Estate

Connection to Land

Borrodell Estate sits high on the volcanic slopes outside Orange, where altitude, alpine air and basalt soils shape everything that grows.

Cool winters, gentle summers and a long growing season allow fruit to develop slowly - building depth, structure and balance. From cool-climate grapes and heritage orchard fruit to Black Périgord truffles beneath the oaks, the land sets the pace. What grows, when it’s ready, and how it’s expressed.

Today, it remains a working farm - vineyards, orchards, truffle groves and kitchen gardens all feeding the table and cellar.

How we Farm here

Working with the Land

At Borrodell, the land runs the show. Altitude, alpine air and basalt soils make the calls - we just try to keep up. It’s low-intervention by instinct: minimal sprays, careful water use, and a willingness to let the seasons do their weird, wonderful thing.

Hands-On Craft

Nothing here is rushed. From pruning to harvest, it’s all done by hand - slower, more obsessive, occasionally back-breaking. But that’s the point. Every bunch is touched, checked and coaxed along with a level of care that borders on fixation.

Caring for the Land

Borrodell has a pulse. Vineyards sit alongside orchards, truffle groves, wetlands and pockets of bush that are very much their own. Kangaroos wander through, echidnas get involved, birdlife does its thing. We don’t control it - we live in it. And we hope you love it as much as we do.

Our vineyard

Perched high above Orange, Borrodell sits at over 1,000 metres. It’s one of the highest vineyards in the country, and it behaves accordingly.

Basalt soils from nearby Gaanha Bula / Mt Canobolas, real alpine conditions, and four distinct seasons - Borrodell takes its time. Long, slow ripening. Bright acid. Structure without heaviness.

The result is wines that feel like they belong here. Tension, clarity, and a lovely, quiet confidence that comes from letting the land do its thing.

[link to wine notes and wine shop page]

Winery

All fruit is estate-grown and processed on site, keeping the distance between vineyard and winery to a minimum.

Vineyard work is practical and responsive. Canopy is managed by hand, with leaf plucking at veraison to improve light and airflow. Pruning alternates between cane and spur depending on vine age and block performance, with a focus on maintaining balance in yield and structure.

The site is east-facing, receiving morning sun before moving into shade by mid-afternoon. This moderates heat and extends the ripening window. Borrodell is typically among the later picks in the region, allowing for gradual flavour development while retaining natural acidity.

Winemaking follows the same approach - measured, site-led, and adjusted each season rather than fixed to a house style.

Orchard

Borrodell’s orchard sits at the heart of the estate. Apples, cherries, plums, quinces, and persimmons grow alongside Black Périgord truffles, all farmed with a low-intervention approach.

Heirloom apples are a focus. Grown for flavour over uniformity, they’ve built a quiet following beyond the farm gate. Chefs, including Peter Gilmore, have sourced fruit from the estate, and Borrodell apples were used in the first release of Bar Planet Infinity Gin.

It’s a working orchard. Seasonal, productive, and closely tied to both kitchen and cellar.

Heritage apples

Borrodell is home to a unique collection of over 200 heritage apple varieties, from crisp eating apples to rich culinary and cider fruit. Grown in another era, these apples were prized for flavour and character often discovered as chance seedlings or cultivated by gardeners and named after royalty, regions or their own quirks.

Today, they are tree-ripened on the estate, producing fruit with depth of flavour rarely found in modern varieties. The season stretches from summer through to early winter, with pick-your-own available when the orchard is at its peak.

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Cider apples

Borrodell has been growing traditional cider apples and perry pears since the early 1980s, using true cider varieties rarely seen in Australia. These fruits are selected for their tannin, sugar and structure key elements that give depth, texture and balance to our cider.

Grown and pressed on the estate, they form the foundation of Borrodell’s cider and perry, shaped by the same cool-climate conditions as our wines.

Cider apples are traditionally grouped into four styles, each contributing to the balance, structure and flavour of the final blend:

Sweet – soft and mellow, used to round out stronger flavours
Bittersweet – rich and full-bodied, bringing tannin, texture and classic cider character
Sharp – bright and fresh, adding acidity and lift
Bittersharp – a balanced combination of tannin and acidity, giving depth and structure

It’s in the blending where it comes to life. Each variety pulling its weight, coming together to make ciders with energy, balance and character.

They’re not trying to show off… they just happen to be very, very good!

[link to shop cider page]

Trufferie

What are Truffles

Black Périgord truffles are one of the world’s most prized ingredients - all aroma, depth and savoury intensity. Grown slowly beneath oak trees through winter, they’re shaped by soil, climate and time.

At Borrodell, the truffière produces these truffles each season, bringing a distinctly local expression to the kitchen and table.

A Growing Tradition

Planted in 2003, Borrodell’s truffle trees are among the oldest on mainland Australia. Each winter, the harvest begins - short, cold, and highly anticipated.

Mornings start with trained dogs working the orchard, noses low, turning up truffles buried beneath the soil. It’s equal parts ritual, instinct and a bit of theatre.

The season culminates in the Black Tie and Gumboot Truffle Hunt and Dinner - a five-course feast built around the day’s harvest. Fresh truffles, estate wines, long tables, cold air outside and something warm happening inside.

Over the years, the dinner has drawn a tight circle of serious culinary talent, with guest chefs including Corey Costelloe, Giovanni Pilu, Aaron Ward, Robert Molines and Justin North.

Truffles are a moment. Blink, and you miss it! The people who come back every year don’t.

[Join The Table]

Forage and Feast

[Every Saturday during truffle season July - mid august] (as per current info)

Experience the thrill of an authentic truffle hunt! Come forage Borrodell’s Black Perigord truffles from the mainland’s oldest truffle oak trees. With experienced forager Teneka Priestly and her incredible truffle-trained rescue dogs, follow the scent of the elusive Black Perigord Truffle in Borrodell's trufferie, and unearth a true culinary delight!

Our kitchen team will transform your freshly harvested truffles into a three-course foragers' lunch accompanied by a serve of the Estate's secret-recipe spiced mulled cider, matched Borrodell wines, and the best produce that our kitchen garden and local suppliers have to offer.

Arrive by 10:45am for an 11am start. Lunch at Borrodell Restaurant commences at 12:30 pm.

$250pp. Ticket Includes:

Hour-long truffle hunt
Learn how truffles grow and how the specially-trained dogs find them
Borrodell’s secret-recipe warm mulled cider after the hunt
A stunning three-course truffle lunch, with matched wines, in the onsite restaurant
Additional Borrodell wines are available for purchase, and to take home
A bucket list tick and the time of your life!

To join in this delicious food adventure, book your tickets now to avoid missing out (these are sell-out events!). Truffle-hunters, please don’t hesitate to contact us if you have any further questions, or if you need to book the Borrodell helipad. Contact us on 0438 865 217.

For those that seek something different, enjoy great food and wine, unpack your gumboots and book your tickets today.