Whispering Brook

Portugal Came to the Hunter Valley

Portugal Came to the Hunter Valley. Pull Up a Chair.

There are cellar door tastings. And then there are experiences that make you put down your glass, look out at the vines and think: "I had no idea wine could feel like this."

The Portuguese Wines Fireside & Cheese experience at Whispering Brook in Broke, Hunter Valley is firmly in the second category.

It's 90 minutes. It's five wines — aged and current vintages tasted side by side. It's a fireside. It's artisan cheese from Binnorie Dairy. And it's the story of how a trip to Portugal in 2007 changed everything for one Hunter Valley winery — and gave Australia a wine it had never tasted before.

Five wines from Portugal's greatest varietals. One wood fire. A cheese board from Binnorie Dairy. And a story unlike anything else in the Hunter Valley.

First, the story. Because this one is worth knowing.

When Susan Frazier and Adam Bell established Whispering Brook in 2000 on their beautiful Broke estate, they were already doing something different. The terra rossa soils. The Wollombi Brook along the boundary. The mountain views. This was a piece of land with genuine character.

But it was a trip to Portugal in 2007 that sparked something extraordinary. Tasting the wines of the Douro Valley — the depth of a Touriga Nacional, the crisp brightness of an Arinto — Susan and Adam came home with a question nobody in the Hunter Valley had thought to ask: what if we grew these here?

They planted them. They tended them. They watched those vines take to the terra rossa soils as though they'd always belonged there. And in doing so, Whispering Brook became the first winery in the Hunter Valley to grow and produce a 100% Touriga Nacional — a variety that is now winning trophies at the Hunter Valley Boutique Wine Show and earning the winery a coveted 5-star rating from James Halliday.

The Portuguese Wines Fireside & Cheese experience exists to share that story properly. Slowly. With wine in hand and a fire crackling beside you.

What actually happens — and why it's unlike any tasting you've done before.

You'll settle in beside the wood fire inside Whispering Brook's beautiful cellar door — a soaring Australian-style building with exposed timber trusses, lovingly restored windows and French doors that look out across the vineyards and the Brokenback Range. In winter, there's nothing quite like it.

Your host will pour five wines across the course of the experience — each one chosen to tell a specific part of the Whispering Brook story. The tasting is structured around a fascinating comparison: an aged vintage of Touriga Nacional poured alongside the current release, so you can taste firsthand how this extraordinary variety evolves and deepens over time. The same comparison follows with the Arinto — watching an aged white open up beside a fresh current release is the kind of revelation that changes how you think about white wine entirely.

The experience finishes with a Portuguese-inspired tawny — a warm, rich, contemplative glass that feels perfectly at home beside a crackling fire. It's a beautiful way to end: something sweet and complex, deeply Portuguese in spirit, made right here at Whispering Brook.

Alongside the wines, a board of artisan cheeses from Binnorie Dairy arrives — local, handmade and chosen to complement the Portuguese varietals beautifully. The combination of an aged Touriga Nacional with a rich cheese beside a winter fire is one of those pairings that, once you've had it, you'll find yourself craving again.

"It's peaceful, picturesque and personal. A 5-star James Halliday winery that feels like a genuine discovery." — Walk My World blog

The whole experience runs around 90 minutes — unhurried, relaxed and genuinely educational without ever feeling like a lecture. You'll leave knowing more about Portuguese wine, more about this remarkable little corner of the Hunter Valley, and almost certainly with a bottle or two tucked under your arm.

The wines you'll taste.

Five wines, each with a story. Here's what to expect:

Aged Touriga Nacional — a back vintage of Whispering Brook's trophy-winning flagship red, opened up with time and ready to show you what great cellaring does to this remarkable variety. Deeper, more complex, more contemplative.
Current Release Touriga Nacional — the same wine, a different year. Vibrant cherry colour, notes of cherries, plums and spice with richness and complexity on the palate. Tasting these two side by side is a genuine education in how wine evolves.
Aged Arinto — a back vintage of Whispering Brook's pioneering white. Portugal's finest white varietal, grown here on sandy loam soils — and with a little age, it opens into something truly extraordinary.
Current Release Arinto — lively citrus and crisp apple aromas, a palate of refreshing acidity and bright tropical notes. Tasted beside the aged version, it's a completely different experience to tasting it alone.
Portuguese-inspired Tawny — the perfect finish. Warm, rich and complex, with the spirit of the Douro Valley in every sip. Made right here at Whispering Brook, it's the ideal glass to hold beside a crackling fire as the afternoon settles into evening.

Each wine is estate-grown, small-batch and made with an obsessive focus on the character of this particular piece of land. When your host tells you the story of a vintage, they're telling you the story of something they watched grow from bud burst to bottle.

Who is this experience for?

Honestly? Anyone who loves wine and wants to understand it a little better. But it's particularly wonderful for:

Couples looking for a genuinely memorable Hunter Valley experience beyond the standard tasting trail
Wine enthusiasts who want to try something they genuinely can't find anywhere else in Australia
Groups of friends celebrating a birthday, anniversary or special occasion
Visitors from Sydney looking for something more personal and less commercial than Pokolbin
Anyone who loves Portugal, Portuguese food and wine culture, or simply a good fire and a great glass

It's also a beautiful experience for guesthouse guests — if you're staying at the Whispering Brook vineyard guesthouse, this is the kind of experience that turns a lovely weekend away into a truly memorable one.

The details.

Duration: Approximately 90 minutes
Includes: Five wines — aged and current release Touriga Nacional, aged and current release Arinto, and a Portuguese-inspired tawny — paired with artisan cheeses from Binnorie Dairy
Location: Whispering Brook Cellar Door, Rodd Street, Broke NSW — two hours from Sydney
When: Friday to Saturday, and by appointment
Bookings: Essential — book directly at whispering-brook.com
Dog friendly: Yes — well-behaved dogs welcome on the verandah

While you're there, take the time to explore the estate's other experiences — the vineyard and olive grove tour, the cheese and wine pairing, and the seasonal alfresco platters on the verandah are all exceptional in their own right. And if you'd like to make a proper weekend of it, the Whispering Brook vineyard guesthouse sleeps 10 to 18 guests right on the estate.

Come and see what we found in Portugal.

There's a moment in every great wine experience where everything quiets down — the conversation, the distraction, the noise of everyday life — and it's just you, the glass, and something genuinely beautiful.

That's what we've tried to create with the Portuguese Wines Fireside & Cheese experience. A little corner of the Hunter Valley that feels, somehow, like a Sunday afternoon in the Douro Valley. The fire. The wine. The story of how two people fell in love with a varietal on the other side of the world — and brought it home.

We'd love to share it with you.

Book your Portuguese Wines Fireside & Cheese experience at whispering-brook.com

Whispering Brook  |  Rodd Street, Broke NSW  |  Friday to Saturday and by appointment  |  (02) 6579 1386