2026 De Iuliis Verdelho, Hunter Valley

It is time to make Verdelho great again!

Offering great peak-summer drinking with plenty of tropical fruit notes and crisp citrus-like zest, consider it your local alternative to the likes of Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc (without the occasionally pungent passionfruit and grassy characters): chill well, keep a bottle ready-to-enjoy in the pool bar fridge, enjoy with salt and pepper calamari or take it to your local Thai or Vietnamese BYO.

To enjoy it at its best, drink your bottles by Anzac Day following the harvest year, while the generous and vibrant flavours are matched by the lively natural acidity. 

More about this wine

The Portuguese white variety Verdelho has been part of Hunter Valley’s vinous history from the very beginning in the early 1800s. Originally planted for fortified vines, it can produce serious table wines capable of developing well for years, attaining strong, spicy characters unlike any other variety. It takes the region’s occasionally wet and humid growing seasons of the Hunter in its stride, and is today mostly used to produce intensely aromatic, fruit forward wines with vibrant acidity.

The fruit for this wine was estate grown in the de Iuliis vineyard next to Lovedale Road.

About this producer

A relatively recent addition to Hunter Valley, de Iuliis has gradually grown from its 1987 beginnings when Joss and Anna de Iuliis purchased a then cattle station off Lovedale Road in Pokolbin. After several years of soil regeneration work their first Semillon and Chardonnay vines were planted in 1999.

Today, second generation Mike de Iuliis leads the work at the winery as well as the three estate vineyards in Lovedale, Pokolbin and Rothbury. The varietal mix includes Hunter Valley classics Semillon, Verdelho, Chardonnay and Shiraz, complemented by Touriga Nacional, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot and the more recently planted Pecorino and Montepulciano, both native to the Abruzzo region of Italy where the de Iuliis family originates.