Wine Tasting, High Tea and Horse Riding
Saddle up for another amazing and unique Hunter Valley experience. That’s right, this beauty involves seeing the gorgeous countryside by horseback, wine tasting and enjoying a divine high tea. What’s not to love! And girls, y’all can rest easy too. Jodhpurs and breeches are not required! Your favourite denim riders will do just fine.
This oh so special and unique adventure has been designed by the team at Murchessons Horseback Wine & Dine Tours with your lady-tribe in mind. It’s the Ultimate Girls Day Out experience.
The Ultimate Girls Day Out Horseback Tour
Where: Hanging Tree Wine Vineyard, Pokolbin
When: September – November 2019, 10am – 4pm daily
Cost: $295 per person (max. 6 beginner riders)
To Book: click here
What started off for business partners Kim and Steve of Murchessons as a crazy idea, turned out to be not so crazy after all but rather a unique business proposition combining their passion for wine and horses. Now in their second year of operation, the fun-loving duo have literally been riding high, since finding a home for their horses at Hanging Tree Vineyard in Pokolbin.
Today, part-owner Kim, who has worked with horses for most of her life, is our tour director/front rider. After a thorough but concise briefing on our various horse-riding experience (off which there is little!) we’re matched to a handsome steed and we set-off.
We may be a group of amateurs, but everyone is pretty chilled thanks to Kim’s diligence, the easy-going pace and the serenity of this place. It’s a good thing we’re taking it slow too. The landscape is far too lovely to just glimpse. After a short tour through a sweet tree-laden gully, we’re greeted with an expanse of vineyards on our left that continues up over rolling hills. It would be amazing doing this tour anytime, but right now, the budding vines, sprouting green shoots in every direction, adds immensely to the general splendour. We meander up through the vineyards to our first stop, Wynwood Estate.
We’re still in the AM when we arrive at Wynwood, but hey, when in Rome. We dismount and head over to their lovely cellar door for our first VIP wine tasting. After we taste a few wines and pick our favourites (the Cherry Blossom Moscato is very popular!) we saddle back up and continue along Oakey Creek Road to the very pretty grounds of voco Kirkton Park.
Feeling every inch like special guests, we head up the long drive and tether our horses out front before stepping inside. The horses will enjoy a nice rest and feed while we head over to The Conservatory to do much of the same.
One of the Hunter’s most revered venues, voco Kirkton Park have High Tea down pat, offering a delicious array of sweet and savoury treats with our choice of freshly brewed tea, barista coffee or Sparkling wine. Yum.
The Conservatory is the perfect spot too, with views of the rose garden and Brokenback Mountains in the distance. Everyone is relaxed and jovial as we share a cuppa, taste the delicacies and regale over our collective horse-riding prowess.
We spend some quality time here, chit-chatting and raving over our High Tea fare, with particular favour bestowed on the mini brioche rolls and house made scones, before its time to hop back on the horses for our gentle ride home.
The ladies mount up again and we’re homeward bound but following a different route. There is a lot of countryside to appreciate after all! Feeling a little smug and with the reigns firmly in our grip, Kim gives a few of us the go ahead to try a trot. Tongues start clicking and our horses respond in kind, picking up the pace briefly. It’s so exhilarating! I for one am definitely going to do this again.
Post ride, there’s smiles all round. We dismount and farewell our beautiful mares before heading over to the Hanging Tree Wines cellar door for another VIP wine tasting. Hidden in a special little nook, the Hanging Tree property is perched on what has to be one of the most scenic areas of the valley.
Formerly a cattle shed, the renovated cellar door is charmingly rustic with antique décor and stunning views to muse over. The girls and I try the range and buy a bottle to enjoy at our lodgings while we get ready for dinner tonight. The tasting has been the perfect end to what has been a magic day all round.