Christmas Trading & Shipping

If you are visiting the Hunter Valley in December, here's when we are open for a tasting. And if you are looking to stock up on wines for gifting and the holiday period, we've got the shipping cut off dates for Australia wide.

Shipping Dates

Please note we are already being impacted by delays with both our delivery services. Our official recommended pre-Christmas cut-off date for delivery to Metro NSW, VIC and QLD delivery is midday Friday 13th December but sooner is best. We've provided more details from our delivery providers below but please bare in mind there may be delays due to the high demand placed on delivery networks at this time of year. 

We gently recommend you place your orders early to avoid delays, disruption and disappointment. If your have any issues or want to check ahead of ordering, contact cellardoor@thomaswines.com.au or give us a call at the cellar door.

Aramex

Friday 15th November
Country NSW, Country Queensland, Country South Australia, Country Tasmania, Country Victoria, Country WA, Country NT

Wednesday 11th December
Perth

Friday 13th December
Adelaide, Bendigo, Cairnes, Devonport, Geelong, Hobart, Lanceston, Orange Perth, Riverina, Townsville

Wednesday 18th December
Albury, Capricon Coast, Canberra, Mackay, Maryborough, Melbourne, Sunshine Coast, Toowoomba, Wide Bay, Wollongon

Thursday 19th December
Brisbane, Central Coast, Coffs Harbour, Gold Coast, Northern Rivers, Port Macquarie, Sydney

Friday 20th December
Newcastle

More information on Aramex's key Christmas delivery dates can be found here.

Australia Post

16th December
Metro NT

18th December
Metro WA

19th December
Metro Tasmania

Friday 20th December
Metro ACT, Metro Victoria, Metro Queensland, Metro South Australia

More information available here.

Christmas Trading Hours

We are trading as usual, open 7 days a week in December up until these dates:

10am - 2pm Tuesday 24th Christmas Eve, 2024
Closed Wednesday 25th Christmas Day, 2024
12pm - 5pm Thursday 26th Boxing Day, 2024

10am - 2pm Tuesday 31st December New Year's Eve, 2024
Closed Wednesday 1st January, New Year's Day 2025
10am - 5pm 2nd January 2025

From the 2nd of January, we resume our usual trading hours of 7 days a week 10am - 5pm.
This time of year can be busy so we recommend booking your tasting now to avoid disappointment.

Upcoming Events

We're on the road for October and November and have a stack of great events to end the year with... so come join us!

September

Thomas Wines X Exp. Dinner - Sunday 29th September 2024
Six courses, seven wines. This is set to be a dinner you will not want to miss!
Menu and tickets available online here.

October

Long Weekend - 5th-7th October 2024
Our Cellar Door is open all October long weekend for bookings and walk-ins 10am-5pm.
Be sure to book your tasting to avoid missing out!

Uncorked Balmoral - Sunday 20th October 2024
Join us for a taste of the Hunter Valley by the beach.
Tickets available now.

November

Sydney Cellar Door - Saturday 9th to Sunday 10th November 2024
We are one of forty premium wineries participating in this event. A great chance to sample fantastic NSW wines.
Location: Tallawoladah Lawn, The Rocks
Entry is Free (tasting glass and tokens available for purchase)
For more information, please visit sydneycellardoor.com
 

Urban Wine Walk Redfern - 23rd November 2024
Tickets are a must for this fun event! More details to come shortly.

Wine Island Watsons Bay - Friday 29 November to Sunday 1 December 2024
This summer, escape to Wine Island for an unforgettable ‘Holiday on the Harbour’.
We'll be there pouring Summer favourites so be sure to pop by and say hello.
Purchase your tickets online here.

EXP X Thomas Wines Dinner

Join us for a six course dinner at one of our favourite Hunter Valley restaurants, EXP, for perfectly paired with seven Thomas Wines. 

Renowned Hunter Valley venue, EXP. restaurant, has partnered with us to offer a one-of-a-kind dining experience that you won't want to miss. The menu is a showcase of delicious local and regional ingredients presented in unprecedented ways.

The culinary delights are further enhanced by a selection of exclusive vintages and single vineyard wines from our winemaker, Andrew Thomas.

Six courses, seven wines. This is set to be a dinner you will not want to miss!

Appellation Oyster 

Appellation Oyster, native pepperberry mignonette

Yarra Valley Caviar 

Sourdough waffle, sour cream, yuzu gel 

Bluefin Tuna 

Charred leek mayonnaise, nori 

Paroo Kangaroo 

Satay, Geraldton wax, tamarind

2023 Fordwich Hill Semillon

 

Lancer Wheat Sourdough

 

Ben’s Tomatoes 

Organic perino tomatoes, fresh curd cheese, eucalyptus

2017 Braemore Semillon

Rocky Point Cobia

Butter poached Cobia, barbecued Maitake, cauliflower, red centre lime and dashi foam 

2023 ‘Vat 32’ Semillon Chardonnay

 

Red Gate Farm Duck 

Slow cooked and barbecued duck leg, dutch carrots, muntries, jus 

Duck Charcuterie 

Saucisson sec style duck salami, charred and rolled duck leg ham, 4 month aged duck prosciutto

2023 DJV Shiraz Pinot Noir

 2013 Elenay Shiraz

 

‘Six Degrees’

‘Six Degrees’ custard, Davidson plum granita, lemon myrtle 

2023 Six Degrees Semillon

 

Macadamia 

Macadamia gelato, black banana pudding, miso caramel 

2023 Elevage Semillon

Chef’s EXP.erience with Wine Pairing | 220
Chef’s EXP.erience (food only) |180

Join us 29.09.24 - bookings available online.
 

A Few More Awards & Accolades...

We are thrilled to announce that our boutique winery in the Hunter Valley has recently received numerous accolades for our exceptional wines. As a small, family-operated business, we are immensely proud of these prestigious honors.

First off we attended the Hunter Valley Wine Show, where Thomas Wines took home not one but two prestigious trophies at the lunch. We are beyond proud to say our 2021 Kiss Shiraz was awarded the James Busby Memorial Trophy for Best Mature Three-Year-Old and Older Shiraz, as well as the Len Evans Trophy for Best Single Vineyard Red Wine. Meanwhile our 2022 Kiss Shiraz also took gold. 

Congratulations to all the other winners from the event and a big round of applause to the organisers for a very smooth event! We are so lucky to be a part of the Hunter Valley wine community filled with so many talented winemakers.

Our next piece of news comes in the form of an announcement by The Real Review. They announced that 77 Australian wines have been newly included in their 2024 Wine Classification of Australia. This prestigious classification recognizes the greatest wines of Australia and New Zealand with an outstanding track record of at least a decade.

While this is not the first time a Thomas Wines wine has been included on this list, we are thrilled to share that our Braemore Cellar Reserve Semillon is one of only four newly classified wines to receive the distinguished 3-Merit rating. This is a true testament to the exceptional quality and consistency of our Braemore Semillon.

We invite you to experience this award-winning wine for yourself. Grab a bottle of our 2017 Braemore Cellar Reserve Semillon and discover why it has earned such high praise. Or join us at our cellar door on 31st August to celebrate the release of the 2024 Semillon range and the 2018 Braemore Cellar Reserve Semillon. The soon-to-be released 2018 Braemore Cellar Reserve Semillon also received 94 points Silver from Halliday’s. Definitely a wine to watch!

Finally, we are excited to share that once again, Thomas Wines has received a 5-Red Star Rating from Halliday’s and our 2022 The Dam Block Single Vineyard Shiraz received 96 Gold rating. 

MW, Toni Paterson had this to say about it and we could not agree more:

“From a tiny 0.8 ha block comes this structural, flavoursome, dark-fruited gem. It is beautifully composed with glorious dark fruits, a svelte palate, magical spice and a hint of lilac. It is already starting to bloom and will be magnificent with age.”

The History of Shiraz in the Hunter Valley, Australia

To celebrate Shiraz Day on 25th July 2024, we are diving into the history of Australian and Hunter Valley Shiraz...

In 1823, 20 acres of grapevines were planted along the northern riverbanks of the Hunter River by early European settlers. Previously this area’s first inhabitants were the Wonnarua people who occupied the Upper Hunter Valley for at least 30,000 years.

When James Busby returned from Europe in 1832 with over 20,000 vine cuttings and distributed them to around 50 or so winemakers. This was around the time Semillon arrived in the region and he helped establish the Hunter Valley as a key wine region. Although back then it was known as Hunter River Riesling, Shepherd’s Riesling or White Burgundy.

In the mid 1800s, Dr Henry Lindemen moved to Australia and became president of the local vineyard association and helped to establish key varieties including Semillon, Verdelho and of course… Shiraz! The Hunter Valley became the birthplace of Shiraz in Australia, the styles produced here unique to our region. Hunter Shiraz is proudly medium bodied, with a distinctively savoury structure and food friendly texture. An inwardly concentrated core ensures the best examples of Hunter Shiraz have amazing long term cellaring potential.

With vineyards dating back to the 1860s, the Hunter Valley also have some of the oldest and rarest vine stocks in the world. Heritage plant stocks of international value, such as Shiraz from 1867 and Semillon from 1899, are still nurtured. The Hunter Valley has the largest acreage of old vines in not just Australia but the world, mainly Shiraz, growing on its own roots. Some Shiraz vines are more than 120 years old and still produce excellent wines.

Why are old vines important? Well, they can produce wines with characteristics different from their younger counterparts. Their lower yield typically means the flavours of these grapes are full of intensity and flavour which make for a more complex, balanced wine. 

Kiss Shiraz is our best example of a wine made from established, older vines and while they don’t go back as quite as far as some of these heritage vines mentioned above, the Pokolbin Estate Vineyard planted in 1969 has naturally low-cropping vines that consistently produce fruit of exception depth and concentration. It has become the benchmark Shiraz for Thomas wines, each vintage expressing only the best qualities ever since the first vintage in 2001. Kiss Shiraz has received numerous awards, accolades and quite the fan base...we highly recomend trying it to see what all the fuss is about.

If you are interested in celebrating Shiraz Week with us, don't forget to check out our two limited-time-only promotions - the Shiraz Entertaining 12 Pack and the Shiraz Appreciation 6 Pack (includes a bottle of 2022 Kiss Shiraz). Don't forget to tag us on socials so we can raise a glass with you on 25th July to Shiraz no matter where you are!

Is it a Case of Déjà Vu?

Déjà vu is the phenomenon of feeling as though one has lived through the present situation before. In the case of our 2023 Shiraz Pinot blend, this region has indeed seen it before...

Blending Hunter-grown Shiraz with Hunter-grown Pinot Noir is not a new concept and any winemaker worth their salt in this region will be able to provide you with some context that stretches back to the heydays days of Maurice O’Shea. 

The 20th century Hunter Valley winemaker, considered the Father of Australian winemaking, helped Pinot Noir to become one of, if not the, the most planted red varietals in the region during the 1960s.

The medium bodied blend of Hunter Valley Shiraz and Pinot Noir is a wine style of which O’Shea himself is most famous for - aka Hunter River Burgandy -  and some of O’Shea’s wines from the 1940s and 50s are regarded as some of the finest Australian wines ever made.

Thommo and Dan’s contribution to this category for Thomas Wines is inspired by Hunter Valley winemaking legends such as the aforementioned Maurice O’Shea and of course the late Murray Tyrrell whose 1976 Vat 6 Pinot Noir was acclaimed the best wine in the world in 1979.

This is a modern spin on the traditional Shiraz Pinot Noir blends of days gone by. The name “DJV” refers to the feeling of déja vu that you may well experience when tasting this wine, and is our tribute to the traditional “Hunter River Burgundy” style.

With only 270 dozen bottles produced, less than 2500L, you can be sure the 2023 DJV Shiraz Pinot won’t last long!

SHOP OUR 2023 DJV SHIRAZ PINOT

The 2023 suite of Shiraz is looking sharp...

Dan and I have literally just pulled all of our 2023 single vineyard Shiraz parcels from oak into tank in preparation for bottling. These (nine!) wines are all set to go to bottle later this month.

From Synergy through to Kiss these wines look spectacular, this is by far the best suite of red wines we have produced since at least 2019.

We'll give them almost 12 months in bottle before release next year (May 2025), keep in touch, this will be very exciting indeed.

Watch this space......

The Real Review Top Wineries of Australia

We are delighted to announce that Thomas Wines has been listed again in the updated Top Wineries of Australia for 2024 by the respected wine critique website, The Real Review.

"We review around 10,000 wines each year, and are delighted to see so many wineries producing wines of outstanding quality. The Real Review Top Wineries Certificate is awarded to a select group of wineries that consistently produce excellent wine. The Top Wineries list is a national benchmark that shows where your favourite winery is placed amongst its peers."
Huon Hooke, The Real Review

With over 2500 wine brands in Australia, we have been included at number 89 in the updated list for 2024, up 25 places from our position in the inaugural 2023 Top Wineries of Australia list.

Braemore Semillon listed in the Top 50 Most Collected wines in Australia

BRAEMORE SEMILLON NAMED AMONGST THE TOP 50 MOST COLLECTED WINES IN THE COUNTRY

Every three years Wine Ark conducts a comprehensive audit of over a million bottles of wine stored in their facilities all around Australia, and releases a list of the Top 50 most collected wines. We're beyond excited to see that Braemore Semillon has made the list for the very first time, coming in at #40!

Proudly sitting alongside some of the most highly regarded 'blue chip' wines in the country, and only one of 6 wines from NSW, it's a pretty special accolade for Thomas Wines. The other NSW wines, also from the Hunter Valley, were 3 from Tyrrell's and 2 from Lakes Folly. BOOM!

See the full TOP 50 list at the Wine Ark website here

Thommo's Selection Shiraz six pack video - Summer 2023

Click on the video below to see Thommo chat about the wines he's selected for your Summer Shiraz six-pack.

2021 Sweetwater Shiraz (2 bottles) - Trophy winner 2023 Hunter Valley Wine Show
2021 The Dam Block Shiraz
2022 Synergy Shiraz (2 bottles)
2022 Two of a Kind Shiraz

Thank you for your continued support, and best wishes to you and your family for the festive season