Yahoo Lifestyle 
How to spend 48 hours in Orange, NSW for the ultimate winter getaway
If you love wine and good food, Orange, NSW, is the perfect place for your next long weekend!
If you're in need of a mid-winter getaway, Orange is the perfect place to go. Just three and a half hours from Sydney, you can spend an incredible long weekend relaxing and enjoying their many delicious wines!
Where to stay
We were lucky enough to stay at Basalt, a luxurious studio overlooking several wineries (seriously, the wineries are so close!) and over 12,000 cherry trees. The studios have been open for around a year and a half and are one of the best places you could stay in Orange – we mentioned to several locals that we were staying at Basalt and they made their jealousy quickly known.
Designed by Lisa Johnson Design Studio, the three self-contained studios are 43sqm and feature a king-sized bed, a concrete bathtub with views across the vines, an internal wood fire, an outdoor fire pit, a telescope, Starlink wifi, a smart TV and Bluetooth speaker, and a kitchenette with a fridge, dishwasher, microwave and induction cooktop.
Check-in was incredibly easy, to enter the gate to the property, you call a phone number provided to you and the gate automatically opens. To enter your studio, you enter your unique code, and it's as easy as that! We didn't have to bother Simon Rollin, the owner, to ask any questions as the instructions were really clear. If you do have questions, there is also an iPad in the studio where Simon has explained how to use anything you might not understand how to use. This was really helpful, as there were a few things I had questions about that were quickly resolved by checking the iPad.
After checking into the property we were greeted by several kangaroos (and a joey!) in front of the studio – what a perfect welcome to Orange!
Basalt also offers a complimentary mini-bar and continental breakfast with local ingredients and products. If you're going to use the kitchenette you'll be pleased to know that they actually have knives that work and good cookware, which feels very rare and was a pleasure to cook with.
The bed was very comfortable, and we really appreciated the black-out blinds, as the sun rises right in front of the property, which is both beautiful and shocking at first glance!
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Everything felt very luxe, from the linen, the body wash and soap to the concrete finishes.
Each studio is 80 metres apart, so you never feel like you're sharing your space with other people. This was especially nice when we used the fire pit after a day of wine tasting.
The bathtub was also huge and was the perfect way to end the day after sitting by the fire outside and enjoying a 'girl dinner' of cheese and crackers. While I couldn't have another glass of wine after drinking all day, it would have been an excellent way to unwind.
Guests can also choose to arrive at the studio and enjoy Basalt's Dinner With a View dining experience, where they pre-order a delicious meal from local favourite Sweet Sour Salt. The meal includes six popular dishes from the restaurant, along with a few of Basalt’s favourite local wines.
There are also more great special offers, which you can find here.
Other experiences you can book include:
• A bush tucka and Indigenous cultural adventure
• Stargazing experiences
• Watercolour art classes
• Personalised wine and food tours throughout the district, including the four wineries located on Pinnacle Road (Colmar, Brangayne, Ross Hill and Word of Mouth)
• Helicopter transfers
• Mushroom foraging (in-season)
Our only disappointment with the stay was that we had cloudy nights, and we weren’t able to use the telescope!
Where to eat:
Rowlee Dining & Bar
When we were invited to Rowlee Dining & Bar, a newly opened restaurant by Rowlee Wines, for dinner, we didn't realise that we would be going on the night of the winter solstice, and as such, they were having a special event.
Head Chef Simon Furley has created a menu designed to be shared among friends and loved ones. The menu features modern classics with refined techniques. You'll find locally and sustainably sourced produce, the entire selection of Rowlee Wines, and a list of other international and local wines. If a cocktail is more your vibe, that's on the menu as well! We enjoyed a delicious negroni at the end of our meal.
The restaurant itself feels luxurious and features stunning views and cosy corners to enjoy a drink or two. It felt incredibly cosy on such a cold winter night and had a relaxed yet sophisticated ambience.
The menu for the event we attended was totally changed, but the food was outstanding – as was the wine, of course!
I'm not the pickiest of eaters, but there are some foods I'm not especially drawn to, and some of the items on the menu that I might not have picked to be my favourites were so incredibly delicious.
While it's not on the regular menu, we loved the beef neck onion soup with a crispy piece of melted cheddar cheese on top. I was surprised by the venison with smoked hazelnuts and blackberry, as it's a dish I wouldn't usually gravitate towards, but it was delicious.
On the regular menu, you'll find grilled bay lobster, long-fed Angus sirloin, cured fish, cheese, cold meats, seasonal vegetables, coal-roasted market fish and more.
The service was also exceptional and we will definitely need to come back to enjoy the regular menu!
Byng Street Local Store
We headed to Byng Street Local Store for breakfast before a big day of wine tasting, service was quick, despite it being a busy Saturday morning and we enjoyed their bacon and egg roll and coffee.
Cured Orange and Martha’s Food & Home
We decided that instead of heading out for dinner after our wine tour, we were going to buy a few things to make a cheese board so we could enjoy the fire pit at Basalt without needing to leave for dinner.
So, on the advice of some locals that we met at Rowlee Dining & Bar we went to Cured Orange and bought a selection of cured meats. We were also advised to visit Martha’s Food & Home to get some cheeses and any other little bits and bobs that we’d need for a delicious cheese board.
One thing I will not recommend, however, is panic-buying Harris Farm chicken soup. Despite having so many ingredients, it was somehow entirely flavourless!
Factory Espresso
On the second morning of our visit, we tried Factory Espresso for breakfast, which was also really delicious. They were pretty busy (it was peak brunch time, after all!), so it took a little while to get our coffee, but other than that, we had no complaints! I loved the breaky wrap, with scrambled egg, bacon, black beans, baby spinach and hollaindaise, while my husband enjoyed the ‘big unit winter edition’ – essentially a big breakfast with eggs, bacon, chorizo, a hashbrown, tomato, mushroom and toast.
What to do
Uncork Orange Wine Tours
Lynette Rae from Uncork Orange Wine Tours was a fabulous tour guide for the day – we’ve done many wine tours, but none have been as entertaining as our day with her. She was so knowledgeable about the area, and we could have chatted with her all day. We would highly recommend booking the full-day tour with her.
On our day with Lynette, we visited four wineries: Colmar Estate, Philip Shaw Wines, Brangayne of Orange, and Ross Hill Wines. Our personal favourite was Brangayne of Orange, as they make some great red wines, but we also loved the grounds at Philip Shaw, which were beautiful.
Because we’d booked a full-day tour, Lynette also provided a picnic lunch, which she had made herself! We enjoyed a selection of pastries, a sweet potato soup, a chill sauce that was to die for, scones and jam, and cheese. If you ask Lynette for the recipe for the soup, she’ll gladly provide it, however, she guards her chilli sauce recipe with her life – I’m sure one day we’ll be able to buy it in a shop! I’m actually writing this after my husband made the sweet potato soup, it’s such a great winter warmer!
Wine and gin tasting
It would be impossible to list every winery that you can visit in Orange, but some that stood out from conversations with locals were Swinging Bridge, Printhie Wines, Parrot Distilling Co for gin and The Lane Cellars, a bottle shop that sells lots of local wines and beers.
Jumbled
I was so excited to visit the homewares shop Jumbled during our visit to Orange, but sadly, I didn’t check when the store was open, and on Sundays, it’s not! So, while I didn’t get to visit, it was highly recommended to me, so I hope you can visit on your own trip to Orange! Thankfully, you can shop online!
The White Place
We loved The White Place, another homewares shop that is open on Sundays, thankfully! I would happily move into this shop, they have an amazing selection of art, homewares, jewellery, perfumes and more. We walked away with just a vase, but if it were up to me, I could have spend a lot more here!
Yahoo Lifestyle was a guest of Basalt and Rowlee Dining & Bar.
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