THE winemaker’s annual report card is in, with Orange’s wineries receiving accolades in James Halliday’s 2016 Wine Companion.
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Halliday, as one of Australia’s top wine writers, tastes more than 6000 wines in four months to write the book.
Orange’s top performer was Ross Hill Wines, which gained a five red-star rating for the third year in a row.
It scored 95 points for three wines and 94 points for five, across both red and white varieties, in its best showing to date.
Winemaker Phil Kerney said the result was fantastic and justified the process and decisions taken to develop the wine.
“We have a lot of confidence in our product and we think we know what we’ve got, but it’s good to see the wine in a different place with a different person and have them agree with what we’ve done,” he said.
“It’s a level playing field to be rated in one publication - for us as winemakers, it’s a report card like you bring home from school.”
Mr Kerney said a high rating could be invaluable for opening opportunities in restaurants.
“If you have a three-starred wine, it’s probably not worth the airfare, but if you have five red stars and you’ve got wine in a sample case, they listen,” he said.
He said Orange wineries as a whole were increasing or maintaining their ratings.
“Orange is a maturing wine-producing region and we’re getting the accolades,” he said.
Several wines reached the Best of the Best by Variety section, including sauvignon blancs from Ross Hill, Tamburlaine, Brokenwood and Bimbagen, shiraz viognier from Orange Mountain Wines, and chardonnays from Printhie Wines, Patina Wines and Swinging Bridge.
Chardonnay was the winning variety, with the three wineries scoring 96 points for their drop.
Angullong also scored a 96 for its shiraz.
danielle.cetinski@fairfaxmedia.com.au