Draytons Wines

23/06/2026

'CAFÉ 1853' IS BACK! Opening this weekend.

Enjoy delicious breakfast or lunch at Café 1853, located right next to Draytons Wines Cellar Door, 555 Oakey Creek Rd, Pokolbin. Indoor and outdoor seating available.

Open 8:00am - 3:00pm Saturdays and Sundays. Bookings and Walk-ins all welcome.

Ring 02 4998 7513 to book a table.

Check out the absolutely amazing Menu, including Bacon & Egg Roll ($9), Margherita Pizza ($18) or Slow Smoked Lamb Shank ($35): https://draytonswines.com.au/pages/Menu

DRAYTONS. SINCE 1853.

22/06/2026

VIVE LA FRANCE! Save these dates - July 18th & 19th. Oh la la!

We're proud and thrilled to be a part of the upcoming Bastille Day celebrations at Tillermans - the best French restaurant south of Paris.

Our 2023 Gewurztraminer will be one of the premium wines paired with fantastic traditional French dishes, whipped up by the Tillermans chef over two days - dinner on Saturday July 18th, and lunch on Sunday July 19th.

What could be better than delicious French food, outstanding French and Australian wines, live music and beautiful views of the Myall Lakes waterfront?

Spots are extremely limited, reservations absolutely essential. Don't miss out, book now! Call 02 4997 0138.

Tillermans French Restaurant is located at the waterfront in beautiful Tea Gardens, on the Mid North Coast.

LE DRAYTONS. LE BLOODY BEAUTY.

20/06/2026

SAFETY FIRST! Jim wears custom hi-vis clothing to ensure his wife never loses him in a crowd.

Looks like the age-old problem of men wandering off and disappearing in a crowd at a shopping centre has finally been solved.

Jim says he wears his hi-vis safety suits every day and everywhere, so that his wife can easily find him in any crowded venue, like a shopping centre, rock concert or even a busy cellar door.

We can vouch it definitely works. We NEVER lost the sight of Jim, not even for a second! 😁

And our Hunter Blue wine proved to be the perfect accessory for Jim's amazing technicolour dreamcoat.

Thank you guys for an absolute blast of a visit and welcome to 'Club 1853' Wineclub!

DRAYTONS. COLOURFUL SINCE 1853.

17/06/2026

EOFY'26: Outstanding Value Shiraz!

Draytons EOFY'26 Sale continues. We have some amazing aged Shirazes on sale:

- 2017 Bin5555 Shiraz - arguably the best value red in the Valley at the moment, on offer for $18.75 (25% off)
https://draytonswines.com.au/products/2017-bin5555-shiraz

- 2019 Reserve Shiraz - classic Hunter flavours and aromas - absolutely stunning - $26.25 (25% off) https://draytonswines.com.au/products/vineyard-reserve-shiraz

Don't miss out, offer ends June 30 or when stocks run out!
* Ts & Cs apply.

DRAYTONS. AGED WINE SPECIALISTS.

Draytons Wines is the oldest winery in Pokolbin, in the heart of the Hunter Valley. Est. in 1853, we're renowned for fine table and fortified wines, tawnys and liqueurs. Visit our cellar door for tastings or shop online for delivery to your door.

14/06/2026

WINE GODS TALES #2. Wine Gods arrive in the Hunter Valley.

As the ancient myth has it, the three Wine Gods - Dionysus (Greek God of Wine), Bacchus (Roman God of Wine) and Du Kang (Chinese God of Wine) often visit various wine regions around the World, to make sure the wine is good and pure.

Whenever they decide to travel, they ride on the back of Balthasar, Son of Pegasus - Horse of the Wine Gods.

When they visit the Hunter Valley, they always land at their favourite winery - Draytons.

If you think this is only a fairy tale, you can see Balthasar 'in the flesh', parked on the Draytons Wines grounds, on the corner of Oakey Creek Rd and Marrowbone Rd, Pokolbin.

POKOLBIN. OLDEST WINERY IN POKOLBIN.

11/06/2026

EOFY SALE! 25% discount on wide range of selected products across all categories.

Simply visit our website and look for marked-down prices.

- Offer ends June 30th 11:59pm
- Only while stocks last. Don't miss out!
- 'Club 1853' Members receive 10% off the discounted EOFY Sale price, instead of their normal members discount.
- Ts & Cs apply

Available at Cellar Door or Online: https://draytonswines.com.au/collections

DRAYTONS. OLDEST WINERY IN POKOLBIN.

Draytons Wines is the oldest winery in Pokolbin, in the heart of the Hunter Valley. Est. in 1853, we're renowned for fine table and fortified wines, tawnys and liqueurs. Visit our cellar door for tastings or shop online for delivery to your door.

07/06/2026

WINE GODS TALES #1. Wine Gods descend from the Heavens and travel to Hunter Valley Wine Country.

As the ancient myths have it, the three Wine Gods - Dionysus (Greek God of Wine), Bacchus (Roman God of Wine) and Du Kang (Chinese God of Wine) like to visit various wine regions around the World, to make sure the wine is good and pure.

Whenever they decide to travel, they ride on the back of Balthasar, Son of Pegasus - Horse of the Wine Gods.

If you think this is only a fairy tale, you can see Balthasar 'in the flesh', parked on the Draytons Wines grounds, on the corner of Oakey Creek Rd and Marrowbone Rd, Pokolbin.

DRAYTONS. IN THE LAP OF GODS SINCE 1853.

01/06/2026

ONE STOP SHOP. Drink, eat and be merry this long weekend at the Oldest winery in Pokolbin.

Come in for a tailored tasting (small, medium and large groups) and sample some of the best wines and tawnys in the Hunter Valley, including rare aged releases.

Grab breakfast or lunch at the Cafe or check out our sculpture park and paintings in the Cellar Door.

You can even stay at one of our luxury cottages behind the winery.

We're open every day from 10AM - 5PM. Bookings and walk-ins all welcome.

Book your tasting: https://draytonswines.com.au/products/book-now

Book your accommodation: https://www.pokolbinfarmstay.com.au/

DRAYTONS. SINCE 1853.

28/05/2026

KEVIN HEAVEN! What an absolute buzz it was to host very special guests from the USA.

Laughs, laughs and more laughs, plus some good wine and banter thrown into the mix. That's what we got when two friends from Washington DC - Brian and Kevin - descended on our Cellar Door, together with their Sydney buddies Heather and Rob.

They also stayed at our Winemakers Cottage, at the back of he winery, so they didn't have to walk too far after their tasting. 😁

Thank you Guys for popping in to Draytons. See you next time you're in the Valley.

Book your tasting here: https://draytonswines.com.au/products/book-now

Book your accommodation here: https://www.pokolbinfarmstay.com.au/

DRAYTONS. OLDEST WINERY IN POKOLBIN.

26/05/2026

50 YEARS ON. The Judgement of Paris.

50 years ago almost to the day, wine history was made. Actually, it was more like a massive atom bomb going off amongst wine experts and wine lovers everywhere.

On May 24, 1976, a blind wine tasting took place in Paris, and it changed the world of wine forever.

Two unknown Californian wines (1973 Chateau Montelena Chardonnay and 1973 Stag's Leap Cab Sav) beat world famous and super-expensive French wines from Bordeaux and Burgundy for the title of the best wine. And we're talking such French heavyweights as Chateau Mouton-Rothschild and Chateau Haut-Brion!

Sacré bleu! What a travesty! 😁

Before 1976, the global consensus was that only the "Old World" (France, Italy) could produce truly world-class wines. The Paris tasting shattered this stigma.

The result was even more poignant since all of the judges were French wine experts and top sommeliers! Not surprisingly, once the results were announced, some of them tried to discredit the tasting, claiming it was rigged and that they were misled by the organisers.

Some of them actually had to resign from their jobs because of the massive outrage the result caused in France.

Another interesting fact was that most of the American wines came from young vines and were made by totally unknown winemakers. Chateau Montelena Chardonnay was made by a Croatian immigrant Miljenko 'Mike' Grgich, and Stag's Leap Cabernet was made by Warren Winiarski, who came from a Polish immigrant family in Chicago.

For Australia, this historic blind tasting broke the European monopoly on quality, inspiring local winemakers to dream bigger. It gave Australians the validation and courage to step out of the shadows and market their own unique styles on the global stage.

Additional reference materials for those who'd like to know more:

"Bottle Shock" - movie starring Alan Rickman and Chris Pine

YouTube podcast: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YJqNbStJ3jk

George M. Taber book "The Judgement of Paris"

DRAYTONS. SINCE 1853. OH LA LA!