An overhaul of one of the Upper Hunter’s oldest wine estates will further boost the profile of the region’s wine industry and attract more tourist dollars to the area.
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By this time next year more than $10 million would have been spent upgrading and renovating Hollydene Estates Wines, located at Arrowfield Estate, west of Jerrys Plains.
The estate already boasts significant infrastructure, including a restaurant, cellar door, helipad and conference and meeting rooms, which will undergo renovations in 2013.
The installation of some of the most up-to-date and energy efficient wine-making equipment is already afoot, including a micro brewery for production of Hollydene-branded beer.
And, if a development application is approved at next month’s Muswellbrook Shire Council’s ordinary meeting, accommodation facilities and a chapel will also be included onsite.
A total of 23 high-quality cabins are proposed with the purpose of providing short-term accommodation for local and international tourists, wedding and function guests as well as corporate clients, namely from the region’s mining and equine industries.
The project combines the Arrowfield, Hollydene and Wybong Estate names and rich histories and has been about three years in the making for all involved, including Hollydene wines’ Karen and Gary Williams.
Mr Williams said the project would help close a gap he felt had existed in the region for some time and keep the business up with industry trends.
“It’s going to further underpin the wine industry in the Upper Hunter and is going to provide facilities that are somewhat lacking in the region for conferences, meetings and will be a family destination,” he said.
“At the moment there is nothing like it in Muswellbrook or Singleton … you really have to go to the Lower Hunter or Newcastle.
“You’ve got to have other aspects to the winery, such as the accommodation and function rooms, and be able to make it a point of destination.”
Hollydene wines has already attracted significant attention from Asian buyers and, according to Mr Williams, the new project would further tap into the international markets and attract overseas tourists to the Upper Hunter.
The project is likely to create 18 jobs, with the possibility of an additional 10 to 12 casual positions also added.
