About two weeks ago Simon and I went to the Hunter Valley. Mostly because I wanted to go wine tasting. We had two days in and around Cessnock and I went on a wine tour the first day around the county side. Here are a few photos of the first day out in NSW's wine county. The above photo was taken on the balcony of
Ivanhoe Winery.
We visited about four winerys that day, along with another place that had liqours for tasting. I don't think I've ever tasted that much wine in one day. We started at 10am with our first winery. I learned too that there are over 100 wineries in the Hunter Valley and they make up for 1% of Australia's wine production. They are best know for there Semillions which is a crisp white wine that becomes golden in color as it ages.
This is my favorite winery that we visited,
Audrey Wilkinson. It had amazing wine and amazing views. I loved their Chardony, their traminer, and they had a wonderful cab sav that came home with me and might even make it's way back to the states.
This is just one of the views from the hill top that Audrey Wilinson sits atops. The small house on the hill is the original homestead.
The next day Simon joined me out in the country side to take in the views, watch me taste wine, and have a winery tour at Tyrrell's. 
Here is a shot of the front of the winery, they had a lovely Semillion, the first of the trip that I enjoyed and they also had a nice shiraz. One thing I did try and we brought back for Simon's dad was the 25 year old Tawny Port. Very yummy. We spent most of the afternoon at this winery tasting and taking the tour. The tour started out in the Vineyard talking about viticulture and moved into the cellars where we got to see all the barrels. My favorite part of the winery tour was the bit out in the vineyard. 
I love this shot and learned later that this was the original shack built and lived in for two years by the founder till the homestead was ready to live in. 
Because Simon was such a good sport we then went to two brewerys for tastings. This one was the Potters Brewery. This one is built on the land where the pottery factory once stood and these are the giant kilns that still stand today. We also went to the Blue Tounge Brewery Cafe and tasted their beers as well. All in all a great day and a great couple of days in Cessnock.
