De Salis Wines – Premium Handcrafted Wines

De Salis is a family operated winery located on the northern slopes of Mt Canobolas, Orange NSW at an altitude of 1050m. Our Lofty & Forest Edge Vineyards are renowned for dry-grown Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Merlot and Cabernet Franc. Our minimalist winemaking philosophy is born from a desire to capture the seasonal ebb and flow, the intersection of our vines with their micro-environment, and to create wines that showcase old world wine making styles. Learn more about our wine and our history.

Visit Our Cellar Door – Open 7 Days – 11am to 5pm

A visit to our winery in Orange is a unique experience as it provides a rare insight into the wines of De Salis from a winemaking perspective. Easily make a booking online or phone 0477 298 984.

Current Releases

2019 Vintage Report

Provence, the 2018 bushfires left everyone edgy about the 2019 vintage. We planned to make a small increase in production to help ease the loss of 2018. As it transpired, late 2018 and early 2019 were dominated by warm dry days, edging towards drought.
Having not irrigated for the past three years, we were keen to avoid compromising the fruit quality as a result. We pushed through, rain came in late January on the day we had decided we would need to irrigate.
The autumn moved steadily to cool dry nights and what could only be described as the best growing season, in 20 years of making wine in Orange. Small berries with intense flavour, bright acid and lignified dry stalks, combined to make the almost perfect vintage…. Wow

From the humble beginning…

De Salis was established in 1999 as a ‘garageister’ winery located on Sydney’s Northern Beaches by research scientist Charlie Svenson. Known as ‘The Francateers’, Charlie, Martin Ostrowski and Andrew Collins produced award-wining wine from premium Cabernet Franc sourced from famed artisan wine maker Murray Smith of Canobolas-Smith. Whilst researching the production of renewable fuel ethanol at the University of New South Wales, Charlie spent many vintages learning the dark art of minimalist wine crafting from the eclectic Murray Smith. During this time, an eight-year search resulted in Charlie and wife Loretta, acquiring one of Australia’s most ideally located, stunningly beautiful and highest wine grape growing locations, Lofty Vineyard.

De Salis is named in honour of Charlie’s original Australian ancestor and great, great grandfather, Leopold Fabius Count Fane De Salis, an Englishman, born in Florence in the early 1800’s who emigrated to Australia and established a colonial home in the Cotter District, close to what is now Canberra in the mid 1800’s. The blocks of Lofty Vineyard bear the matriarchal names of the De Salis family. Learn more about our history. 

Visit De Salis Wines

125 Mount Lofty Rd, Nashdale NSW 2800

Open 7 Days – 11am to 5pm – Bookings Preferred

Located in Orange NSW, Australia. Travel West from Orange on Cargo Road for 8 Km, turn left into Nancarrow Lane. At the T-intersection turn right onto Mount Lofty Road, follow the tar road, then over the cattle grate, after 600m turn right onto our driveway.

Awarded by Gourmet Traveller Wine magazine, ‘Top 50 wine experiences in the world’ 2019

Australia’s Best Cellar Door Awards by GT Wine Magazine.
Best Large Cellar Door 2022
Best tasting experience 2021 & 2018
Star Cellar Door in Orange for 2020 

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