Australia's Hunter Valley, a very warm region north of Sydney that's often rather humid in summer and early fall, has long been the source of outstanding, long-lived Semillon and juicy, earlier-maturing Chardonnay made in a modern and more oak-influenced style, typically with notes of tobacco and honeydew melon. The emphatically dry nature of these wines as well as a general lack of sweetening oak has meant that these offbeat Semillons were an acquired taste. Medium-weight, spicy, and meaty Shiraz, often slow to mature in bottle, is also a specialty of this region.