2024 Printhie Topography Cabernet Sauvignon, Orange

This is a mix of cool-climate limestone aromatics and garrigue herbs that accompany leafy cabernet. Here, the two opposing sides complement each other, with a dark, spicy base of clove and pepperberries. It's ripe on the palate, and fine tannins suck at the side. You can almost chew through the fruit here. A good year for cabernet at 620m elevation. Drink to 2035.

93 points Shanteh Wale for Halliday Wine Companion, March 2026

Orange gives us lovely, expressive and perfumed Cabernet when stars align in the right vineyards of this high elevation cool-climate region. Medium-weighted, expect a softer tannin structure than what a warmer region would provide, and for Cabernet Sauvignon’s natural, attractive aromas of blackcurrant sprinkled with freshly picked bay leaf and warm, Mediterranean herbs to come more to the fore.

More about this wine

A single vineyard wine, the grapes were grown in the Printhie vineyard surrounding the winery at 620 metres above sea level, with vines soon thirty years old. The fruit was machine harvested and fermented in small batches with hand plunging and gentle daily pump-overs for a total of 14 days. The wine matured for ten months in French oak puncheons of which 30% were new, and was then transferred to 3,500L oak fourdes for a rest ahead of bottling in the spring of 2025.

About this producer

Printhie Wines was established by Jim and Ruth Swift in 1996 when they planted the first vines on the family’s property near Molong in the Orange region.

Their sons Ed and Dave returned to the family business in the early 2000s and have overseen the expansion of the estate to 33 hectares. Today four estate vineyards span elevations from 630 to 1,070 metres in a region defined by altitude. The continental climate and long, cool growing season produce wines of natural aromatic lift and restrained structure.

With experienced winemaker Drew Tuckwell at the helm since 2008, Printhie has become regarded as one of the region’s most consistent producers across its wide range of wines.