For a taste of the good life, pack your appetite for a trip to the wine region of Orange, a 3.5-hour drive or 50 minute flight west of Sydney. You can also reach this rural wonderland of boutique wineries, great eateries and just-picked produce via the Dubbo XPT regional train, which runs daily between Dubbo and Sydney, stopping at Orange. Or jump on a quick flight from Sydney to Orange Regional Airport. Orange’s cool climate and volcanic soils provide an ideal farming environment, which will be music to your ears if you love food, wine, or both.
Get ready to tuck in
Take a deep, satisfying dive into Orange’s culinary scene, which offers up an abundance of dining options, beginning with breakfast. There’s Good Eddy, where you can fuel up with an energising coffee and a decadently gooey three-cheese toastie, and Racine Bakery, where you can take away buttery-soft classic pastries to scoff down while on the road. Linger over a plate of lemon and ricotta hotcakes with passionfruit curd alongside locals at Byng Street Local Store, or settle in for a similarly moreish brunch at The Agrestic Grocer, where you can also pick up local hazelnuts and other regional produce to enjoy later.
Set yourself up for the day with a wholesome bowl of local stewed fruits with yoghurt and nutty maple granola at Birdie Noshery & Drinking Est. This all-day eatery is run by the owners of beloved fine-dining institution Lolli Redini — reserve a table at their acclaimed restaurant to taste for yourself how local produce such as sustainably farmed Murray cod shines in the European-inspired menu.
Pace yourself to make room for a memorable meal at Printhie Dining, one of the most exciting recent additions to Orange’s food scene. Devour a five-course degustation as you take in the commanding views of the undulating country landscape at this destination dining experience, best paired, of course, with a bottle from Printhie Wines.
See how the scenic surrounds of Borrodell estate are celebrated throughout your meal at its Sister’s Rock Restaurant: ingredients are drawn from the kitchen garden and drinks come from its on-site vineyard. Take your taste buds on a modern pan-Asian adventure at Sweet Sour Salt with an order of Malaysian fish curry, Korean fried chicken wings and five-spice sticky date pudding. And rise to the challenge of working your way through some of the 400 drops available at Charred Kitchen & Bar as you savour a fire-powered tasting menu featuring the likes of a lightly charred cut of beef with local wasabi butter and pickled white radish.
Make some liquid memories
Throw yourself into the lively cellar door scene in Orange, where the first wine grape plantings in the 1980s have expanded to encompass over 1,500 hectares of vineyards, with more than 60 wineries and 40 cellar doors among them.
Whet your palate for local wine at Ferment, The Orange Wine Centre, an all-in-one wine centre and store in town where you can get a sense of the region’s strengths. The bright room has 19 ‘cellar doors’ in one contemporary space that’s a perfect backdrop for sampling drops from Orange and the Central Ranges of NSW.
Visit one of the region’s pioneering winegrowing families at Philip Shaw. Started by its namesake winemaker (whose interest in wines began at age 12) in 1988, it’s now run by his sons Daniel and Damian Shaw. Between the vineyard’s pretty, picnic-friendly gardens and a cellar door set in a restored stone barn, you’ll be enchanted by this charming estate.
Against a soothing backdrop of orchards, vineyards and olive groves, Nashdale Lane Wines produces exceptional shiraz and sauvignon blanc. Slide into one of the tasting nooks at its cellar door, located in a restored apple packing shed, where you can warm your bones by a wood fire when the weather calls for it. Elevate the experience by staying in one of the winery’s rustic-chic glamping cabins, which also come with a wood-burning stove you can have all to yourself on a cool evening.
Have fun with your whole family at Heifer Station Wines, where chardonnay-curious parents can sip away in a restored 100-year-old shearing shed as kids get a kick out of hand-feeding the hens and meeting the goats at the adjacent petting zoo. Then immerse in the heritage of Swinging Bridge, which is honoured everywhere from the winery’s name to the labels of its distinctive drops, during a lazy afternoon of wine tasting in its outdoor courtyard on a warm day.
Mix up your tasting odyssey with a visit to the Prohibition-inspired Washington & Co Whiskey Saloon for a hard-to-find whisky that will warm your soul. Or taste the bounty of Orange’s orchards in a different way on a visit to Small Acres Cyder, where you can savour lip-smacking ciders made from fresh-pressed heritage apples and pears.
Connect with the community at local events
Despite the city’s name, you’ll soon learn that apples are actually the star of Orange. Join locals in filling your picnic basket with Orange’s famed crisp apples, as well as a bounty of cheeses, olives, artisan breads, eggs, meats and award-winning wines and cider, at the local Orange Farmers Market, held on second Saturday of every month.
Or deepen your connection with the local culinary landscape by planning your trip around one of Orange’s many food events. Enter into the spirit of celebration during F.O.O.D Week in April, a leading regional food festival with a program highlighting local farmers, chefs and restaurateurs. Or meet some of the cool-climate region’s many noteworthy producers and change your perspective on wine at masterclasses during Orange Wine Month, which takes place in October.
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