You've done the big names, the paddle handed over a counter, the room full of people who arrived by bus. It was fine, and you can't quite remember the wine. Broke Fordwich is the other side of the Hunter, the quieter side, and it's about fifteen minutes and thirty years away from all of that. We live here, we grow the grapes here, and this is the guide we'd give you if you were staying up the road.
Where Broke Fordwich is, and why it feels different
Broke Fordwich sits in the western corner of the Hunter Valley, under the Brokenback Range, with the Yellow Rock escarpment watching over the village and Wollombi Brook winding along the valley floor. Vines have been in this ground since the 1830s, and the area was recognised as a wine region in its own right, an official Geographical Indication, in 1997. You're about two hours from Sydney, roughly 157 kilometres north-west, and the last stretch feels further than that in the best possible way.
People around here say Broke is what Pokolbin was thirty years ago, and they're right. The person pouring your wine grew the fruit. There's no bus in the car park. Most places open Friday to Sunday, a few only by appointment, so ring ahead, and don't try to fit in more than two or three stops, because you'll spend longer at each one than you planned to.
What a tasting is actually like here
Because the places are small, tastings run at the pace of the room rather than the clock, and plenty of them now pour alongside local cheese, charcuterie or chocolate, which turns an afternoon into something closer to a long, slow lunch. Sort out a driver before you start, because the distances are short but the roads are country roads and a tasting is a tasting.
The day we'd send you on
Start at Magoony's Coffee House, in a restored old service station on Singleton Street in the village, where the coffee is good, the cakes and pies are made on site, and the Reuben sandwich is the sort of thing people plan a drive around. Instagram
Make lunch the long one at Krinklewood, a certified organic and biodynamic vineyard whose Mediterranean-style trattoria, Cézan, turns out handmade pasta and wood-fired pizza. It books out on weekends, so reserve before you leave home. krinklewood.com
Taste the afternoon away at Talits Estate, where the cellar door looks out over the dam, there's pétanque on the lawn, the dogs are welcome, and local cheese and charcuterie come out alongside the wines. talitsestate.com.au
Change the pace at Kawal Rock Distillery, where small-batch gin is hand-filled on site by those behind the brand, and a gin flight between wine tastings is a very good idea. kawalrockdistillery.com
Every one of those is run by people who live here, which is the thread that runs through the whole area.
A tasting that comes to you
We do things differently at Unruly. Rather than asking you to drive to us, we bring the tasting to wherever you're staying, and we call it The Unruly Table, a vineyard, at yours. We arrive early and set the table properly, with glasses, candles and boards, then pour you a glass of bubbles and let everyone settle before a drop of anything serious happens.
From there we walk you through our wines one at a time, all grown on our nine acres at Fordwich and made in small batches by hand, and we talk about the patch of dirt they came from, the season they were grown in and why each one tastes the way it does. You can add cheese and chocolate pairings, matched as we go. Somewhere in the middle there's a mystery pour and a guessing game, which is where the laughing usually starts and where any last trace of wine snobbery leaves the room.
It works beautifully for a couple who want a quiet evening in, and just as well for a group who've taken a house together for the weekend. You can see how it all works and book a time on our Tastings page, or if you'd rather bring the wines to your own table at home, the Unruly Discovery Pack has one bottle of each of our wines in it.
Common questions
How far is Broke Fordwich from Sydney?
About two hours by car. Broke village is roughly 157 kilometres north-west of the city.
Is Broke Fordwich part of the Hunter Valley?
Yes, it's an official sub-region of the Hunter Valley, and it has been recognised as its own wine region since 1997.
Can you do a private wine tasting in Broke Fordwich?
Yes. We host private tastings at your accommodation, anywhere in the area, with the wines, the glassware and the pairings brought to you. See how it works.
