- Orange Wine Festival’s night markets 2015

- Orange Wine Festival’s public tasting 2015

- Orange Wine Festival trophy dinner 2015

Get out the calendars, it’s time to save the date for the Orange Wine Festival, the premier event for the region’s winegrowers.

The festival’s program has been meticulously planned and will be available on Friday from 9am.

Printed copies will be available at the city’s visitor centre and online at www.orangewinefestival.com.au, but also through the Orange NSW app.

Thousands are expected to descend on cellar doors, restaurants and bars around Orange tasting wine and food for across three weekends from October 14.

Organising committee chairman David Crawley said volunteers had put plenty of thought into the festival to celebrate 20 years of the area being a declared wine region. Mr Crawley said the event was highlighting the talent and quality of the produce available.

“It revolves around the quality the wine. We’re a unique wine region, the highest [elevated] wine region in Australia. This region stands apart from other regions,” he said.

Vineyards in the region are located between 600 and 1200 metres above sea-level, while others are located below 400 to 500m.

New judges for this year’s Orange Wine Show include Master of Wine Alison Eiserman and Nick O’Leary with chairman Gary Baldwin. The Wine Show Tasting will be the first official event for the festival on October 14.

The Finest Drop is one of the events for October 15 and will showcase the unique wines created in the region. The black-tie event will be held in the helicopter hanger of the Highland Heritage Estate.

There’s also the Vino Velo Ride which will see cyclists riding to cellar doors around the area and the ever-popular night markets will make a return on Friday October 21 with 60 stalls including wine and food.

New for this year is the Vino Express, a package which includes accommodation in Orange and a carriage on the wine train coming from Sydney, plus space for Wine in the Vines which includes touring and tasting.

“The festival is not just a benefit to the wine-growers but also to the business community,” Mr Crawley said.

Aside from the stimulus to accommodation, supermarkets, service stations and others, Mr Crawley said the festival had helped grow the city. “Some come for the weekend and some come for a week, a lot of people come to town and then end up moving.”