Wine Tasting in Orange

The last of day my recent holiday could only mean one thing: more wine tasting. Sadly many wineries in the region are closed through the week, and while they say they’re happy to accept appointments many phones rang out. As it turned out, we spent so much at the wineries we did see that it may have been a good thing our activities were tempered!

Our first stop was Orange Mountain Wines. It came highly recommended from a family friend, whose son had worked here some years prior. Viognier is their specialty, and it’s used to great effect, both on its own and in exciting red and white blends. I flipped over the shiraz viognier and the mountain ice, a deliciously sweet late harvest chardonnay/viognier blend. I rarely warm to dessert wines but this one was indulgent rather than syrupy. Yum!

From there we made the long trek to Printhie Wines. It’s a little out of the way, but well worth the effort. Everything here was brilliant, and I mean everything. The wines are some of the best I’ve tasted, bursting with flavor, vibrant and delicious. We happily left with a mixed case, and probably would have bought more if we had the space in the car!

After a quick spot of lunch we were off again to Borrodell on the Mount. What a picturesque spot. High on a hill, it looks right out on the Orange countryside, as you can see above. Sipping wine, looking out at that amazing view, certainly isn’t hard. Happily the wine is just as good as the vista. We were treated to so many lovely drops, including the 2005 pinot noir, and some of the best cherry liqueur I’ve ever had.

A visit to Brangayne wasn’t planned, and in hindsight we probably could have done without it. The wine wasn’t bad, but it couldn’t match up to the outstanding wines we’d tasted earlier in the day. The cellar also lacked the personal attention and warmth of so many of the others. We chose a couple of bottles of The Tristan, a lovely cabernet/shiraz/merlot blend, before continuing on our way.

Highland Heritage Estate was the final stop on our tour. Here you can taste wines from the Mt Canobolas, Wellwood Estate, and Gosling Creek collections in the unique train carriage tasting room. It all looked a bit gimmicky from the outside, but the wines were anything but. After so much wine tasting you’d think we’d see nothing new, but there were a few surprises here. The dessert wine, complete with flecks of genuine gold, was an experience. But my favourite was something a little simpler: an indulgent tawny tokay.

So my husband I have returned home with a whopping seven cases of wine thanks to some solid days tasting in the Central West. The holiday might be over, but isn’t it nice that we could bring some “memories” back with us?

Image source: own photo