Hastings River

Best known for growing Chambourcin, the Hastings River wine region is located on the North Coast of NSW around Port Macquarie, which is 400 km (or a 5 hour drive) north-east of Sydney. Port Macquarie is a mid-sized town of some 65 000 people. Some of NSW’s loveliest scenery surrounds the wine region of the Hastings River, which has a long history of wine growing. The slightly humid conditions of the sunny north coast of NSW allows the cultivation of a number of grape varieties and their wines.

The Birpai were the traditional owners of the lands and waterways of the Hastings region, including not only the Hastings River but also the Manning River in the south, the Macleay River in the north and the Apsley River in the west. While further inland around Wauchope, the Gadang Aborigines lived in the heavily-timbered hills. By 1820 cedar was being cut in the district and soon after Port Macquarie, the major town of the region named after the then NSW Governor, was settled in 1821 as a prison within a prison, a place for convicts of Sydney Town who had broken the law to be sent. This convict period lasted only a short time and by 1830 the Hastings Valley was open to free settlement, though a government convict related presence remained until 1847 when the final the military detachment was withdrawn. The town of Wauchope, which had timber (reputedly the largest blackbutt forest in Australia) and was accessible by river, was the first to develop; it was Port Macquarie’s growth as a holiday resort town that made it the district’s centre.

The then Assistant Surveyor, Henry Fancourt White, established the first vines in Port Macquarie in 1837. By 1867, there were many vineyards with the two best known being Douglas Vale and Fernhill and in the 1890’s there were some 33 vineyards established in the Hastings River region. However, like many wine areas in NSW, wine production had disappeared by the early 1900’s, though grape growing did continue for jam-making until the 1950’s. Wine production did not re-appear in this area until the 1980s when the French descended John Cassegrain established the family winery. Drawing on experience from the Hunter, France and California, this family pioneered new varieties and new ways of managing vineyards, wining the NSW Red Wine of the Year in 2004. Nowadays, there are over 450 acres of vineyards in the Hastings River region.

Generally hilly, the topography of the region offers good choices of situation that allows its prevailing winds to be used to great benefit. Proximity to the Pacific Ocean also ensures a temperate maritime climate that has proven successful with the growth of a number of grape varieties, including the French red variety of Chambourcin. The vineyards of the Hastings River are the only significant new plantings in Australia over the past 30 years not to need irrigation. This is because the region is not only continuously warm, but is one that combines high summer humidity and high rainfall, being much affected tropical cyclones in Queensland, and the warm waters of the Pacific Ocean.

The best varieties of wines produced in the Hastings River region are Chambourcin, Chardonnay, Verdelho, Semillon and Merlot. And the best wines are produced by crops that are driest at harvest time. In a high rainfall area such as the Hastings this means that the best grapes to grow are Chambourcin, a French hybrid resistant to mildew that would otherwise threaten grapes grown in such an area.

Major Wineries in the area are the Bago Vineyards, Cassegrain Wines, Inneslake Vineyards, Long Point and Sherwood Estate. There are five cellar doors in the region, plus seven on the wider North Coast region. The Bago Vineyard is open for wine tastings and has a picnic-barbecue area, just 30 minutes south of Wauchope. Cassegrain Wines holds an annual Oysters in the Vines festival in January, when visitors can taste the luscious local Hastings River oysters fresh from the shell along with their wine.

Other local events are the Wauchope Show, the Camden Haven Music Festival, and in Port Macquarie, the Regiment Heritage Festival, all in April. The Festival of the Sun (FOTSUN) is an annual outdoor music festival held in December at the Sundowner Breakwall Tourist Park, Port Macquarie. All these allow the visitor to sample, in addition to the fine local wines, such local foods such as oysters and prawns, Gloucester and Greek-style cheeses, yoghurts, organic tomatoes, creams, honey, olives, and macadamia nuts.

Local attractions of the Hastings River region are Timbertown, the Ellenborough Falls, a World Heritage listed subtropical rainforest, and towns such as historic Stroud and Wingham. The Timbertown Pioneer Village is the major attraction at Wauchope with its recreation of an old timber town of the 1880s. Set on 87 acres, there is a blacksmith, a leather-worker, a railway station and steam train, a steam sawmill, a bakery, and a pub. A significant wine related piece of history in the area is the Douglas Vale Homestead and Vineyard. The Douglas Vale house was built in 1862 by George Francis and was until the early 1990s in continuous ownership by the family’s descendants. The property had significant grape and wine production between 1867 and 1918, receiving several prizes from exhibitions in Bordeaux, Amsterdam, Calcutta and London.

Another facility unique to the area is the Koala Hospital in Port Macquarie. This is the world's first hospital dedicated solely to the care and preservation of koalas. The Hospital has a treatment room, Intensive Care Units, multiple recovery yards, and has a research link with the University of Sydney.

Chardonnay dominates plantings in the Hastings River and does well. The style is not unlike that of the Hunter, rich and generous. It matures quickly but wines from the drier vintages can hold their peak for several years.