Is Orange becoming the Chardonnay capital of Australia?
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The growing wine region continues to produce fruit with purity and natural acidity, and the result is a rapidly growing reputation for brilliant Chardonnay.
Orange's Stockman's Ridge is just one of the region's wineries producing a number of different varieties of the popular wine on the cool reaches of the Orange Region.
Stockman's Ridge's most recent releases - 2022 Stockman's Ridge Primrosé Pinot Noir Chardonnay and 2017 Stockman's Ridge Outlaw Chardonnay - are a couple of fine examples.
"As Orange has matured as a wine region, you can see the wines benefit from a few years in bottle," owner and vigneron Jonathan Hambrook said.
"Over the years we have been mindful to slow down the release of our Chardonnay so that we can give it every opportunity to bloom and enable our customers to enjoy the region's Chardonnay once it's had time to settle and mature in the bottle."
Mr Hambrook said the plan is to have both a current vintage Chardonnay and mature Chardonnay within the Stockman's Ridge range in the future.
"We grew this Chardonnay on the north-west slopes of the extinct volcano Mount Canobolas (Gaanha Bulla) at an elevation of 800 metres," he said.
"In the winery the grapes were fermented in new French oak. Once bottled the wines were matured in the winery for several years prior to release."
This has been a busy decade and has completely renewed our business and this sparkling wine celebrates this.
- Stockman's Ridge owner and vigneron Jonathan Hambrook
The newly released 2022 Stockman's Ridge Primrosé Pinot Noir Chardonnay is named for Jonathan and Lisa's daughter. It is a wine made for sparkling high teas, live music, and celebrations.
"The Primrose is known to be the first flower to bloom in spring. The name stems from the Latin word 'primus' meaning 'first' and symbolises renewal, optimism, and youth. This encapsulates our family and vineyard," he said.
"Ten years ago, we moved to Orange from our initial vineyards near Bathurst.
"This has been a busy decade and has completely renewed our business and this sparkling wine celebrates this. The vineyards are maturing, and the growth of the region has encouraged us to plant new vines this year."
Made with a traditional blend of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay the new Primrosé was matured on lees for a short period, as the aim was to highlight the freshness and vibrancy of these cool climate varieties.
"It is a fun and celebratory wine made with some of our best fruit."
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