The Best Wineries in Orange for a Fabulous Food & Wine Weekend

Picnics amongst the chardonnay vines. Winter afternoons with a roaring fire and a glass of pinot noir. The longest lunch that fades into early evening. Drive 3.5 hours west of Sydney to discover Orange, one of Australia's top wine regions.  

Grapes have been grown around Orange since the 1920s, but the wine scene really took off in the 1980s. Now, there are over 80 vineyards and more than 30 cellar doors in this premier, cool-climate wine region for you to explore. 

With high altitudes and a cool climate, you’re here for the chardonnay, for the pinot noir, and for the shiraz. Away from the attention-seeking headliners, most winemakers have their pet project, whether it’s a delicious dessert wine or an Italian varietal – have a chat and discover more at the cellar door. You can drive around the district or outsource the driving on a guided tour, or even cycle between Orange’s top cellar doors.   

Orange is a year-round destination, with big landscapes and fabulous wines; come in autumnal April when the long-running Orange F.O.O.D. Week takes over. During budburst, the Orange Wine Festival runs from mid-October to early November, for three weekends of masterclasses and long lunches amongst the vines.

There’s also a chance to meet the established winemakers creating the gold-standard wines and up-and-coming newcomers ready to make their mark. Come in winter for roaring fires and warming reds, and maybe even snap an iconic shot of snow on the vines. 

This is your guide to 10 of the best wineries and wine experiences in Orange.

One of Orange’s pioneering wine families farms some of the highest, coolest vineyards in Australia, so don’t be surprised if you see snow on the hills at its Koomooloo vineyard. Celebrated winemaker Philip Shaw founded the label that his sons Damian and Daniel have now taken over, creating the shiraz, chardonnay, and pinot noir that are Orange's signature wines. The rustic tasting room is set in an old bluestone barn, which doubles as a picturesque backdrop for winery weddings. They also like to play with small, experimental batches of less mainstream grapes, including arneis, riesling, and cabernet franc. 

Oysters and sparkling wine are a match made in heaven, and Printhie Wines delivers on both counts. Great wines and a wine tasting room are on offer, but it’s also got one of the best restaurants in the region, Printhie Dining. So committed are they to oysters, the restaurant has its own oyster tank for the freshest oysters, best paired with their Swift Sparkling wine. Set on the flanks of Mt Canobolas, the big views are the perfect accompaniment to a wine picnic in the vines. The winery also offers fly-fishing and private helicopter tours of the district, and its cellar door is wheelchair-accessible.  

If you’ve ever tried wine tasting with kids in tow, you know that colouring-in books cut it for only so long.  Far better are the alpacas, Highland cows, and the photo-bombing mini Shetland pony, Tilly in Heifer Station's ‘funny farm’. Now the kids are worn out, you can work your way through a tasting of chardonnay and pinot noir at the cellar door, an old woolshed recalling the property’s history as a cattle station. The cellar door is open five days a week, with cheese platters, local beers, as well as their wines, and welcomes families, dogs, and cyclists.   

Voted one of the top wineries in Australia, Hoosegg is the culmination of six decades of experience from winemaking royalty Philip Shaw. Now his sons run Philip Shaw Wines nearby, Philip, who started winemaking at 12 years old, offers appointment-only tastings of his lighthearted – but not lightweight – wines. The names give it all away; try the Everything is Going According to Plan Chardonnay, or the Sorry for the Slow Response Rose, or perhaps the Self Made-Up Man red blend. A premier wine experience from one of Australia’s great winemakers.   

Rowlee’s syrah and pinot noir are firmly in Orange territory, but this cellar door also loves to showcase its gewürztraminer and Arneis from its minimal-intervention vineyards. One of the top vineyard dining destinations in Orange, Rowlee Dining & Bar serves lunch daily and dinner Thursday to Saturday, while the free Sunday Sessions are the perfect mix of music, wine and platters, all best shared in the garden bar until late in the day. They also offer curated varietal wine tastings and tutored tastings with lunch. 

Thank you, Mount Canobolas. You may be extinct these days, but your rich volcanic soil put the Orange wine region on the map. The third-oldest vineyard in the region, winemaker Murray Smith first planted on the mountain’s slopes in 1986. Today, the rich, red soil produces award-winning cabernet francs and cabernet sauvignon, and barrel-fermented chardonnay. Interested in organic winemaking, wild ferments and minimal intervention techniques? Make an appointment to taste the range of hand-picked, unirrigated wines. The famed Alchemy, a blend of cabernet sauvignon, cabernet franc, and syrah, is available to wine club members. 

A high-elevation vineyard provides sweeping views across the vines from the verandah of this rustic cellar door. The hand-picked wines showcase the French classics including pinot noir, chardonnay, cabernet franc, and pinot meunier, found in some of Melbourne and Sydney’s best restaurants. Open daily, book a tasting or even go the next step and join its wine club for a winery tour and barrel tasting with winemakers Charlie and Mitch Svenson.   

Award-winning, family-run, carbon-neutral – Ross Hill has all the ingredients for a great day out. Drop in to say hi and try its sauvignon blanc and premier Eastern View chardonnay, or slip into the reds – its Pinnacle Series cabernet franc has many fans, and if you can, get your hands on the flagship red, The Griffin, a classic cabernet blend that rewards the patient. The winery includes a cooking school, Barrel and Larder, which runs chef-led workshops on such topics as canapés, summer favourites and Mediterranean dishes, all paired with Ross Hill wines. Open seven days, walk-ins are welcome, but bookings are preferred, especially on busy weekends.  

Established in 1965, Borrodell’s SkyBar delivers on the name, with views of the Towac Valley and verdant vineyards (maybe even with a kangaroo or two). It’s the perfect place for a long lunch at its Sister’s Rock Restaurant, which serves modern Australian cuisine drawn from its orchards and kitchen gardens, from the smokehouse and around Orange. Think light barramundi or a robust Scotch fillet – if you're lucky, you'll find its show-stopping black truffles, grown on site, on the menu. Naturally, the food is matched with the vineyard’s bestselling pinot noir, chardonnay, rosé, and riesling. To take it up a notch, grab tickets to its winter truffle lunches. 

Not every vineyard has a cellar door; that’s where Ferment, the Orange Wine Centre steps in. Set in the centre of town in a sweet Federation-style hall dating from 1917, you’ll find more than 40 wineries represented here, including boutique Cook’s Lot Wines, sparkling specialist La Bulle Orange and newcomer Roaring Fork. It does bespoke wine tastings, as well as locally produced gins and other spirits; or you can simply bunker down with a glass of wine and a cheese platter for an afternoon well spent; book ahead. Hot tip: they’ll even ship mixed cases of Orange wines to your door, anywhere around Australia, which you can order via their website.   

Friendly Ross Hill is an approachable, sustainably-run winery producing the varietals Orange is best known for. Otherwise, drop into Philip Shaw to see what one of Orange's pioneering families is producing (here's a hint, it's the Orange classics; great shiraz, chardonnay, and pinot noirs). The bar at Rowlee Wines lets you mix it up at the friendly Sunday Sessions of good wine, good food, and good music.  

There are more than 30 cellar doors in Orange - make an appointment to visit Philip Shaw at his award-winning Hoosegg vineyard, carbon-neutral Ross Hill for its bright cabernet franc, or Borrodell Estate's chardonnay. De Salis produces handcrafted sparkling wines at its high-elevation vineyard. 

Printhie Wines serves a degustation menu at its hatted restaurant, Printhie Dining, which features seasonal, local produce, and  wine picnics amongst the vineyards. Bring on the platters at an outdoor table at See Saw Wines, while Rowlee Wines' dining room and live music, and Borrodell Estate's well-regarded Sister’s Rock Restaurant are some of the best places to eat in Orange.  

It’s always best to book ahead for wine tastings in Orange; some cellar doors accept walk-ins, but others, such as Philip Shaw Wines, require bookings, which you can do through their website. Bookings are especially recommended on busy weekends at the cellar doors in Orange.  

The wineries of Orange are best known for their pinot noir, chardonnay, and shiraz. However, most wineries also offer other varietals, such as sauvignon blanc, sparkling white, and dessert wines.