![Orange's Mortimers Wines has grabbed its first-ever title for Good Food's 15 best cellar doors in New South Wales, with Peter and Daniel Mortimer. Picture supplied. Orange's Mortimers Wines has grabbed its first-ever title for Good Food's 15 best cellar doors in New South Wales, with Peter and Daniel Mortimer. Picture supplied.](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/156153420/c6544b0f-aa82-4a52-9512-de26a985e558.jpg/r54_0_4032_3024_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Coined 'Australia's home of the hats' Good Food has released its '15 of the best cellar doors in NSW' list - and Mortimers Family Wines has made the cut.
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Wine expert Katie Spain dubbed the Orange cellar door as being "all charm" with "character-packed" qualities, with the Old March School House offering a niche experience of well-preserved history.
Cellar door manager, Daniel Mortimer said the first-time title is an acknowledgment the Mortimer family thinks is a "pretty special" one to have.
"We're stoked to be recognised by people who really know their stuff, especially Kate [Spain] as she's an esteemed writer across the wine scene so it means a lot for us," Mr Mortimer said.
"To grab 'one of the best' across the hundreds of cellar doors our state has, that's really exciting."
It's a huge honour, it really is.
- Mortimers Wines' cellar door manager, Daniel Mortimer on making Good Food's iconic list.
Of the state's 16 wine regions there are more than 320 cellar doors in NSW with Orange home to nearly 40 of those.
Which is why it's also a big win for the region as a whole.
"Any cellar door featured on this list is amazing for our region because while we're all essentially competing, we're also spotlighting wine here across the board," Mr Mortimer said.
"So that's just great in general and we love that our cellar door gets to make that mark there, because we're really proud of what we've done here in maintaining and celebrating a part of history at the same time."
Dating back to 1886, the heritage-listed Old March School House cellar door at Mortimers offers both residents and tourists more than just a title-winning vineyard to visit.
The Mortimer family has worked hard to preserve its history - which Mr Mortimer said has even brought past students (and a principal) from the school's active years prior.
That's been just one of many highlights for the cellar door manager, who largely credited his mother for "digging through records" to display past pictures and an honour roll on the now-cellar door walls.
"Cellar doors are all so different, from beautiful new builds and old ones, but there's a one-of-a-kind story here that's been pieced together by mum and it's a nod to the old public school we've nurtured and respected," he said.
"When you walk in you can feel a sense of history around you and it is a kind of time machine experience, we get a lot of people who get quite emotional just by being here as well."
Talking about wine is awesome, but then we've also got this change of conversation where visitors are either really intrigued or even reminiscent of their own little country schools once upon a time.
- Daniel Mortimer on the Old March School House
Another attractive factor with experiencing their vineyard, the Mortimer family launched a series of mini workshops about 18 months ago.
Coinciding with Orange FOOD Week festivities and October's wine month, the vineyard has been running a small school that covers the basics of all-things wine.
It's also guided by a dynamic duo - Mr Mortimer and his father, Pete Mortimer.
"We wanted to give an educational experience that was also casual and fun, so we run those classes for a couple of hours as little interactive sessions," Mr Mortimer said.
![Peter Mortimer with son Daniel Mortimer, cellar door manager of the Old March School House, now run wine school classes at Mortimers Wines. Picture by Carla Freedman. Peter Mortimer with son Daniel Mortimer, cellar door manager of the Old March School House, now run wine school classes at Mortimers Wines. Picture by Carla Freedman.](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/156153420/46ca9c25-50b8-4b9f-976c-fc2ee5224a87.jpg/r0_0_1200_677_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
"It's been really well-received and it suits our school site, plus a lot of our friends are around that 30-odd mark where you start to get into wine more and it piques the interest."
Which is what happened for Daniel Mortimer after a decade of playing professional rugby league and unveiling other intrigues and hobbies.
After being away, he said his interests had changed again - where he came up with the wine school idea following research and doing online classes.
The ultimate thought was that if he enjoyed it that much, then maybe other people would as well.
It's not necessarily for sommeliers, it's more of an introductory class where you get to check everything out and taste wine from both here and other regions, it's super interactive learning.
- Daniel Mortimer on new wine school classes.
"People have loved that and there's no wrong answers or bad questions, especially when it comes to wine because you're gathering information through swapping those opinions and having conversations," he said.
"We just put it all out on the table as a group and that's where the best learning happens."
To find out more about the vineyard and upcoming events at the Old March School House cellar doors, head online to the Mortimers Wines website.
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