Sydneysiders love a great getaway and June will be the perfect excuse as the Hunter Valley kicks off its annual Wine & Food month.

There are more than 70 events on the June calendar, including outdoor festivals, prix-fixe dining events, winemaker dinners, cooking classes and vineyard tours.

We were given a taste of the June festivities at a special media preview last weekend. It couldn’t have been a more beautiful time to visit as we were blessed with amazing weather. In fact, winter is a great time to travel to the Hunter as there are plenty of sunny days and very little rain. Think crisp mornings, warm afternoons and dazzling sunsets….

Our weekend began with a tour of the Hunter Valley Gardens, a magical estate spanning 60 acres and home to some of the most beautiful flora in the region. During winter, the garden comes alive with flowering annuals and fruiting citrus trees. It’s a spectacular experience walking from one feature garden to the next, particularly the Border Garden in classic French Parterre style, best enjoyed from the viewing platform.

And what about the Storybook Garden which features scenes from Alice in Wonderland and Hansel & Gretel!

Hunter Valley Gardens will be hosting the FlavourFest food festival over the June long weekend. Special guests at the event include Alvin Quah and Callum Hann from season two of Masterchef, as well as Janelle Bloom and Peter Everett.

Local cooking school, Bar-Be School will also be holding regular demonstrations at the festival and we were given a special preview of their ‘unique’ style of cooking by founder and chef Ben Farley (ex-Bilsons). Bar-Be School sheds light on the myth that barbeques are only good for steak and sausages.

The class kicked off with a simple recipe for fluffy ricotta hotcakes that involved mixing ricotta with meringue. I even got involved, whisking egg whites into stiff peaks by hand, which was no easy task!

We also made a fine herb omelette with crispy prosciutto and bruschetta, that took less than 10 minutes to whip together. It’s a quick and easy weekend brekkie option!

After peeling ourselves off our chairs, we headed to First Creek for a winery tour and lunch. We were greeted by winemaker Liz Jackson, who was recently named by the (sydney) magazine as one of the top winemakers in the country.

In such illustrious company, we were challenged with making our own wine blends and the marketing to match. Split into teams, we came up with some rather amusing blends, including ‘Up the Creek’ and ‘Mojo, The Wine For Cool People’.

First Creek will be hosting a series of Winemakers Challenges in June, which will include activities like blending, barrel rolling, grape stomping and wine spitting! It’s a fun, interactive alternative to your usual winery tour.

Not that we needed any more food, but we were soon carted off to the beautiful Tower Lodge for high tea. This spectacular property is one of only four Relais & Chateau properties in Australia. Designed to be a luxurious ‘home away from home’, Tower Lodge offers 12 rooms, each with its own unique layout and decor. Tower Lodge is also home to Nine, an exclusive 10-seater restaurant that showcases seasonal Hunter produce at its very best.

Our afternoon tea at Tower Lodge included a mini chocolate gateau, caramel slice and chicken finger sandwiches. Each were masterfully prepared by the in-house pastry chef and a far cry from the messy pastries often found at high tea elsewhere. I especially enjoyed the fragrant Tower Blend tea with jasmine and rose petal, though the English Breakfast was just as impressive. High Tea at Tower Lodge is available every weekend at $45 per head and includes tea, coffee or a glass of wine.

As it was nearing happy hour, we made our way to Goldfish Hunter Valleyfor a cocktail making class featuring Hunter wines. We got hands on and made a cosmopolitan ‘flirtini’ and a ‘devine’ semillion cooler with egg whites. I thought it was genius to top up a cosmopolitan with some bubbles!

The cocktail class at Goldfish runs every Sunday in June and is priced at $45 per person, with drinks and nibbles included.

Our day ended with a beautiful steak and shiraz matching experience at Steakhouse restaurant. Prepared by Chef Jean-Marc Pollet, we enjoyed three very fine cuts of wagyu, black angus and dry aged steak. The black angus was my pick of the bunch, which had a wonderful butter-rich smokey flavour. It was particularly magical when paired with McGuigan’s 2008 Shiraz, a full bodied wine with a spicy nose.

Steakhouse will team up with McGuigan’s for the McGuigan’s Wine Dinner held amongst the barrels of its winery. The evening will showcase some new releases including a 2009 Personal Reserve Shiraz. The dinner is priced at $125 per person.

Before our trip home, I couldn’t resist dropping into Tamburlaine, an organic winery producing some of the best wines I’ve ever had. I sampled their 2010 Riesling at an event last year and have been dying to locate a bottle ever since. Their next drop of whites are released in July, so watch this space!

For more information about the Hunter Valley Wine & Food month, log on to www.hvwineandfood.hvva.com.au

A big thank you to the Hunter Valley Wine Industry Association and Hunter Valley Wine Country Tourism for inviting us along!