The Hunter Valley winery pioneering Portuguese varietals

Drive into Broke Fordwich and you'll quickly understand why so many visitors fall in love with this quieter corner of the Hunter Valley.

Tucked amongst the vineyards, olive groves, and rugged mountain ranges you'll find Whispering Brook, a family-owned winery that has spent the past 25 years building a reputation for artisan winemaking, innovative Portuguese varietals, and one-of-a-kind wine tourism experiences.

A passion for pioneering wines

Founded in 2000 by winemakers Susan Frazier and Adam Bell, Whispering Brook was born from a passion for wine, science, and the land itself.

While completing Wine Science degrees at Charles Sturt University, Susan and Adam spent several years searching across NSW for the perfect vineyard property. 

"We looked across wine regions including Orange, Mudgee, Cowra, and the Southern Highlands before finding what is now Whispering Brook," Susan said.

Drawn to its prized seam of red volcanic soil, rich in basalt, iron and trace minerals, Susan and Adam recognised the site's potential for producing award-winning wines.

"The red earth soils offer incredible potential for producing premium wines and continue to shape the character of what we make today."

Today, those ancient soils continue to shape Whispering Brook's red wines, while the sandy soils bordering Wollombi Brook provide ideal conditions for its white varietals.

The couple's first vintage was a Shiraz in 2001, but a winemaking trip to Portugal in 2007 would define the winery's future.

"We discovered and fell in love with Touriga Nacional," Susan said.

"As we travelled around Portugal, we realised the climate wasn't dissimilar to the Hunter Valley. There were all these incredible grape varieties we'd never encountered before, and we thought some of them had real potential here."

Inspired by the experience, Susan and Adam returned home and grafted an existing Shiraz block to Touriga Nacional in 2008, becoming the first producers in the Hunter Valley to plant the Portuguese variety. 

Today, Whispering Brook is recognised as one of Australia's leading producers of Portuguese varietals, with Touriga Nacional and Arinto sitting alongside Hunter Valley favourites Shiraz and Semillon.

"We've always loved the traditional Hunter varieties, but the Portuguese wines have given us an opportunity to create something unique. It's become part of who we are."

The winery has since earned multiple accolades, including a long-standing 5-star rating from James Halliday, while its 2017 Shiraz and 2017 Semillon received impressive scores of 97 and 98 points respectively.

A cellar door with a view

Today, visitors can experience these wines for themselves at the cellar door, housed within a beautiful Australian colonial-style building overlooking vineyards, olive groves, and surrounding national parks.

Tastings are intentionally relaxed, with guests invited to settle onto the verandah and explore a selection of wines while learning about the vineyard's story. For first-time visitors, the Signature Estate Tasting offers an introduction to six or seven wines, including both Portuguese varietals and Hunter Valley classics.

"Our tastings are designed to be relaxed and conversational," Susan said. "We want people to understand where the wines come from and why we've chosen to make them the way we do."

Taste beyond the classics

For those wanting to delve deeper into the winery's Portuguese focus, the Portuguese Varietals and Chocolate Experience pairs estate wines with handcrafted chocolates from Cocoa Nib.

The experience showcases the wines that helped establish Whispering Brook's reputation, including Touriga Nacional and Arinto, a variety the winery pioneered in the Hunter Valley.

"It's incredibly well adapted to warmer wine-growing regions and has an amazing ability to retain its natural acidity."

Guests short on time can opt for a Discovery Tasting, while grazing platters featuring local cheeses, charcuterie and estate-grown olive oil provide the perfect excuse to linger a little longer overlooking the vines.

Fireside wines and aged vintages 

One of the newest additions to the estate is the Fireside Portuguese Wine Tasting, a seasonal experience that reflects Whispering Brook's pioneering spirit.

Held on winter afternoons beside a crackling fire, the intimate tasting compares current-release Portuguese wines with carefully cellared library vintages, allowing guests to experience how the wines evolve over time.

Each pour is matched with artisan cheeses from Binnorie Dairy, before finishing with the estate’s rich, barrel-aged Tawny.

“It’s fascinating to see how these wines evolve over time,” Susan said. “Being able to taste a current release alongside a wine that’s spent years developing in a bottle gives people a completely different perspective.”

Limited to just eight guests per session, it’s a rare opportunity to experience some of the Hunter Valley’s most distinctive wines in an intimate setting.

Beyond the cellar door, the estate's olive groves continue to produce premium extra virgin olive oil and Kalamata olives, celebrated each year at the popular Olive Long Table Lunch, where guests gather among the vines to enjoy estate wines, local produce, and live entertainment. 

Make a weekend of it 

For those wanting to extend their visit, Whispering Brook also offers a spacious onsite guesthouse set amongst the vineyard and olive groves.

Sleeping up to 18 guests, the private country retreat is ideal for family gatherings, milestone celebrations, wine weekends, and group getaways.

Guests can spend their mornings overlooking the vines, enjoy long lunches beneath the olive trees, and stroll to the cellar door for a tasting before returning to the comfort of the estate.

With panoramic mountain views, generous entertaining spaces, and the relaxed pace of country life, it offers a genuine opportunity to immerse yourself in the landscape that inspires every bottle produced at Whispering Brook.

Whether you're discovering Portuguese varietals for the first time, settling in for a tasting, or simply taking in the vineyard and mountain views, Whispering Brook offers a distinctly different Hunter Valley experience. 

Photo credit: Gabby Simpson

Editor’s note: This article was produced independently by the HUNTERhunter editorial team and is not a paid or sponsored feature.