First Creek is well-known in the oldest wine producing region of New South Wales, the Hunter Valley. It is one of the few active wineries in the Hunter Valley that offer regular facilities tour daily. For the uninitiated, a winery is a business that creates wines, and by create means it has a facility to ferment wine, which may or may not come from its own vineyard. On the other hand, a vineyard is a business that raises grapes. It may or may not ferment wine of its own, in which case a vineyard can bring its grapes to a winery for processing to wines.
Wines are aged in oak barrels mostly imported from France or the UK.
First Creek is trusted by at least 25 wine companies to process their wines, and that speaks for its reputation. It has its own brand of wines too, and a visit to the wine region of the Hunter is not complete without a real winery tour. Most of us think of winery tour as going around the region for wine-tasting, but while wine-tasting caps a winery tour at First Creek, it is an interesting if not very educational experience to know how grapes are turned to wines, and the amount of effort and time used in the process.
The facade of the First Creek building, Hunter Valley winemaker.
Thus, one good reason to visit First Creek is its daily, regular winery tour. Booking is not essential, although if you are coming as a big group, it is best to ring them up first. It is a family owned business and everyone is just warm and friendly, the experience was like visiting a neighbour. There is a nominal fee for the tour, but if you are buying wine anyway, this fee is waived. Trust me, after you have been through the wine-tasting part, you will certainly end up buying a bottle or two at least.
Barrels are filled and piled up to age in a temperature controlled room. Everything has to be perfect or the wine will spoil.
Children can come too, and the barrels of wine ageing in the temperature-controlled warehouse could be a very amusing sight for them, and for adults too.
Each barrel will soon fill bottles that would find their way to homes and restaurants.
