How to enjoy a spring taste of Orange

 

Sydney wine lovers should make a diary date for a spring visit to Orange, one of the liveliest towns in New South Wales. 

The Orange Wine Festival returns from October 17 to November 2, celebrating the Central West region’s cool-climate wines and vibrant food scene across across three weekends. 

More than 40 events are on a program packed with long lunches, wine-paired dining experiences, tastings and workshops. 

Visitors can meet the makers and uncover culinary and vinous pairings while enjoying Orange in bloom. 

The event is a celebration of wine, food and discovery that’ has been dubbed 'A Drop Above.'

Signature festival events include the Opening Night Market on October 17 in Robertson Park and Sip & Savour on Friday, October 24 -  a wine tasting experience featuring all the winners from the Orange Wine Show.

The Vintners Table Series will run on the weekend of October 25-26 with intimate lunch and dinner experiences hosted by some of the Orange region's best winemakers and chefs. 

See https://www.orange360.com.au/Events/Orange-Wine-Festival-2025 for full details. 

Regional wine pioneer to shut up shop

 

One of the pioneering wineries in the Central West of NSW is to close up after 30 years.

Margaret Wallington, who runs a 1000-acre organic farm outside Canowindra in the Central Ranges, has announced the closure of Wallington Wines.

"It is with great sadness that we announce that Wallington Wines is wrapping up," she said in a social media post and newsletter to customers.

"I have had to make the very difficult decision to sell the Wallington Farm and focus on my health and family," she said.

"I would like to thank everyone who has supported our family boutique winery since we planted the first vines in 1992.

"With the enormous growth of the Cowra wine region in the 1990s I enjoyed being a part of such an exciting time for the region and threw myself into driving our region forward.

"I have had enormous pride for the achievements especially within Canowindra."

The first Wallington wines were made by Iain Riggs in 1995 and 1996 before Murray Smith of Canobolas Smith Wines in Orange took over. Margaret has made her own wines in the one-site straw bale winery since 2000, and subsequently converted to organics and biodynamics.

" I felt that these practices would allow us to create more authentic and sustainable wines," she said. "I was passionate about working with the land to create more resilient ecosystems. This has been a core value of our winemaking at Wallington and values I am proud to have passed onto my children."

Wallington lost her husband Anthony in 2003 and has been a solo parent to four children.

One, daughter Nadja and her partner Steve Mobbs, joined Wallington several years ago and now run their own vineyard: ChaLou in Orange.

"So while it is the end of an era here at Wallington, I am excited to see what they will achieve and see the wines they will craft," Margaret said.

There is a closing down sale on right now at https://www.wallingtonwines.com.au/store Use the code WINEWALLY for 20% off.

Orange winemaker prepares to pull up stumps after 25 years

 

Gerald Naef, the transplanted Californian who has been making terrific wines in Orange for a quarter of a century, has revealed he is in the process of winding down his wine industry career.

With more travel on the agenda for Naef and his artist wife Anji, he describes himself as "nearing the home stretch" of a great career. 

Coming off a classic 2024 vintage in the Central West of NSW, Naef has not yet decided whether he will be making any more wine under their Patina label in the future.

"It’s been a great ride but I'm progressing to the next phase that will involve more traveling," he writes in his newsletter. 

Naef's career has taken him from study in the US, where he experimented with making wines as a young child, to cotton farming in Wee Waa, to crafting wines with impressive individuality in Orange, made from fruit grown in the foothills of Mount Canobolas. 

He started studying wine science at Charles Sturt University in 1999 and learned as his wine journey progressed. 

"I have enjoyed some great accolades along the way starting with my first-ever chardonnay winning a couple of trophies and recently being shortlisted for the Halliday Winemaker of the Year," he says.. 

"This last one really surprised me as I have remained a small producer making the style I like and not paying much attention to what is popular. But my biggest reward is to see the appreciation my wines have garnered from loyal followers." 

Naef, who is about to turn 69, added: "I started farming at 19...that’s long enough. Time to move on to the next phase. It's time to spend a little more time traveling."

Naef estimates he has enough wines in his warehouse to last a couple more years if sales figures remain stable. I suspect he might sell out sooner once news of his retirement gets around. He will be offering back vintages to Patina wine club members. 

"If wine sales continue at their current rate and I don't make more wine, I estimate that stocks will be gone in two years," he says. 

"I am surprised how well my wines age. I recently included some very old sauvignon blanc and rosé in some Mystery Dozens and have had requests for more."

As things wind down, the Patina cellar door will be closed over August and September while the Naefs go travelling. 

Having been lucky enough to try some of his earliest releases, I am a huge admirer of Naef's creativity. Looking back though my notes, it has been his chardonnays that I have enjoyed most over the years. 

See www.patinawines.com.au 

Meet an ultra-micro producer with just one wine

TThere are boutique wine producers. There are micro producers and ultra-micro wine producers. 

Sons & Brothers Vineyard, maker of the Cabernet of Millthorpe in the Central West of New South Wales, are very much in the final category. 

Hands-on couple Christopher and Kathryn Bourke have been growing grapes at their two-hectare vineyard in the Orange wine region since 1981.

They have just one current release: a 2013 Cabernet blend that retails for $50. 

The couple deliberately release their wines after around a decade in bottke, believing they are at their best from 10-15 years of age. 

"Our Cabernet is exceptionally long lived," says Christopher, "and this is due on part to our unusual closure. This consists of a stainless steel crown cap that is placed over a a tin screw cap wad, which produces a very robust and reliable closure with an indefinite cellaring life".

The Cabernet of Millthorpe is a single vineyard wine, a bottle-aged, medium-bodied blend with a small amount of tempranillo and savagnin blended with the dominant cabernet to add textural interest. 

The couple describes the climate at Millthorpe as being like that of Beaujolais, in France, also known for its nimble, lighter-bodied reds.

So what does it taste like at 11 years of age? It is a very smooth and silky number, with intense flavours but lovely balance, making it very food friendly. 

The cool growing conditions mean the Bourkes ferment the fruit on skins for 28 days in open-topped vessels and use just a tad of  French oak (only 5-15% new) to allow the wine to be fruit forward and reflect its terroir.

The wine is only made in good years, hence there were no releases in 2011 or 2012.

This is extremely interesting and about as Burgundian as cabernet can get. 

The wine can be tried at at Ferment (The Orange Wine Centre), 87 Hill Street Orange. Ferment is open from Monday to Saturday between 11am and 8pm. Chris Bourke is at Ferment most Saturdays.

For more details see www.sonsandbrothers.com.au           

Talk about a dream: Brewing up a storm in Orange

Orange in Central Western NSW is known as the home of several of Australia's best cool-climate wine producers.

But when you've had your full of wine you can also visit a new taproom and bar with 14 different brews on offer.

Badlands Brewery was established in 2010 by long-time home-brewer, Jon Shiner and has now opened a new spot to enjoy beers with food in their own location in the centre of town.

All Badlands Brewery’s core beers are made only with malted wheat and barley, water, yeast and hops and are unfiltered and free of preservatives and additives.

Badlands Brewery & Taproom has 14 taps as well as local wines, tasting paddles, growler fills, brewery tours, merchandise, food trucks and live music, Destination NSW reports.

The 45-minute tours offer a behind the scenes look at the brewing process and the price includes two complimentary beers.

"We prefer to concentrate on the beer so have partnered with some amazing local and regional food producers," says Shiner.

"Hot food is available every evening and all day at weekends and we serve delicious Indian food courtesy of our neighbourhood Indian restaurant The Upperhouse.

"Vishal and team have created a custom beer-matched menu just for us. Enjoy items such as chicken naan tacos, chilli paneer and masala prawns."

Badlands is open Wednesday to Sunday. For more details see www.badlandsbrewery.com.au/taproom

Celebrating Orange wine with altitude

Orange wine. Not the cloudy, foul-smelling stuff.

Cool-climate wine from Orange in the Central West of New South Wales. 

The wine region will celebrate the joys of spring with the Orange Wine Festival, the program for which is now live. 

The festival runs from September 30-October 29 with events including behind-the-scenes access to wineries, dine-with-the-winemaker opportunities and culinary experiences paired with the region’s best wines. 

Orange is a wine region with altitude. 

The event will feature two new signature events this year: the Vintners Table and Altitude, both of which will provide guests with the opportunity to taste local wine in spectacular locations. 

Altitude is set to be the Orange Wine Festival's closing event and will be held at Lake Canobolas. 

Guests will enjoy a roving degustation around the lake visiting various stations offering different wines and foods from the region, along with live music. 

The Vintner’s Table is a series of intimate dining events where winemakers will host guests at a venue of their choice with fresh, local, and seasonal produce showcased alongside a vineyard's own wines. The winemakers will tell the story of their vines and share their own approaches to winemaking.

In a timely move, Qantas recently announced the launch of three new weekly services between Orange and Sydney effective from September 12. 

For details see https://www.orange360.com.au/Events/Orange-Wine-Festival