- intouch Magazine
Make a Day of it at Hope Estate
One of the Valley's favourite music weekends, Jazz in the Vineyards, is returning to Wine Country on Saturday, April 10th and now Sunday, April 11th at Hope Estate.
With a tweak to the name (and a COVID friendly format), the first annual Hunter Valley Gin & Jazz Festival comes with the promise of botanicals, cocktails and a whole lot of fun!
A great day out for groups of friends, ladies who lunch, and lovers of Gin and Jazz to come along to the Hunter Valley’s biggest beer (or should we say Gin) garden. Set on the rolling lawns of Hope Estate’s amphitheatre, enjoy G&T tastings, a long lunch, a picnic, wine tastings, craft beer paddles, gin masterclasses and boutique local markets, all to the background sound of live jazz tunes.
If you're here for the music, the line up includes John Morrison’s Swing City Band featuring Jacki Cooper, The Aston Martinis and The Djangologists. A Busking Competition is now open for expressions of interest (if you’re a budding-busker, are self-powered or acoustic, and want a piece of the action, send your contact details, a bit about your music style and set up requirements to event1@hopeestate.com.au).
The Hunter Valley Gin & Jazz Festival is a wonderful way to enjoy a day of delicious small-batch gins, great beer and wine, stunning views and live music. For couples and groups looking for a long leisurely lunch, choose from a pre-purchased picnic hamper ticket or upgrade to a VIP ticket which includes a 3-course lunch & drink on arrival. It’s best to book your tickets early as the VIP tickets are limited. For more info and tickets to either (or both!) days, visit
While you’re visiting, check out the newly renovated Cellar Door – offering a mammoth 22 beers on-tap, nine brand new artisan gins, vodkas and moonshines– and of course – there are also 15 wines on tasting from Hope Estate, Tower Winery and Virgin Hills.
The Hope Estate wine tasting is a hosted session at your table. It offers you the chance to cut through the wine snobbery and ask those questions you’ve been dying to know like, what makes a red wine red? Or what’s all the fuss about Hunter Valley Semillon and Aged Semillon?
With over 30 wines in stock, you will have a fantastic selection to choose from including locally grown, varietals from other Australian regions, plus a range of vintages giving you the option to drink now or cellar your wine to enjoy later.
If a thirst-quenching beer is your go-to after a busy day of wine tasting, then pull up a bar-stool and grab yourself a paddle or two! From Pale Ales and Lagers to Porters and Sour beers you’re sure to find your new fave.
And it’s not just the beers that can be taste-tested on a paddle, with your choice of either a Gin Paddle or a Vodka and Moonshine Paddle guaranteed to be the highlight of your day. Hope Distillery’s pot-distilled artisan and botanical infused spirits are really something to Instagram about! Each paddle comes with a taste of four spirits highlighted by a matched garnish, the cutest mini bucket of ice and a mixer. So you can taste it straight, then dilute it to your optimum cocktail level!
The new-look Cellar Door is maximum warehouse-chic, exciting and shiny! Making use of the mammoth space that was hidden behind the cladding and stacks of wine barrels, Hope Estate’s Cellar Door is all about the beverage. Be sure to book ahead for a reserved table or wine-tasting on 4993 3555. Walk-ins for Beer Paddles, Spirit Paddles, Pizzas and glasses of Wine or Beer are welcome with extra seating available on the picnic tables, grass and the alfresco decks. The Cellar Door is open Fri and Sat 10am–7pm and Sun–Thurs 10am–5pm. Catch you in the Hunter Valley!
