Printhie takes flight with the tourism industry
It has been years in the planning, but local wine producer Printhie Wines are about to make a significant investment in the region, building a brand-new cellar door and restaurant at Nashdale.
Our local wine tourism industry continues to grow, as can be seen in the large number of people who flocked to wine festival events over the past two weekends.
For Printhie this wine festival was the chance to give visitors and locals a taste of what’s to come, as they operated a temporary ‘pop-up’ cellar door out of their ‘Millwood’ property’s historic apple packing shed.
Printhie will shortly begin building a purpose-built cellar door and restaurant on the Nancarrow Lane property, which should be open for business this time next year. The building will be licenced for 240 people and take in the stunning views of Nashdale orchards, grazing land and the hills beyond.
It's been a long time coming, says Dave Swift, whose family own and operate Printhie Wines from their property near Molong.
“We bought the block here four years ago in November, but it was probably another three years prior to that of looking for an appropriate block,” said Dave.
“We knew for some time that the future of wine tourism in Orange was going to grow and if we wanted to be a part of that we needed to put ourselves where the market was.”
It is not a small investment, but Dave said they are confident in the strength of Orange’s tourism appeal and believe the local industry still has a lot of room for growth.
“I think it's just another step in the development of Orange as a region to be honest,” said Dave. Obviously, anything like this comes with risk, but I get more and more excited about it the closer we get.... you go back four years I was far more nervous about it than I am today, seeing how existing businesses in Orange are starting to track from cellar door visitation numbers.”
An advantage of being part of a young and developing region is that you can learn from the mistakes and successes of others, and Dave said they have good reason to believe their restaurant will be a worthwhile investment.
“The restaurant came out of a sense that we knew it would help elevate our brand, but also for the region, for any region to grow, you need diversity and you need more experiences,” he said.
“And it is also tried and tested; we know from wine regions all over the world that good cellar doors with restaurants do well.”
“And it is such a beautiful site, it would be a travesty if we didn't put a dining experience up there,” added Emily Swift, Printhie Wine marketing manager and Dave’s sister-in-law.
“People are looking for places to go and have lunch with a view… there are so many other great cellar doors at Nashdale and by joining them it creates a good circuit for everyone. I think it’s perfect; It’s part of Oranges expansion as a tourist destination.”
Dave pointed to the recent accommodation developments in Orange as a sign of the growing potential for the local wine tourism industry.
“The Quest Apartments, the Byng Street Hotel, the still continued increase in Airbnb accommodation, the retrofits of the like of the Oriana Hotel… because with that will come better access through flights, which will also bring those costs down and once the airlines know that they can fill seats on the weekend, it will be a benefit for us all.
“I feel very optimistic about where Orange is going.”
