Wine tasting, fine dining, 3 nights in your own private lodge, hot air balloon rides and even a relaxing couples massage in your room for a romantic stay in the Hunter Valley! Here’s your chance to win this amazing experience for two.
Working with our friends at Bimbadgenwe’ve put together an amazing experience that gives you so much of the best bits of the Hunter Valley and none of the stress of organizing it.
Christina and I have been visiting Kynygos and its amazing vineyards for years and we are still discovering things about it. There always seems to be a new winery to find – or one that has somehow managed to escape our radar.
New accommodation options also find us excited for our next trip to NSW’s best wine region and, of course, there are always new places to eat and things to see and do here.
But our most recent trip to the Hunter Valley has really supercharged our love for the area. Here’s what we accomplished — and surprisingly, what you can also do thanks to this incredibly exciting prize offered by Bimbadgen for the Month of Love!
The prize—there are two up for grabs!
Here’s what’s included in this amazing $3,000 prize:
Clicking on each item will take you to the itinerary with more details.
— THREE nights at Bimbadgen’s brand new Lane Retreat in a luxury studio retreat
— Breakfast facilities are provided
— Hot air balloon ride over the vineyards and breakfast
— Relaxing one-hour couples massage at your retreat
— Lunch or dinner at Bimbadgen with fire-fired pizzas and wine
— Bimbadgen Cellar Door Wine Tasting Experience
— Rich picnic lunch
— Wine tasting at Emma’s Cottage, Bimbadgen’s alter ego
— Personal dining experience (lunch or dinner) at the award-winning Esca Restaurant
— Check out late from Lane Retreat
You can choose what you do each day and customize your experience however you want. This entire experience is for two people per award.
We’ve given you an idea of how to fit everything in below—it’s important to remember that the hot air balloon ride is an early start and weather dependent.
How to enter the Contest:
Check out the short video of our time at Lane Retreat and Bimbadgen in the Hunter Valley:
The most romantic long weekend in the Hunter Valley
The easy two-hour drive from Sydney to the Hunter is always a treat and this time is no different.
Christina and I feel the weight of life’s stress lift off our shoulders as we watch the landscape change from busy streets and high-rises to fields and trees and the Broken Back mountain range tower over the horizon.
Looking stylish yet cozy on the sweeping property on Palmers Lane, our retreat is ready for you to check in. Overlooking the vines that go into some of Bimbadgen’s wines, the lodge’s balcony promises to be a great place to relax with a sunset together.
Inside, the huge comfortable bed and the huge bathroom with a double shower, and we pop the cork on the bottle of frozen Bimbadgen that awaits us.
In-room treatment by Hunter Valley Mobile Massage
Soon there is a knock on the door and the next treat for our stay arrives: Yvie and Millie from the Hunter Valley Mobile Massage Company. They’re here to treat us to a relaxing hour-long scrub, soothe tired muscles and stretch us out after the drive.
There is plenty of room in the lodge for their two folding tables and soon Christina and I will be luxuriating under our masseurs’ smart gentle hands.
Yvie and Millie make sure to ask us the type of massage we would like and the pressure we prefer. The idea for today is relaxation, although Yvie is also trained in sports therapy techniques.
An hour later, feeling like the clouds are under our feet, we look around and consider options for dinner.
Wood-fired pizza at Bimbadgen
It is a quick five minute drive to Bimbadgen from Lane Retreat. Down in the winery’s Tuscan-inspired courtyard, we find a table and enjoy great wood fired pizzas from the giant clay oven.
My pepperoni pizza is rich and generous on top, and the crust is crispy yet soft — perfectly cooked. Christina’s pork and fennel pizza topped with rocket leaves is also juicy and delicious, caramelized onion and grilled pepper bring an extra sweetness to this excellent pizza.
This is a popular place, especially during the weekend when the place has live music, so booking a table is a good idea. You can also come here for lunch and enjoy the view of the vines and see the winery and distillery in action.
We return to the romantic seclusion of our retreat for a blissful sleep.
This morning we enjoy the breakfast supplies left by the staff from the retreat shop, The Pantry, last night at turn-down: crunchy granola and creamy yogurt and a delicious breakfast quiche.
There is also fresh juice in the fridge and a coffee machine, although The Pantry up the lane also does excellent barista coffees.
Picnic by the vines
After a morning of exploring around the Hunter Valley, we return to The Lane Retreat for lunch: a picnic provided by Bimbadgen, including roast chicken, olives, fresh fruit and even a blanket and a bottle of bubbly!
At first we consider having our picnic by the pool, a central oasis-like spot with Palm Springs vibes, but instead opt for a small spot near our retreat by the vines of Palmers Lane Vineyard.
Bimbadgen Wine Tasting Experience
After our lunch, we return to Bimbadgen for a wine tasting. We sit looking at the vineyard from the beautiful cellar door and pass through Signature Tasting Experience with eight of Bimbadgen’s best wines.
We also got a chance to sample the gin and vodka from their Night Merchant distillery, which is also brewed on site.
Returning to our lodge, we promise ourselves a light supper—we still have food from the generous picnic—an early evening. Tomorrow starts at 3.30 in the morning!
hot air balloon with Beyond the Balloon
It’s still dark when our alarm goes off. A quick shower and a shot from the coffee maker and we’re off Palmers Lane for the Rydges Resort Hunter Valley 10 minutes down the road. We check in and then board minibuses to the launch site for the most amazing experience: a hot air balloon ride over the Hunter Valley.
Rising above the trees and gliding silently through the dawn air, we see the sun glint its first light over the Broken Back Range, turning the rows of vines golden, highlighting kangaroos bouncing through the fields and creating a rainbow high above in the clouds next to us.
Back on the ground, we head back to Rydges for breakfast and even a cheeky glass of Bimbadgen bubbly.
Wine Tasting Experience-Alter Wines at Emma’s Cottage
Alter Wines, as in Bimbadgen’s ‘alter-ego’, a newcomer to the Bimbadgen family. Set a beautiful lane off Wilderness Drive in Lovedale, Emma’s Cottage it is a beautiful place. In addition to the bar and cellar seating, this winery also has a great boutique for shopping.
It’s the perfect lunch spot for us as we enjoy a tasting of their range of wines along with a generous helping of cheese and charcuterie.
Dinner at Esca restaurant
This evening is the highlight event that we have been waiting for the most: dinner Escaone of the most popular restaurants in the area and the pride of Bimbadgen.
Although there is an a la cart menu, we are treated to a six-course adventure in not only some of Esca’s best dishes, but also Bimbadgen’s best wines.
I don’t want to give too much away so I’ll just say that this menu is great. From homemade butter, focaccia and Shiraz-tinted pink salt to late-harvest Semillon paired with Esca’s summer stone fruit, brown yoghurt and spiced hazelnut dessert, it’s all superb.
We wake up predictably late this morning after such a long day yesterday. But that’s okay. We don’t have to check out until 11am which gives us time to enjoy our lodge in the morning light and even take one last dip in the pool before we leave.
Our return to Sydney is reluctant, seeing the vineyards and mountains recede behind us, exchanging them once more for the streets and towers of the bustling city. But those days in the Hunter Valley will stay with us forever.
