A Hunter Valley winery in Pokolbin
Patience, bottled.
Traditional-method sparkling, aged for years on its lees in the cellar under the hill. Taste it where it's made, every day from 10am.
Ember Hill, since 1971
We make one thing, slowly.
Sparkling wine the old way, the second ferment in the bottle you open.
Ember Hill is a Hunter Valley winery that makes nothing but sparkling wine, and makes all of it by the traditional method, the méthode traditionnelle. The base wine is bottled with a little yeast and sugar, capped, and laid down in the cellar dug into the hill. The second ferment happens inside that bottle. Then it waits: three years for the Rosé, ten for the Late Disgorged, turned by hand on the riddling racks until the spent yeast settles in the neck.
The Hunter is better known for semillon and shiraz than for bubbles, and that suits us. Our chardonnay, pinot noir and pinot meunier come off 14 hectares on the slope behind the cellar door, picked by hand before dawn in January while the fruit still holds its acid. What it gives is a wine that is fine and dry, with the toast and brioche that only time on lees brings.
Helen Marsh planted the first vines in 1971, below an ironstone ridge that glows ember-red when the sun goes down. Her son, Daniel Marsh, has made the wine since 2016. Read our story, or see how a bottle is made, step by step.
The cuvées
Four wines, one method
Four Australian sparkling wines, each a different answer to the same question: what does time on lees do to this fruit? Start with the Blanc de Blancs if you like it crisp, the Late Disgorged if you like it deep and toasty. Six bottles or more ship free to NSW, the ACT, Victoria and Queensland.
Blanc de Blancs 2019
Chardonnay from the Top Block. Lemon pith, brioche, a long chalky finish.
Rosé 2021
Pinot noir, a day on skins for the colour. Wild strawberry and blood orange.
Blanc de Noirs 2018
White wine from black grapes. Red apple, almond, more weight in the glass.
Late Disgorged 2012
Ten years on lees before we took the cork. Honey, toast, hazelnut.
The cellar under the hill
Years in the dark
Below the cellar door, the hill keeps a steady cool through a Hunter summer. That's where every bottle spends its tirage, lying on its side while the spent yeast slowly gives the wine its texture. Near the end, each bottle is turned and tilted on the riddling racks, a little each day, until the sediment sits in the neck. Then it's disgorged, topped with its dosage and corked.
Nothing about it is quick, and none of it can be faked. A Blanc de Blancs that has had five years on its lees tastes of those five years: finer bubbles, a creamier feel in the mouth, the bread-crust notes that only autolysis gives. On the riddling room tour you walk the racks, see bottles at every stage and turn one yourself.
The cellar door
Open every day in Pokolbin
Open daily, 10am to 5pm. Tastings run on the hour until 4pm: the four cuvées and a glass of base wine from tank, poured at the bench with the riddling racks behind you. Walk in on a weekday, book ahead for weekends. Dogs are welcome on the lawn on a lead, and the cheese comes from Hunter makers.
If you're tasting, bring a designated driver or book one of the Hunter Valley tours or transfers that stop at the door. Children are welcome with an adult, the paths are level from the car park to the bench, and there's an accessible toilet beside the cellar door.
Experiences
Four ways to taste
From a quick pour at the bench to a morning disgorging your own bottle with the winemaker. Every experience is for guests 18 and over, and every one ends with a glass in your hand.
Cellar door tasting
The four cuvées and a glass of base wine from tank, poured at the bench with the riddling racks behind you.
Bubbles and cheese
Four cuvées, each with a Hunter cheese chosen for it, on the terrace above the vines.
The riddling room tour
Down into the cellar under the hill: the racks, the bottles at every stage, a turn of the bottle yourself, and a tasting at the end.
Disgorging masterclass
Disgorge your own bottle by hand with the winemaker, dose it, cork it and take it home.
Lunch and celebrations
Stay for lunch
The club
First pour, delivered
Club members get each new disgorgement before it reaches the cellar door, twice a year, with free tastings whenever they visit. There are three ways in: Bead (6 bottles), Mousse (12 bottles), Prestige (12 bottles twice a year). Nothing to join, and you can change or pause before any shipment.
The Prestige tier holds a share of every Late Disgorged release and a place at the members' disgorging day, the one morning a year the cellar opens to everyone in the club.
Tirage, notes from the cellar
While the bottles wait
Things to do in the Hunter Valley: a considered weekend
The best things to do in the Hunter Valley fit into a slow weekend: two or three cellar doors, one long lunch, a sunrise among the vines, a walk, a gallery or a market, and time to do nothing much. Here is how we'd spend it.
Hunter Valley wine tours: how to choose the right one
A Hunter Valley wine tour takes the driving off your hands and the planning off your mind. Here is how the main kinds of tour differ, what to ask an operator before you book, and what a stop at our cellar door in Pokolbin looks like.
Dog friendly wineries in the Hunter Valley: planning the day
Dog friendly at a Hunter Valley winery usually means outside, on a lead, and not in the tasting room or restaurant. At Ember Hill your dog is welcome on the lawn. Here is how to plan a day around a dog: heat, water, shade and what to check first.
Questions
Before you visit Ember Hill
Where is Ember Hill?
Ember Hill is a Hunter Valley winery in Pokolbin NSW 2320, about 50 minutes' drive from Newcastle and two hours and a quarter from Sydney by the M1 and the Hunter Expressway. The cellar door sits on the slope below the ironstone ridge that gives the house its name. If you're tasting, come with a designated driver, a tour or a transfer, and see the Visit page for directions and parking.
Do I need to book a tasting?
On weekdays you can walk in: cellar door tastings run on the hour from 10am to 4pm, $20 a person, for up to eight. On weekends and public holidays we suggest booking, because the bench fills by late morning. Groups of 9 to 20 are $35 a person and always booked ahead. The experiences, like the riddling room tour and the disgorging masterclass, are booking only.
What does Ember Hill make?
Only sparkling wine, and only by the traditional method, with the second fermentation in the bottle you buy. There are four cuvées: a Blanc de Blancs from chardonnay, a Rosé from pinot noir and chardonnay, a Blanc de Noirs from pinot noir and pinot meunier, and a Late Disgorged that spends ten years on lees. Prices run from $58 to $110 a bottle.
Can I buy Ember Hill wine online?
Yes. Every cuvée can go in the cart from any page, and delivery is free on six bottles or more to NSW, the ACT, Victoria and Queensland, and on twelve or more anywhere in Australia. We confirm you're 18 or over at checkout, and an adult signs for every delivery. Club members save 15 to 25 per cent on every order.
Is there somewhere to eat at the winery?
Lees, our restaurant, serves lunch Thursday to Monday from noon and dinner on Friday and Saturday nights. The set menu is $95 for three courses, or $135 with a glass of each of the four cuvées poured to match. On Saturday and Sunday afternoons the oyster bar opens on the terrace. Book ahead for weekends, and tell us about any dietary needs when you do.
Can we get married at Ember Hill?
Yes. Ceremonies are held in the vineyard chapel, which seats 120, and receptions in the barrel hall, which seats 140 or holds 180 standing, with canapés on the terrace at sunset. Saturday weddings take the whole venue and start from $185 a guest for a minimum of 60 guests. Book a viewing through the contact page and we'll walk you through the day.
Come and taste it where it's made
The cellar door is open every day from 10am. Walk in on a weekday, or book a tasting for the weekend.