Orange winery Ross Hill Wines honoured by Halliday Winery Ratings

The reason it had to be quiet was because he was awake at 5.30am, still lying in bed next to his wife, so that he could see the results of the prestigious Halliday Wine Ratings as soon as they came out.

"Normally I go back to sleep but not that day," the excited Ross Hill Wines owner said.

"It was very millennial of me."

Ross Hill was given the highest honour one could get, five underlined red stars.

To be awarded five red stars means that a winery regularly produces exemplary quality and typicity.

Where the red stars are underlined, it is a winery generally acknowledged to have had a long track record of excellence, typically having held a 5-star rating continuously for ten years.

"The best of the best," Mr Robson added.

Despite this long run of success, the wine owner still gets nervous seeing the results.

"Of course we do," he added.

"If you say you don't get nervous then you're either arrogant or you're lying. We certainly get very nervous."

This was a bounce back year of sorts for the Orange region as a whole, after the Lithgow fires of 2020 had a negative impact on the wines submitted for 2022 rating.

"For the winemaking team, we're so proud of them," Mr Robson added.

This was the second time Ross Hill had been awarded five underlined red stars and the first under new winemaker Luke Steele.

The most important thing for Mr Robson was they were able to show off their diversity, with gold medals for chardonnays, but also Bordeaux blends.

"It just shows how red wines on our lower vineyard are shining as well as our white wines," he said.

"We're not a one trick pony."

But it wasn't just Ross Hill where the accolades flew as Printhie, Swinging Bridge and Patina all received five red stars.

Mr Robson said it was great to see a thriving industry.

"I think the best way to put it is it's very friendly, strong competition," he added.

"The thing about the Orange wine region is we're actually a very united region. We would prefer that people drink a bottle of wine from our region first and then pick your favourites after that.

"Friendly rivalry is a good way of putting it because we do get in and support each other."

Although Mr Robson wasn't able to celebrate too much on August 2 when the results were released, he's got big plans for the weekend.

"It's actually my dad's 80th birthday," he said.

"So there will be plenty of celebrating going on."

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