The Orange Wine Region
While we were passionate about owning a vineyard and making wine it had to be elegant, distinctive, high quality wine. Australia already had plenty of BIG wines from warm regions – we were looking for the delicacy and finesse that comes from cooler regions. And when we scanned New South Wales for a suitable wine site for our vineyard the Orange Wine Region effectively chose itself. Most of Australia’s cooler wine regions are in the south of the country but Orange finds coolness in another way – altitude. In fact, the Orange Wine Region is defined by altitude – all vineyards in the region are over 600 metres above sea level and some are over 1000 metres, well up the slopes of Mount Canobolas, an old, extinct volcano.
At around 600 metres elevation, the summer days are warm – ideal for many red varieties. But the higher you go in the Orange Region the cooler it gets and the vineyards become more suitable for white varieties and pinot noir. And the highest vineyards produce superb fruit for sparkling wines. All this in one wine region! Most wine regions are known for one or two varieties; Orange is known for its incredible diversity. But there is one constant – the elegant, cool climate style of the wines.