Family winery · Pokolbin, Hunter Valley
Planted by Tom and June Varley in 1971 and run today by their son and grandchildren. We grow semillon, shiraz and chardonnay on 42 hectares of red clay and sandy creek flats, and we don't release a wine until it's ready.
Family-owned since 1971 Cellar door open daily Long lunch Thursday to Monday
Why we're different
Young semillon is sharp, lemony and a little shy. Give it time in bottle and it turns golden, toasty and generous, all without a day in oak. That change is the whole reason we're here.
It's slower and it costs us more. It also means every bottle we pour has done its waiting already. Our grandmother June, who still turns up for the first pick each January, says it's the only way she'll have it.
52
vintages from the same hill
42ha
of semillon, shiraz and chardonnay
5yrs
before our semillon leaves the cellar
2,800
wine club members, most within three hours of here
The range
Every bottle comes from our own vines. No bought-in fruit, no second labels.
01 Semillon
Lemon pith, lime blossom and the first hint of toast. Picked at dawn, pressed gently and bottled without oak. Five years in our cellar have given it a waxy, honeyed edge that will keep building for another decade.
Try it with Kingfish crudo, or oysters with finger lime
02 Chardonnay
White peach, grilled hazelnut and a long, fine line of acidity. Fermented in French oak, a third of it new, and left on its lees for ten months. Rich without ever feeling heavy.
Try it with Roast chicken with tarragon butter
03 Shiraz Pinot
A blend the Hunter's been making for a century, and the one our grandfather Tom liked best. Red cherry, rose petal and white pepper. Light on its feet and best served a little cool.
Try it with Duck, charcuterie or a summer lunch
04 Shiraz
From the vines Tom and June planted in 1971. Plum, black olive, leather and that earthy Hunter character the old hands still talk about. Medium-bodied, fine-grained and built to age.
Try it with Slow-cooked lamb shoulder
How it's made
Three rules Tom Varley chalked on the shed wall in 1974. Fifty vintages later, we still haven't found a reason to paint over them.
By hand, at first light. Semillon comes in during the last week of January, while the acid's bright and the alcohol stays under 11%.
Whole bunches, low pressure. Only the free-run juice goes into the Old Block. It halves our volume and doubles the wine.
Semillon rests in bottle for five years before release, shiraz for three. Each vintage, 600 bottles of both go to the museum list.
Visit the estate
Two hours from Sydney and forty minutes from Newcastle. The cellar door sits at the top of the hill on the old dairy's sandstone footings, with the vines running down to the creek flats.
$20 per person
Six current releases at the long bench, poured by someone who helped make them. Your fee comes off any two bottles.
$55 per person
Seated in the barrel hall with two museum semillons, the Marrow Block and a barrel sample. Eight guests at most.
$95 per person
Walk the 1971 block with Sam, taste grapes from the vine in season, then breakfast on the verandah with a glass of semillon.
The restaurant
One sitting, from midday, on the verandah or by the fire. Hamish cooks from the kitchen garden and from growers within an hour of the estate, and the menu changes most weeks. Tell us about allergies when you book and we'll plan around them.
The wine club
Three lists, two releases a year, in March and September. Prices include GST and change a little with each release.
from $265
per release, twice a year
Six bottles, chosen by Clare or by you.
Where most members start
from $495
per release, twice a year
Twelve bottles, including at least two that never reach the cellar door shelf.
from $760
per release, twice a year
Twelve bottles, with two museum semillons and a Marrow Block in every case.
Skip or change any release with a week's notice. No lock-in, no exit fee. Just tell us.
The family
Tom and June bought a run-down dairy farm in 1970 and planted it by hand. Their son Ross has made the wine since 1988, and his children Clare and Sam now share the work with him.
Chief winemaker
Tom and June's son. He's made every Marrowgate vintage since 1988 and still tastes the shiraz row by row before he'll call the pick.
Winemaker
Third generation. Studied in Adelaide, worked vintages in the Loire and Burgundy, and came home for 2009. The whites are hers.
Vineyard manager
Clare's brother. Knows every row of the 1971 block by its quirks and has farmed the estate without herbicide since 2016.
Chef, The Long Table
Twelve years in Sydney kitchens before moving to the valley. Runs the kitchen garden and a menu that changes most weeks.
From our guests
We came for a tasting and stayed for lunch. The museum semillon was the best white wine either of us has had.
It's the only wine club we've kept. They ring before each release and actually remember what we like.
Sam walked us through the old block in the rain and nobody minded at all. Worth every minute of the drive.
FAQs
Anything else, call the cellar door on 0491 570 313. You'll get one of us, usually with a glass in hand.
For library tastings, vineyard walks and lunch, yes, as numbers are small. Walk-ins are welcome at the bench for a standard tasting, but on Saturdays and long weekends we're often full by 11am, so a booking's worth it.
Hunter semillon is lean and citrusy when it's young, then turns golden, toasty and honeyed with age, without ever seeing oak. Most people never taste it at its best because it's sold too early. We'd rather do the waiting for you.
Children are welcome at the cellar door and the Long Table, and we keep juice and a few games behind the bench. Dogs on a lead are welcome on the verandah. The barrel hall is adults only.
Yes, anywhere in Australia. Orders over $150 ship free and club members never pay for delivery. Someone aged 18 or over has to sign for every parcel.
Choose a list, then pick your wines or let Clare pick them. Releases go out in March and September. You can skip, swap or pause a release with a week's notice, and leave whenever you like.
We take groups of up to 24 for a private library tasting and lunch, and we close the Long Table for private events on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Call us and we'll talk it through.
Bookings
Tell us what you'd like to book and when. We'll confirm by phone or email within a day, usually sooner.