Day Two in Orange

A Marathon Chardonnay Tasting and a Cooking Class

Another absolutely packed day awaited us.  We were collected early by our fabulous tour guide and driver, Brad, owner of Vine Venture Tours, and taken to the Agrestic Grocer for breakfast. The Agrestic Grocer is famous for its delicious coffees and features a beautiful retail store along with the restaurant – how I wished I could have purchased some of their local produce.  Following breakfast, we were treated to a visit to Mount Canobolas, an extinct volcano that dominates the horizon.  Its last eruptions are believed to have been 11 to 13 million years ago and account for the rich, basalt soils of the region.

Our first winery stop was Philip Shaw, another of Orange’s high altitude, cool climate producers. I love the name of their vineyard – Koomooloo. It’s just fun to say it, but more importantly, it is made up of older and younger basalt soils.  The majority of the vineyard is 12 million year old olivine basalt overlaying limestone.

The Philip Shaw winemaker is Nadja Wallington, the region’s leading female winemaker.  Nadja guided us through a tasting of the Philip Shaw portfolio, each wine matched with a perfectly paired small bite. Next was a vertical tasting consisting of three flights of Chardonnays from vintages 2005 to 2018 (not every year was represented). My ongoing complaint is that there isn’t enough time.  This tasting was an amazing opportunity, but we didn’t have time to sit with the wines, compare them, and fully note the differences that result from different growing seasons, the percentage of oak and whether the oak is new or neutral, and other factors. 

Some of us opted for a short break to return to our lodgings while others stayed on at Philip Shaw.  The next stop in this busy day was Printhie Wines, whose mission is to make the best sparkling wines in New South Wales.  Our tasting was hosted in an old apple packing shed and we were warmly greeted by Ed Swift, one of the second generation owners, and Drew Tuckwell, the winemaker. An enormous barrel was crowned with iced Clyde River oysters on the half shell to be enjoyed with a tasting of four of the sparkling wines, bottled under the Swift label.  The first vintage for Swift sparkling wine was 2010 and we had the privilege of tasting their 2010 Blanc de Blancs. It was gorgeous with a very fine mousse and firm structure.  The Printhie family uses the traditional Champagne method for their sparkling wines and has won over 18 awards.

It was time to move on, once again.  The final stop of the day was Ross Hill Wines where we would enjoy a cooking class from award winning Chef Michael Manners.  We were seated at the communal table in the kitchen and served a glass of 2017 Griffin Road Vineyard Chardonnay as Chef Michael got started.  He trained and worked in France and our fabulous dinner was a French country feast consisting of fish soup with rouille and croutons, braised lamb shoulder with herb crust, spring vegetables, and finally, a tarte tatin (open face apple tart) with vanilla ice cream.  Samplings of other Ross Hill wines accompanied dinner including their Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon.  An interesting note about Ross Hill is that it is the first Australian winery to be certified carbon neutral.  Efficient use of resources, solar power, and using sheep to graze and refertilize the soils after harvest are some of the ways the winery is reducing its carbon footprint.

The next morning we said goodbye to Orange and set off on a three hour drive to Sydney.  Along the way we stopped at Echo Point Lookout and had an opportunity to walk around and view the stunning rock formation called The Three Sisters.  We loved every minute of our time in Orange and hope to have the opportunity to return.

Cheers to Orange and the hospitality extended to us by Orange360.

Catherine