The team at Winepilot comprise wine show judges, sommeliers, and highly experienced wine critics. Our recent release of our Allotment wines caught the attention of Ken Gargett. He's his thoughts on some of these new cool climate releases ...

Cooks Lot 'Allotment 333' Riesling 2025

93 Points: "Another fine wine from the Orange region with a swag of bling already. The colour offers just the vaguest hint of pale lemon. A wine of direction and good intensity, the nose offers aromas of ripe citrus, jasmine, wet stone, oystershells, florals and a touch of orange rind. Juicy acidity is evident throughout this wine of medium length with a lingering finish. For enjoying over the next six to eight years. Very good buying."

Orange’s Cooks Lot has released three reds and three whites in its Allotment range of cool-climate wines. The six wines aim to capture the pure varietal expression of the Orange region, drawing on fruit from a carefully selected network of specialist growers.

Wine writer and judge Steve Leszczynski from QWine Review recently tasted our 2019 Cooks Lot Iconqie Barrique Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. His thoughts on these wines are below:

We’re excited to be showcasing our wines at the Sydney Cellar Door, taking place on 9 - 10 November at Tallawoladah Lawn, Circular Quay, Sydney.

Prepare for a weekend exploring NSW Wines. With 39 other NSW wineries to discover, this is a weekend not to be missed!

We are thrilled to have been awarded theTrophy for Best Sauvignon Blancat the recent 2025 Orange Wine Show. The Trophy and Gold Medal were awarded to our Cooks Lot 'Allotment 689' Sauvignon Blanc. This comes on the back of the Trophy win for the Best Sauvignon Blanc at the NSW Small Winemakers Wine Show for the same win.

The process of barrel fermenting reds is highly labour-intensive. “You have to be half crazy to do it,” Duncan laughed. “It’s an enormous amount of work, and expensive, but the results speak for themselves. It’s gentler on the fruit than plunging, which can over-extract tannins. The result is softer tannins, beautiful secondary and charcuterie characters, and greater colour stability in the wine.”

Duncan recently caught up with Wine Commentator, Judge and Sommelier, Shanteh Wale on her popular podcast Over a Wineglass. Click on the link below to listen to Duncan chat about all things Orange and Cooks Lot.