Orange might be located hours from the coast but fresh oysters are on the menu at one of the region's cool climate wineries.
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Printhie Wines has installed innovative technology so it can keep fresh Sydney rock oysters onsite.
Marketing manager Emily Swift said the tank replicates the oysters' home environment and they can live in the tanks for months but they are expected to sell out faster than that.
"It's a tank that creates a home for the oysters as if they were sitting in an estuary somewhere," Mrs Swift said.
"We've even shipped up the water from the Clyde River."
Mrs Swift said the initiative came about through the winery's relationship with Signature Oysters from Bateman's Bay, which Printhie has worked with for about five years and supplied oysters for the winery's oyster picnics.
"We put them in a tank that has a special system, we can lift them out of there, shuck them and serve the freshest oysters away from the coast," Mrs Swift said.
"Anywhere else you buy them they have been out of the water for at least a week.
"It's been really popular, we've only been doing it since Christmas, it's been great to see the take up."
The temperature controlled tanks, replicate tidal conditions and river flow.
"We can hold 140 dozen in the tank," Mrs Swift said.
We basically had it built for us, it's quite innovative in its technology and the way it filters as if it is sitting in the river, and having that tidal water.
- Emily Swift
"We basically had it built for us, it's quite innovative in its technology and the way it filters as if it is sitting in the river, and having that tidal water.
"It's UV light that does the filtration, and it's set at the optimum temperature.
"A lot of research and development has gone into it."
She said the oyster tanks will also be a feature of the new cellar door and restaurant that are to open at the winery.
Mrs Swift said the restaurant will also incorporate native flavours including native finger lime and Tasmanian pepper vinaigrettes that can be paired with the oysters.
She said during the Christmas the winery also had oyster packs and said if fresh oysters were stored correctly and are shucked correctly they could last two weeks.
"You don't put them in the fridge because that kills them," she said.
The oysters can be enjoyed during wine tastings at the cellar door.
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Tanya Marschke
I am based at Orange and cover a wide range of subjects as well as the weekly business column. I've worked consistently in the the media industry since 2006 including the past seven years at the Central Western Daily. Before moving to Orange, I worked as a journalist at weekly newspapers the Beaudesert Times and the Gold Coast Sun in Queensland, as well as the Scone Advocate in the Hunter Valley. I started my career at the Ridge News in Lightning Ridge while I completed my journalism studies remotely at Charles Sturt University in Bathurst.
I am based at Orange and cover a wide range of subjects as well as the weekly business column. I've worked consistently in the the media industry since 2006 including the past seven years at the Central Western Daily. Before moving to Orange, I worked as a journalist at weekly newspapers the Beaudesert Times and the Gold Coast Sun in Queensland, as well as the Scone Advocate in the Hunter Valley. I started my career at the Ridge News in Lightning Ridge while I completed my journalism studies remotely at Charles Sturt University in Bathurst.
