Name: Will Rikard-Bell
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Role: Owner / Winemaker
Winery: Rikard Wines
Rikard Wines have made a big impact in Orange since they released their first wines.
Their cellar door opened in 2021 and has one of the best views of the region.
Best enjoyed with a glass in hand, their winery cellar door encapsulates the region; high elevation, hand crafted, chardonnay and pinot noir, and family owned.
What got you in to wine?
I grew up in a family that always had good wine on the table, so I was exposed to it from an early age.
I then worked in bottle shops after I finished school which allowed me to expand my interest. I really learned a lot about the industry there.
Ultimately this led me on a wine 'road-trip' around Australia in 2001.
It was on this trip that I met a lot of lovely, passionate, creative people in the wine industry.
These people and their love for what they did was what attracted me to a career in winemaking.
What can visitors expect when visiting your cellar door?
Visitors can expect a very real experience within our working winery.
Tastings are hosted by knowledgeable people who work every day in the winery, the vineyard, and the bottling line.
You'll be surrounded by barrels and wine-making equipment, overlooking a fabulous view of the region and trying a range of small batch, minimal intervention wines each with a sense of place and a story.
Our aim is to create an immersive and educative experience and share our passion for what we do.
What's your favourite wine?
That's a tough question! I love all wine! It changes from year to year, depending on the season, but if I was to choose just one favourite child, it would have to be our Black Label Chardonnay.
It is a blend of the very best barrels of the vintage and the wine I most enjoy making.
Pinot Noir and Riesling are a very close second.
Consistently, Chardonnay is a star performer in the winery and across the Orange wine region.
They can confidently stand up against the best wines in the world.
If someone is just starting to enjoy wine, what would you recommend they taste?
Our 2022 Riesling.
Riesling has such distinguishable varietal fruit character.
It's uncomplicated at heart. Intensely aromatic, it's light and refreshing and with an ability to truly reflect the site and vintage.
There's plenty of nuance for those that are looking for more complexity, but quite simply, it is a delicious drink.
What makes your wine special?
Our various vineyard sites above 1000m make our wine unique, combined with our minimal intervention approach and gentle handling in the winery.
Our wines taste distinctly like 'ours' because of each small, individual, personal decision we make in the winery.
It is also the inherent characters in our fruit, which are borne out of the many characters of our soils and climate on our small patch of Gaanha Bula (Mount Canobolas) that can't be replicated.
What are three wines made by other Orange winemakers you'd recommend?
- 2019 De Salis 'Lofty' Pinot Noir
- 2022 Canobolas Wines Cabernet Franc
- 2023 Colmar 'Block 5' Riesling