Orange wineries to visit (region, not style!)

[GraemeG]

I have some time free (I think) on the afternoon of Easter Saturday.
Who would you recommend visiting around the Orange District, NSW?

[Sigmamupi]

My palate is chablis and burgundy centric so I buy very little Australian wine nowadays but I have tried a couple of wines from Orange that I liked, courtesy of a mate who makes an annual trip to Orange. He targets lesser known wineries with no or very limited retail distribution and thought Rikard and De Salis were worth drinking. In particular, I very much liked the Rikard Black Label chardonnay he opened last year over dinner. De Salis has a wide range but the pricing there seems to have become ambitious - every sparkling over $100. But a chardonnay I tried a couple of years ago courtesy of my mate was enjoyable.

[Vinoo]

Colmar estate. Macquariedale also worth a squizz, as is Cook’s lot.

[gwyn]

Printhie Wines is worth a look, if only to check out the sparkling wines released under their Swift label. Seriously good wines, a number of which have spent significant time on lees. At the risk of sounding like (or actually being) a name dropper Ed Carr put me onto them a few years back when I asked him at a tasting which other Australian producers he thought were doing good things in the sparkling space at that time. Printhie / Swift were one of the producers he mentioned.

[GraemeG]

Thanks for the feedback, all. I'll research these suggestions and see which works best. I'll try for two if I can, it might depend what time the rehearsal finishes on the Saturday (music festival) !

[asajoseph]

We (NSW IWFS) ran a tour to Orange last year. We were impressed with the sparkling wines from De Salis, Swinging Bridge and Printhie.

Rickard focus on higher altitude / ultra cool styles, so if you prefer the precision, higher acid wines then they're a great bet.

Bloodwood make one of the better cabernets in the region, and a visit to their cellar door / home is well worth it - albeit you'll need to book.

I've generally enjoyed the more premium Philip Shaw offerings, and their pinots age well - as do the Cabernet Franc wines from Ross Hill (Pinnacle series). I've had 10+ year old bottles of the latter which drink incredibly, similar to Saumur / Chinon of a similar age, especially if you enjoy the capsicum/menthol twist which you often get.

Sounds like you won't have time, but the restaurant at Printhie was the culinary highlight of the trip.