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The Long Dry Finish Like most things in winemaking, picking grapes at the right time is both an art and a science. Historically wine grapes have been picked when sugar…

There were a few tractors bogged to their axels last spring… some were abandoned until December.  I managed to conduct all vineyard operations without getting bogged but left some quite…

Without rain we wouldn’t have a vineyard, but this stuff also causes us a bit of grief. As a rule rain received in Orange prior to Christmas is beneficial and…

We were thrilled to hear that we have been awarded the ‘Best Additional Cellar Door Experience (Art & Gardens)‘ in the latest edition of Gourmet Traveller Wine Magazine. Read the…

There is a bit of a love hate relationship between oxygen and wine. For the most part it is thought that oxygen is a detriment to wine… but this isn’t…

Patina’s Gerald Naef is a winemaker with a penchant for perfection and experimentation. He is constantly questioning his winemaking in order to keep creating better wines whilst ensuring that the…

The Orange region’s Patina Wines has released their benchmark Chardonnays comprising the Patina Chardonnay and Patina Reserve Chardonnay. The Patina vineyard was planted in 1999 on the eastern foothills of…

We had a touch up from frost this spring as the overnight temperature dropped to -2.7 degrees overnight 27th September.So, this seems like a good time to talk about the…

I borrowed this drawing from Washington State University. You can Click this link if you’d like to learn a bit more about grapevine buds as relates to frost damage. The…

96 Points “Gerald and Angela Naef have quietly gone about their business in Orange for a couple of decades – crafting wines of finesse and immense longevity. By using the…

Wine fining is little understood outside the winemaking community. When someone reads the back label, they often get a confused look with “Do you really put milk in wine?” We…

Merlot is notably softer than Cabernet Sauvignon particularly when grown in warmer areas. It is known to be of lighter colour than Shiraz and is generally considered an early drinking…

I thought it very topical to write about the drought in my Long Dry Finish as it is pretty much impacting everyone. It has an impact on wine as well…

It’s much more expensive to establish and grow grapes in cool climates than in warmer climates. So apart from beautiful views there must be some substantial reasons to grow grapes…

Cork taint is primarily produced by fungi and can ruin wine in very low doses. I rate Cork Taint in four stages as it increases in concentration: at very low…

Why we dislike H2S H2S (Hydrogen Sulfide) is a rotten egg gas. I suppose I could stop here and everyone would know why we dislike H2S, however its personality is…

Lees are the sediment at the bottom of a wine vat made up of things like dead yeast cells, grape seeds, pulp, skin fragments and tartrates. Over time the yeast…

Tannins are a natural substance found in many fruits and bark of trees and are felt via our tactile senses rather than tasted. Most people are familiar with the tannins…

A fortified wine is one that has been fortified with alcohol. It actually describes the process and the name sounds kind of technical but we can no longer call them…

An axiom with perhaps European roots is “a grape variety won’t ripen every year if it is the right variety for the site.” I think the jury is still out…

Cabernet Sauvignon is the single most planted red variety around the world and is probably the best recognised red amongst wine consumers. Historically speaking, it is a relatively new variety…

So if we must put up with the frost there must be some reason to grow grapes in the brass monkey country… The vast majority of vineyards in the world…

Contemporary winemaking in Orange NSW is relatively new dating back to a small wave of producers planting wine grapes in the early 1980’s and a much larger wave at the…