A Little Bit of Broke Fordwich: A Weekend in the Hunter Valley

Hunter Valley is so much more than the big main towns. There's also the region of Broke Fordwich with its collection of winery cellar doors, shops, fine dining and casual restaurants and accommodation. Broke Fordwich is Australia's oldest wine country area know for family owned wineries (many female owned) located within a few minutes of each other. The area is located in the foothills of the Brokenback Mountain range and you can make a weekend just staying in this area and exploring everything that it has to offer. This upcoming weekend from the 15th – 17th March 2024 is also the A Little Bit of Broke Festival and the ideal time to visit the area is March to July.

It's around noon when Mr NQN and I reach Wollombi Road in Broke. A goanna runs across the road pausing halfway, white tipped tail whipping back and forth. We pass numerous dams with the backdrop of the Brokenback mountain range. One dam has a herd of cows cooling off from the heat while another has a flock of ducks doing the same. Wollombi Road is a busy place for both humans and animals.

Krinklewood Estate

Krinklewood is an organic winery and Hunter Valley's only biodynamic winery. "It's all bullshit," says Liam McLean, who works at Krinklewood Estate describing the biodynamic process. He pauses dramatically with a smile before adding, " We make stuff out of cow poo so it’s literally bullshit."

The Windrum family purchased the property in the 1980s when it was a cattle farm but the current owner is Pedestrian TV founder Oscar Martin. Krinklewood is 1 of 3 organic wineries in the Hunter Valley obtaining itscertification in 2007. The reason why the label has an ox on it is because of its past as a cattle farm but also because they use the cow horn method for biodynamic farming.

The process of biodynamic farming can be described as a cross between science and witchcraft. Liam describes the process which is based off a series of lectures by Rudolf Steiner. It follows the moon cycles as they believe that these moon cycles affects bodies of water and the flow of sand through grapevine. They make several preparations but the most common is using cow horns. They pack up to 30 cow horns at a time with cow manure from the 5 cows on the farm. They bury then horns tip side down for two equinoxes and then take them out. The mixture is diluted and then spun in a vortex for an hour in each direction before it is ready to be sprayed around the vineyard as a nutrient spray. Other preparations involve grinding quartz crystals into the dirt to help reflect sunshine into the grape canopy or using horsetail to dry out the soil if needed. The aim is to have a healthy ecosystem and treat the property as one which is said to create more natural resistance to pests.

As for the wines themselves, we do a tasting of a range of them but the clear favourite is the Wild Rose, a lightly frizzante style of rosé that is a standout and perfect for a hot day. It is made of mourvèdre grapes and it is perfectly balanced and not too dry or sweet which we enjoy with a cheese platter. For A little Bit of Broke they're making wood fired pizzas, gelato and cheese platters.

"I hate having my picture taken," Liam says before bending down and posing with a cow horn.

River Flats Estate and BARE Nature'sKin

As we reach River Flats and Bare Nature's Skin we drive in and see a pastel green Mercedes and three pink pigs. One pig is cooling off in a mud puddle while two of them come up to greet the car. Closer to the main building chickens feed on scraps while the scent of soaps fills the air.

This is the shop of Marion Waite and her daughter Michelle. Marion's business is the 150 acre olive grove with 3,000 olive trees that were planted 7 years ago. The verandah is where the olive oil tastings are held (make sure to try the herb and garlic olive oil or the chilli oil). You can also try Manzanillo and Corregiolo olives marinated with a range of flavours.

The soaps are Michelle's business and at the time that we visit she's busy overseeing a workshop on how to make use of weeds for medicinal purposes. The soaps are made in huge 13kg/29lb slabs using a mixture of olive and coconut oil. Instead of using drying agents, she dries them naturally by air which takes 9 months in total before it is ready. There's also a range of bath scrubs, balms and oils. This is a treasure trove for scent worshippers and you need time to explore everything. Loofahs are dipped into soap as are doilies that are used as face washers.

"Everything is recycled. Even the staff," quips Marion.

Greenway Wines

We stop at Greenway Wines for lunch, a winery owned by Anne and John Greenway. The pretty red farmhouse has an almost magical quality to it. To slake our thirst in the heat, they offer us a glass of ice cold water infused with verjus made using their shiraz grapes which is a refreshing non alcoholic drink.

The area of Broke has gone through a lot in recent years. The 2020 bushfires were followed by COVID and then more recently a flooding where the Wollombi Brook reached up to the doors of the Greenway Wines cellar door.

Our lunch is a cheese and charcuterie platter with jams and crackers items made by Anne. Along with this we will also be trying 6 of their wines including a varietal Fiano that grows very well in this sandy soil environment and can take the heat and water.They are also one of 4 estates in Australia to grow Tarrango grapes. The wines are named after family names like the Grace wine made with 50% fiano and 50% gewurtztraminer grapes. The rose is made with merlot grapes while the sparkling merlot has cranberry notes.

Whispering Brook

If you're looking for the perfect place to stop in the afternoon after lunch and you feel like something sweet, head to Whispering Brook wines, established in 2000. Here they have the Hunter Valley's only chocolate and Portuguese wine pairing using locally made chocolates. When Susan Frazier and Adam Bell travelled to visit friends in Portugal in 2007 they fell in love with the Touriga wines and they also noticed Australian eucalyptus trees growing. This suggested to them that Portuguese grape varieties might grow well here in Australia with synergies between the Hunter Valley and Alentajo in south central Portugal.

All of the wine at Whispering Brook is made using estate grown hand picked grapes. Just off the main cellar door there's the vat and barrel room with this January and February's grapes and wines waiting their turn. Sink down into the couch and taste their Portuguese wine and chocolate from Newcastle based chocolatiers Cocoa Nib. The Arinto 2022 is a Portuguese white grape varietal that is crisp with a lemony aroma that pairs well with the lemon, peach and gin chocolate with lemon infused white ganache with peach and gin jelly in milk chocolate. The Touriga 2014 is Adam's favourite and is paired with the Raspberry Delight chocolate with raspberry ganache and Turkish delight enrobed in dark chocolate.

And before you go, make sure to ask for a taste of their two sparkling wines: the Caitlin and Alexandra named after Susan and Adam's two daughters.

Margan Wines

"I've done every job on this property," says Lisa Margan. She and her husband Andrew started Margan Wines 28 years ago and established what is inarguably Broke's best fine dining restaurant 18 years ago. "In hospitality, every year is like dog years," she adds.

The Margan building and its accompanying 1 hectare kitchen garden was designed by the couple. Everything from the 350 year old iron gates from the French quarter in Morocco to the building itself made of rammed earth was chosen by them. It was designed to replicate the Brokenback Mountain range. Take a closer look at the bar with the horizontal split down the centre and drips of red ocre - that came about when the it was installed before the roof was. Rainfall leached out the red ocre creating the natural drip effect, something that Lisa initially thought that was a disaster before she was convinced by friends that it was an asset. Aside from design, Lisa also worked as the chef here and still has input on the menus.

The kitchen garden was initially established using conventional farming but has evolved to use sustainable, organic and regenerative farming practices after Lisa completed her masters degree in science and nutrition. Now it supplies Margan restaurant with 100% of its fruit and vegetables. "We call it hyper local carbon footprint or 20 muddy steps to the kitchen," Lisa says. A new addition to their offering is their snacks and cocktails menu that started recently for people that want a light dinner and a drink. They can take a seat in the bar area or the outside terrace area.

Tonight we are trying the Margan Farm to Table 5 course tasting menu for $115 per person in the main restaurant. The meal begins with moreish, marinated Ceres Hill olives and a delicious Chardonnay lees focaccia with cultured butter sprinkled with dried chardonnay lees. When they see that I've quickly devoured my piece of focaccia they offer another which I happily accept. Then they set down a plate of crudites from their vegetable garden with baba ghanoush.

The sun dried garden tomatoes are paired with capsicum, fresh basil leaves, puffed rice, a creamy fromage frais and finished off with tomato dust. This is a delicately flavoured dish designed to make the most of the flavour of the sun-kissed tomatoes.

Another favourite course from the garden are the sticky roasted purple and yellow beetroots on a bed of hummus with crunchy toasted pine nuts, balsamic vinegar and sorrel chiffonade. The sweetness of the beetroots matches the tangy balsamic and zesty sorrel.

For mains there are four choices, two meat, one fish and one vegetarian. The Margan family lamb has a cutlet and a fillet of lamb and served with caponata, fried baby capers and salsa verde, all great choices to offset the richness of the lamb.

The honey cured barbecued pork comes pre sliced and caramelised with green onions and herbs and a corn ragout. The corn is a little dry but the pork is juicy and full of flavour.

There is also the option to have cheeses but we are already quite full so we go straight for the dessert. The salted caramel bavarois is all silky lusciousness. It's paired with a white chocolate crumble, blackberry puree and sliced fresh plums and figs all from the garden.

The next generation of Margan is already in play with two of their three children working in the wine industry. Their 31 year old son is a wine maker here while their daughter is working in the Yarra Valley at Oakridge wines as a wine maker.

Magoony's Coffee House

The next day it's time for brunch and we head to Magoony's Coffee House. It was 30 years ago when Melissa O’Toole and her husband Paul first moved to Broke. “There was nothing here” she says. The couple operated a popular antique store for many years but 18 months ago they saw the disused service station and had an idea. And a lot of it had to do with luring her pastry chef son Ryan back to Broke.

"We set it up for Ryan," says Melissa. The name of the cafe comes from Ryan's nickname Roony Magoony. The mother and son duo had experience in the field both working at Margan's, she in sales and he as a pastry cook. She now operates a busy catering business called Motty's and Magoony’s coffee house was designed as a bid to get Ryan to come home from Newcastle. He chose the coffee machine and all of the tools that he needed.

There are a few things that Magoonys are known for. The coffee is fantastic (the best in town we hear repeatedly) and they use sustainable coffee beans from the family owned Sprocket Roasters from Newcastle. They’re also one of the few places to bake all of the desserts in-house and are known for their cheesecakes and chocolate tarts.

If you’re looking for something substantial for lunch their Reuben is excellent and perfectly balanced with plenty of pastrami and sauerkraut and crispy edges of cheese. The smoked salmon bagel is also fantastic and Mr NQN wolfs this down. You may have to get in early to nab one of the chicken paninis.

The chocolate tart has a silky, creamy dark chocolate filling and is surprisingly light and moreish while the baked passion fruit cheesecake has plenty of fresh passion fruit evenly throughout it.

The cafe also served as a meeting point for the community during the recent floods. They family have transformed the back area to accommodate The Little Wine Co's new tasting room so that diners can have breakfast or lunch and then go on to do a wine tasting all in the one building. For the upcoming A Little Bit of Broke festival Melissa will be making Italian meatballs, lamb koftas as well as cheese and charcuterie boards and there will also be wine tasting at The Little Wine Co.

Winmark Wines

“I’ve always had a passion for art and sculpture. When I’ve gone to wine regions in the past, art and wine have gone so well together” says Karina Adcock, founder of Winmark wines. The sprawling 130 acre property (28 acres on vine) is the realisation of a dream combining wine and art with around 25 sculptures adorning the lush, green hills. Sculpture walks are encouraged whether you’re a casual guest or a guest on one of the Winmarks three accommodations.

Winmark means "field of wines" in Danish where Karin hails from. If you've bought a piece of PANDORA jewellery, Karin had something to do with it. In 2004 she brought the Danish brand Pandora to Australia and once she helped open 85 stores she and her then husband sold the business back to PANDORA in Denmark for an estimated $100million. She moved to Broke buying the property that Winmark currently sits on.

We jump on her golf cart for a tour of the vast grounds. She has spent the last few years carefully designing the space with citrus trees, olive trees, roses, sculptures and benches carefully placed to maximise the impressive views. The fruit tree garden was planted in 2017 because she missed having the four seasons like in Europe, "We get flowers in spring, it's green in summer, autumn has all of those colours and there's nothing in winter," she says. You get the impression that she’s happiest when she is among the vines pruning roses or looking at the sculptures or mentally arranging where the pieces will go. In the centre is a private Paul Bangay designed perennial rose garden that is invitation only. Also on the property is the enormous Poole's Rock, given its name as it was said that the convict Richard Poole used to sleep in the hollow of the rock.

Back at the main building there is an art gallery and shop, filled with colourful pieces of art and gifts. The art pieces range from inexpensive prints to sculpture pieces and even some of the sculptures in the garden are for sale.

Adjacent to this is the cellar door where people can taste Winmark's four chardonnays. "We do what this properly is good at," says Karin and they consciously only focus on the one varietal. "We often convert those that thought they didn’t like Chardonnay," she adds.

Kawal Rock Distillery

“We are known as the known as the girls on the hill,” says Maria Schuler one half of the couple that own Kawal Rock Distllery in Fordwich. Louise Foster is the distiller while Maria calls herself the gofer. The couple lived in Newcastle where Louise was a police prosecutor looking to retire and Maria was a tobacconist. Their idea for retirement was to buy a caravan, but when Maria told Louise the cost of the caravan she wanted was $300,000 Louise quipped that it was just as cheap to buy property. The search for a property in Broke Fordwich saw them settling on a parcel of land included Sentry Rock and the mountain. "As soon as I saw there was a mountain I was in! Who owns a mountain? We do!" laughs Maria.

Two years ago, the property that Kawal Rock sits on had no power and no water but it did have 70 year old muscat grape vines. Maria researched what they could make and brandy came up as an idea. Nobody else was making brandy in the area.

"We also use unwanted grapes," explains Louise. The 2019 bushfires affected many of the Hunter grapes with smoke taint. But the duo would find out that smoke taint doesn’t really affect brandy. Distillation removes the smoke taint molecule and ageing takes care of the rest and what might remain is the slightest aroma. Brandy also comes from the Dutch word brandewijn or burnt wine. They purchased the smoke tainted grapes that made 50,000 litres wine that took 4 months to distill to 5,000 litre of spirits. Now they are only distillery that make brandy in NSW and one of only a dozen in Australia. Louise’s spirits are markedly smoother than a lot of larger distillers as she targets the hearts while larger producers keep in part of the heads that are strong in acetone. She removes the heads and they use it for cleaning. The resulting spirits are remarkably smooth and designed to be drunk neat by itself without any mixers.

As for the name, Kawal comes from the wedge tailed eagle called Ka-wal in Wonnarua language and is considered a protective spirit. Look closely at the logo you will see 2 of these eagles making up the letter K.

Talits Estate Vineyard

Sitting on the veranda of the cellar door of Talits Estate Vineyard and looking out onto the dam you wouldn’t don’t know that there was a road just beyond until the occasional car drives past. Birds sing and there is a game of quoits on the grassy area in front of the cellar door.

Talit's is family owned winery and accommodation in Broke. Owner Gayle Meredith purchased the property and built the cellar door in 2019. The opening in early 2020 was pushed back due to the pandemic to mid 2020. Cellar door bookings can be made online, or you can turn up on the day (although it isn't a huge cellar door so your best bet is to pre book).

Tasting experiences are $15 a person, and you can pair that with a cheese or charcuterie platter for $45 made with local produce and cheeses from Binnorie Dairy including triple cream Brie, cheddar, feta and blue cheese as almonds olives nuts and a range of crackers and breads.

The two main wines here are Chardonnay and Merlot using either estate and local grapes as well as million and red blends and all are sold at the cellar door only. "If we don’t grow it, we ask the neighbours," says cellar door manager Michael. There are up to 11 wines to taste which they bring out at a leisurely pace so that you can while away the hours watching bird life and soaking in the relaxed vibe.