James Manny and Nicole Samodol
Role: Owners, Vignerons
Winery: Rowlee Wines
Rowlee Wines sits at the entrance to the turn off to the Gaanha-bula (Mount Canobolas) wineries. It’s an easy excursion from town and offers more than just the usual suspects. A range of emerging varieties including arneis and nebbiolo focus interest on this small family-owned winegrower. Rowlee is an old English word that means ‘roughly cleared meadow’, which is fitting given that Rowlee was established with one paddock in Nashdale.
What started your wine journey?
As a third-generation winegrower wine has always been an important part of our heritage. The story of Rowlee goes back 20 years when our wine loving predecessors established a small vineyard with a vision of exploring their favourite varieties.
It was a journey of discovery, searching Australia for a block of land that would produce wines of elegance and quality. They settled on one of Australia’s highest winegrowing regions, under the cooling influence of Mount Canobolas.
It proved to be the perfect region to grow their pinot noir, chardonnay and their favourite Italian varieties, nebbiolo and arneis.
Initially the vineyard supplied other winemakers with their grapes. After a decade of this, with the vines maturing, we started dabbling in making our own wine. It was soon apparent that the site could produce great quality wines and so the vision of launching a small, boutique brand was born.
What can visitors expect when visiting your cellar door?
As part of the Rowlee experience, our cellar door is open to visitors to immerse themselves in a range of wine experiences, from tastings to overnight escapes and special celebrations. Our private guesthouse offers a relaxing getaway option for friends and couples.
Opening in the first half of 2024 is an on-site restaurant and events venue where visitors can enjoy our wine alongside the freshest local produce from across the region, participate in masterclasses and come together for celebrations.
We believe that drinking local wines and eating local foods fosters a sense of community for locals and visitors.
What’s your favourite wine?
Nebbiolo and arneis are definite favourites. We love the challenge each of these varieties present. Attention to detail in the vineyard ensures ideal conditions in which they grow and thrive.
This is particularly the case with arneis. It is tricky grape to grow well - arneis means “little rascal”. A variety that all but disappeared by the mid-20th century has found a dedicated following in Australia.
We harvest on fruit flavour and look for ripe stone fruit characteristics in the grapes. Our vineyard allows us to strike the perfect balance between acidity and flavour delivering a wine that has balance and a personality reflective of the Rowlee site.
If someone is new to wine, what would you recommend they taste?
We recommend a sparkling wine and the Rowlee Cuvée is a great place to start. It is a local favourite and goes with most dishes as well as being absolutely delicious.
What makes your wines special?
2013 was the year our Rowlee Single Vineyard range was launched and by 2017, we had developed a reputation as a quality producer of boutique wines. The accolades followed, including our first five-star Halliday rating, amongst a string of awards at local and state shows for the Rowlee chardonnay and nebbiolo.
What are 3 Orange region wines that you’d recommend?
With so many great producers it is an impossible choice. We picked four outstanding wines produced by our closest neighbours - Byrne Farm Chardonnay, Canobolas Rosé, Swift Sparkling, and Nashdale Lane Shiraz
David Cumming
As published in the Central Western Daily.