

12/20

2213 Broke Road Pokolbin, NSW 2320, Australia

Open 10am-5pm 7 days
Cards MC,V

Tasting Bench

The Verdict

To "Cellarbrate": Opportunity to do wine and beer tasting at the one venue, a number of different things to look at in and around the building

To "Wine about": Very strong smell in the wine/beer tasting area from the brewery operations, took a while to acknowledge us after entering even though there was nobody else there, strange initial suggestion of limiting tasting to a couple of wines

How many bottles did we buy: 2

Suitable for: Couples, Groups and Families

Visited July 2016 (weekday)

Getting There

Country

State/Province

Region

Accessibility

Australia

New South Wales

Hunter Valley

Paved road and driveway

Upon Arrival

Parking

Setting

Commercial/Boutique

Ambiance

Airconditioning/Fireplace

There are plenty of car parks

This is a huge facility that includes a restaurant and brewery. It is also home to a number of concerts in the grounds. From the road it looks impressive but as you get closer you can see that the building is a little dated. The sculpture garden is interesting to look around

Commercial

The tasting room is huge with vaulted ceilings, alot of wood panelling and a long, curved tasting bench. It also opens into the brewery meals area and brewery facilities, which results in the brewery smells wafting into the tasting area

Yes/Yes

Tasting Experience

Number of wines on tasting

Particular wines or varietals known for

Wait time

Knowledge of wines

Staff attitude

Winery Tour Offered

Tasting seating available at counter

Tasting sheet/order form provided for notes

15+ (although it was suggested as soon as we began tasting that we should only try 2 or 3 wines from each of the two levels of wines)

Semillon and Shiraz

No wait time but we were the only ones there

Good knowledge of the wine and the region

Warmed up as we went along. We actually found it a little unusual and unwelcoming to suggest tasting only a couple of wines from each of the two levels. Perhaps given the size of the venue and tasting list they get alot of people taking advantage of the situation, however, we would suggest this type of upfront suggestion would be better suited to larger groups. For those that are actually interested in trying and purchasing the wine, this type of suggestion can be a little off-putting and limiting

Yes, by appointment only

There was no seating at the tasting bench but there was plenty of seating nearby in the brewery

Order form provided on request

Food Offering

Yes/No

Restaurant/Café/Tasting platter

Yes

Restaurant and Cafe

Hip Pocket

Price range of wines

Tasting Fee

Refundable on purchase?

Tour Fee

Delivery cost per dozen

Club Membership with Discounts etc

$20-$65

Free (note: this review relates to the wine tasting only. We believe there is a fee to do the beer tasting)

N/A

$10

$12-$52

Yes, a couple of levels of membership providing different amounts of discounts on freight, wine and restaurants for commitment to purchase 2 dozen a year

Other features, facilities and offerings

Gift Shop

Toys/play area for kids

Dog friendly

By the way...

Yes, basic deli products, toys and gifts

No, but they do have free wifi and expansive lawns around the building

Yes

This winery is home to a very impressive barrel room which some will recognise as the place where Farmer Wants a Wife is filmed.
The cellar door assistant that we spoke to said that they like to market the Estate as the fun and relaxed estate of the Hunter Valley, which was a little contrary to the experience we had on the day

cellar doors suitable for large groups, dog friendly cellar doors, pet friendly cellar doors, cellar doors with air-conditioning, cellar doors with water views, cellar doors with vineyard views, winery tours offered, vineyard tours offered, cellar doors with parking, cellar doors with food, cellar doors with café, cellar doors with restaurant, cellar doors with outdoor dining, cellar doors with free tasting, cellar doors with complimentary tasting, cellar doors with gift shop, wineries suitable for large groups, dog friendly wineries, pet friendly wineries, wineries with outdoor seating, wineries with air-conditioning, wineries with fireplace, wineries with water views, wineries with vineyard views, wineries with parking, wineries with food, wineries with café, wineries with restaurant, wineries with outdoor dining, wineries with free tasting, wineries with complimentary tasting, wineries with gift shop