Orange Grows In Grip Of The Grape
Sydney Morning Herald
Saturday June 26, 1999
THE recent public listing of the Cabonne Ltd wine company is an indication of the growth that is anticipated in Orange, which is fast becoming the newest area for keen investors in vineyards.
Although people there have known the potential of the district for many years, it is only in the past five years that the momentum to sell up the farm to wine growers has gathered pace.
Orange is known for its livestock farms and apple orchards, and commercial property has sprung up around that business. The largest employer is Email, which makes refrigerators in the city, and has been doing so for the past 54 years.
But with money starting to flow more from the wine sector than from livestock, farmers are taking the plunge and either selling to the city investors or else digging up the land and replanting it with grapes.
Rosemount and Reynolds wineries have a presence in the district and other large companies source grapes from Orange.
The region, with about 1,000 hectares under grapes, is considered the largest cold-climate grape-growing region in NSW.
The shift towards viticulture has also led to a rise in tourism, with the Orange district fast taking over from the surrounding areas as the place to visit.
In turn, real estate agents say demand has increased from investors keen to buy up small motels or bed and breakfast-style accommodation. That has led to a new range of services being created, together with a new type of commercial property.
A new market in Sydney for cut native flowers has created an opportunity for growers in Orange to plant more seeds and that industry is anticipated to become more popular as the tourism numbers climb.
Newcrest Mining's Cadia gold mine is a large employer for Orange, as is the University of Sydney's Orange Agricultural College. Eventually, locals say, it could become the Orange campus with an emphasis on viticulture.
In the Cabonne prospectus, the executive chairman, Mr Peter C. Lucas, and the managing director, Mr Peter Poolman, said most of its planted vineyards were in the Orange district, which has an emerging reputation as a producer of quality red and white table wines.
Mr Peter Hedberg, a lecturer in horticulture and a viticulture consultant at the Orange Agricultural College, said a shift towards wine production in Orange in the past 10 to 15 years was picking up pace.
"There are a lot of farmers deciding to move towards the more profitable wine industry, particularly with the higher land valus and weak wool market. These farmers prefer to add value to their properties and are taking advantage of the popularity of the wine sector," Me Hedberg said. "In Orange and the surrounding district there are about 60 small vineyards which are owned by a variety of people from local farmers to Sydney-based stockbrokers and investors.
"I expect the big push into the wine business will continue and that will cause a shift in demand for other businesses as well as property."
Mr Hedberg said the drive for tourism by the Orange Tourism Board had changed the district, with more small bed and breakfast places opening.
"The best part of the changes is that all the industries are supporting each other. As more tourists visit, we have more functions and events and then it snowballs. There are currently about 15 different wine labels from Orange including our own Templer's Mill as well as the Hunter Valley's Rosemount and Reynolds, and that's only the start."
Recent Australian Bureau of Statistics figures showed population growth in the Orange area was about 2.5 per cent, which was higher than the competing centres of Bathurst and Dubbo.
Mr Tony Sharp, a farmer who has swapped livestock for grapes, said the district had changed dramatically in the past four to five years, and was leaving the surrounding regions in its wake.
"Land prices are still under that of other similar areas such as Mudgee, but as demand increases for property, I expect the values will start to inch up. We have seen people from Balmain and Gordon move to the area and buy small farms and we expect the trend to continue," Mr Sharp said. "Although some of the properties are used as tax investments, other investors are happy to buy a small farm, grow some grapes and sell them or even make their own wine."
© 1999 Sydney Morning Herald
