Rowlee Wines, NashdaleCredit: Destination NSW
Make Rowlee winery one of your destinations when visiting Orange.
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Orange is a food and wine destination with stunning landscapes — and it’s just a three-and-a-half hour drive from Sydney. Here are 25 reasons to consider it for your next gourmet weekend break.
Drink
Try a “Vine to Table” experience, which includes a private vineyard and estate tour, at Rowlee’s winery.
Stop by Ross Hill Wines, Australia’s first certified carbon-neutral winery, for a tasting paired with lunch. Or cook among the vines with its on-site classes in Vietnamese, Sri Lankan and other cuisines.
The award-winning Philip Shaw Wines invites you to cellar-door tastings in its restored century-old barn. The tastings are teamed with grazing plates of cheese, charcuterie and other produce from the region.
Elevated a heady 1,030m above sea level, Borrodell Vineyard is one of Australia’s highest vineyards. Stay at one of the estate’s suites to truly appreciate the site, which includes an orchard with more than 200 heritage apple varieties, a trufferie and its Sister’s Rock restaurant.
Heifer Station’s private picnic spots provide an excellent location for enjoying its range of chardonnay, pinot noir and other wines. Pour a glass under the willow trees and watch a kangaroo hop by.
Try 19 cellar doors in one convenient spot: head to Ferment the Orange Wine Centre. This heritage building offers wines from the Central Ranges of New South Wales and beyond.
Printhie Wines’s cellar door in Nashdale is situated inside a renovated century-old apple-packing shed. A tasting here has been named as one of the world’s Top 50 Wine Experiences by Gourmet Traveller Wine magazine.
Nashdale Lane Wines’s site offers views of Mount Canobolas, surrounding fruit trees and olive groves. The luxurious on-site glamping accommodation is an excellent way to take this all in — and make the most of the estate’s vineyard offering, too.
Drop by Badlands Brewery’s cellar door at The Agrestic Grocer. Its award-winning craft beer is traditional in style, but also includes occasional experimental brews (featuring finger limes, chillies, truffles and other surprising ingredients).
Small Acres Cyder has been recognised as the country's best small producer in the Australian Cider Awards for three years in a row. The Central West’s only producer of local craft cider offers tastings at its cellar door and takeaway cider flights and picnics.
Orange Wine Region Highlight Selects Credit: Destination NSW
Orange
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Orange Wine Region Highlight Selects Credit: Destination NSW
Orange
Nashdale Lane Wines, Nashdale Credit: Destination NSW
Orange is a cool-climate region that’s home to many wineries, such as Nashdale Lane Wines.
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Nashdale Lane Wines, Nashdale Credit: Destination NSW
Orange is a cool-climate region that’s home to many wineries, such as Nashdale Lane Wines.
Heifer Station, Orange Credit: Destination NSW
Enjoy a tailored picnic package at Heifer Station, Orange.
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Heifer Station, Orange Credit: Destination NSW
Enjoy a tailored picnic package at Heifer Station, Orange.
Dine
At Racine Bakery, you’ll find mango and coconut tarts, pavlova cronuts and organic bread from the team behind Racine restaurant.
Tonic Restaurant’s five-course tasting menus (featuring dishes such as Mandagery Creek venison ravioli with consommé) are often paired with wines from the region.
Spilt Milk Bar’s cow-to-cone approach means you can enjoy scoops of freshly churned ricotta caramel, Nutella and Christmas-pudding gelato.
Byng Street Local Store’s brilliant bread and pastries are baked in-house, and its meals are prepared with top local produce.
Lolli Redini offers wine-friendly food in a Federation-era cottage and has been awarded a chef’s hat in the respected Good Food Guide for almost two decades.
The Greenhouse of Orange’s many different eating areas include a wine bar, pizzeria and courtyard bar. Fried chicken platters, s’mores pizzas and char-grilled new season peaches are some of the unique dishes on offer.
Former Rockpool Bar & Grill chef Dom Aboud has a menu for every occasion at the 19th-century Union Bank building, which houses The Schoolhouse restaurant and The Arthouse Bar & Courtyard.
Charred Kitchen & Bar serves regional ingredients cooked in the eatery’s aptly named Lucifer wood and charcoal oven. The wide-ranging drinks list highlights over 400 wines and 100 beers.
Mr Lim is a Korean and Chinese diner in a colourful, fun setting and presents a great night out — especially if the Korean fried chicken and karaoke are on offer.
For more Asian flavours, check out Sweet Sour Salt: its menu features China Moon tofu salad, five-spice squid, king prawns with coconut and macadamia, Korean chicken wings and Malaysian barramundi curry.
Shop
Orange Farmers Market, held on the second Saturday of the month, celebrates producers from the Central West region. Stallholders include Orange Mountain Wines and Franklin Road Preserves.
Between November and May, arm yourself with a bucket at Huntley Berry Farm and fill it with the dozen or so varieties on offer.
Hillside Harvest also lets you pick fruit from its orchards — when the season is right. Its store also showcases local goods from Orange.
Pop into Hawkes General Store for everything from coffee to homewares, fashion and stationery.
The Agrestic Grocer highlights local growers and producers such as Badlands Brewery, The Second Mouse Cheese Co and Pig in The House wines.
Tonic Restaurant, Millthorpe Credit: Destination NSW
Food and drink at Tonic Restaurant, Milthorpe.
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Tonic Restaurant, Millthorpe Credit: Destination NSW
Food and drink at Tonic Restaurant, Milthorpe.
Orange Farmers Market, Orange Credit: Destination NSW
Fresh figs at Orange Farmers Market, Orange.
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Orange Farmers Market, Orange Credit: Destination NSW
Fresh figs at Orange Farmers Market, Orange.
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Corowa Whisky & Chocolate, CorowaCredit: Destination NSW
Couple enjoying a visit to Corowa Whisky & Chocolate, Corowa.
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Feast on the riches of one of Australia’s most important food bowls on a road trip through the Murray, named after the mighty river that flows through this southwest area of New South Wales. Float down the river on a historic paddlesteamer wine cruise, stop by farm gates to sample incredible fresh produce, and dine at chic restaurants and bars in this unique culinary playground.
Take the back roads for gourmet treats
Head off the beaten path along The Backroads Trail, a 250km driving route that passes through the small pastoral towns of Barham, Moama, Mathoura and Deniliquin on the upper reaches of the Murray River. Sink your teeth into fresh olives, avocados, free-range pork, honey and citrus fruit from farm gates along its loops and trails, and taste the region’s wines at vineyards such as Restdown Wines. While you’re at this winery, venture out along the Restdown Wetland Walk to encounter Aboriginal cooking hearths and an old sheep camp.
Cruise along to The Old School Winery & Meadery in Womboota to pick up wine, pottery and honey mead. Or seek out Ivy Joyce in Barham to indulge in a warm space, offering local produce from farms for a truly paddock to plate experience in the heart of Murray River country. For more snacks and meaty fare such as British-style pork pies and sausages, head to Pacdon Park’s factory shop in Moama.
You can work up an appetite as you build your own itinerary on the theme of food, paddocks and produce, and find suggested routes and maps to Murray River farm gates, at the Echuca Moama Visitor Centre.
Wine and dine along the river
Embark on a wine tour by water in Moama, where the first steamboats made their way up the Murray in 1853. Take a Murray River Paddlesteamers Wharf to Winery Cruise from the town to Morrisons Riverview Winery for a leisurely lunch. Or drive along the river, stopping in at Three Black Sheep for risotto and woodfired pizzas, and tasting crisp dry whites and full-flavoured reds at St Anne’s Vineyards, where you can nibble on a cheese platter overlooking a scenic lake.
Head east along the riverside roads to rest and recharge in the town of Tocumwal, known for its riverside beaches, golf courses, glider flying and iconic Big Murray Cod statue. Start the following day with a solid foundation of breakfast pizza (topped with bacon, eggs and a hash brown) at The Old Bank and indulge in a scoop of ice-cream or sorbet from Tocumwal Ice Creamery – flavours include rocky road, green apple or macadamia. If you’re in town on a Saturday, pick up honey, fruit, vegetables, olive oil, dressings and other condiments made by local producers at the Tocumwal Foreshore Markets.
Continue your odyssey along the river to Corowa, the birthplace of Australian Federation. Immerse in the town’s rich turn-of-the-20th-century colonial heritage as you make your way to the former 1920s flour mill housing Corowa Distilling Co. Here you can book a whisky tasting and behind-the-scenes tour and buy locally made chocolates and sweets from sister shop Junee Licorice and Chocolate Factory. Work off an indulgent afternoon with a walk along the river before settling into the stylish Circa 1936 hotel, which is housed in an Art Deco former bank on the main street of Corowa.
Celebrate regional ingredients in Albury
From Corowa, follow the Riverina Highway eastward to the city of Albury, a food, wine and culture hub. Taste how seasonality and locality are expressed at The Proprietor, a former butcher shop turned cafe offering brunch treats such as fruit toast with Beechworth honey and whipped ricotta, and banana waffles with Gundowring vanilla ice-cream. Or try the all-day breakfast offering at Mr Benedict, from cheesy bacon waffle with popcorn chicken to one of its signature eggs benedicts, including one with cider-braised ham hock.
At The River Deck restaurant, local ingredients are celebrated alongside stunning river views, and dishes may include chicken Caesar salad with Milawa eggs or beef brisket braised in coffee by Albury roaster The Brothers Cup. At tiny and elegant Bistro Selle, complement warm Gooramadda olives with a buttery Australian chardonnay and fresh market fish. Yardbird offers a bold-flavoured menu featuring dishes like scorched Albacore tuna, along with meats grilled in a Spanish woodfired oven.
In between meals, stroll along the Yindyamarra Sculpture Walk and take in the contemporary artworks by Aboriginal artists that line the Wagirra Trail. Meander through the Murray Art Museum Albury’s contemporary photographic collection, Aboriginal art and works by renowned Australian artist Sir Russell Drysdale. Afterwards, order lunch or dinner at the museum’s excellent Canvas Eatery – try the saltbush lamb rump or one of their Neapolitan-style pizzas.
The Old School Winery & Meadery, Womboota Credit: Destination NSW
Couple taste tasting mead at The Old School Winery & Meadery, Womboota
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The Old School Winery & Meadery, Womboota Credit: Destination NSW
Couple taste tasting mead at The Old School Winery & Meadery, Womboota
Morrison's Riverview Winery and Restaurant, Moama Credit: Destination NSW
Food and wine available from Morrison's Riverview Winery and Restaurant, Moama.
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Morrison's Riverview Winery and Restaurant, Moama Credit: Destination NSW
Food and wine available from Morrison's Riverview Winery and Restaurant, Moama.
Corowa Whisky & Chocolate, Corowa Credit: Destination NSW
Corowa Whisky & Chocolate located in a 1920âs old flour mill in Corowa.
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Corowa Whisky & Chocolate, Corowa Credit: Destination NSW
Corowa Whisky & Chocolate located in a 1920âs old flour mill in Corowa.
Canvas Eatery, Albury Credit: Destination NSW
Food and wine available at Canvas Eatery in Albury.
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Canvas Eatery, Albury Credit: Destination NSW
Food and wine available at Canvas Eatery in Albury.