RIKARD @ Young Gun of Wine Awards - Sydney Trade Tasting.

Tuesday 3rd June - 1-4pm @ivysydney

Will is stepping out of the winery and joining the other finalists from the 2025 Young Gun of Wine Awards to pour RIKARD wines at the Sydney trade tasting.

Bookings are ...essential, with limited places - links via @younggunofwine or https://trybooking.com/DBMTV

#rikardwines #iconicsmallbatchwines #younggunofwineawards #wineslinger

A SMALL BATCH OF THE BEST PEOPLE @ RIKARD: meet Carine, in charge of cellar door & sales, marketing & events for 4 vintages at RIKARD.

What are you excited about from the 2025 vintage?
I’m excited to be celebrating 10 years of RIKARD this year!!!
Also very much looking ...forward to seeing what comes of the first harvest from our home vineyard La Cloche - nothing quite like seeing a wine through from planting baby vines with our hands in the dirt to holding a finished bottle.

When did you know you wanted to working be in wine, what led you to your passion in wine?
I was drawn to wine when I moved to Orange 13 years ago. I’d ditched the corporate life and transferred my skills at a large cellar door and winery, before landing at Rikard where I could be closer to the vineyard and winemaking as part of my role.
Working with wine people means you’re surrounded by creativity, lateral thinking, science, respect for the land and trust in your own intuition. This inspires me and I love being part of it.

What’s your favourite wine or bottle you’re keeping for a special occasion?
I think wine is best shared and I have wines picked out from my collection for all occasions and people I want to most share them with. There’s too many to choose just one though.
My go-to Rikard wine is the Black Label Chardonnay, it’s never let me down.

What do you love about being part of the Rikard team?
So many things to love about the Rikard team - Will and Kimmy have collected some of the most interesting, hilarious and talented people I’ve met in general and in wine. Our small team of six means we all do all of the things - there’s never a dull moment.
We all love what we do, I think it shows in what we’re able to make.

#rikardwines #iconicsmallbatchwines #teamrikard #orangensw

Wine tasting experiences @ RIKARD are hosted by the makers of our wines, in the place that we make our wines… and we love what we do!

We’re open Friday afternoon 2-5pm and Sat & Sun 11am - 5pm for wine tasting experiences.

Big thanks to Ismail for recently sharing a review... of your experience with us, we loved sharing our wines with you!

Book ahead online to reserve a seat, call and let us know you’re coming or just show up - we’re looking forward to meeting you.

#rikardwines #iconicsmallbatchwines #orangensw #orangewineregion #winetastingorange #adropabove #orange360_allyearround

NEWS @ RIKARD: YOUNG GUN OF WINE 2025 AWARDS - TOP 50 WINEMAKERS FINALIST - Will Rikard-Bell.

In our 10th year of RIKARD wines, we are humbled, excited and very proud to share with you that Will has been announced as a finalist in the Young Gun of Wine Awards Top 50 Winemakers this year. ...@younggunofwine

You can read more about what makes Will a finalist and our passion for making complex and intriguing wines via the link in bio.

While you’re there you can also VOTE for Will for the people’s choice award.

Thank you to everyone that has supported us, especially this last decade of RIKARD Wines - to our founding and wine club members, customers, family, friends, excellent team and colleagues in the Orange wine region - thanks for being with us on this epic journey doing what we love, making iconic small batch wines.

Winners announced in late June - stay tuned! 🥂

#rikardwines #iconicsmallbatchwines #orangensw #orange360_allyearround #orangewineregion #younggunofwine2025 @younggunofwine

A SMALL BATCH OF THE BEST PEOPLE @ RIKARD: cellar hand and viticulturist in training, meet Aaron - currently clocking in his 4th vintage at RIKARD.

What excites you about the 2025 vintage?
Everything looks incredible! It’s going to be a cracking year for Pinot and Riesling. Much of ...which has come off the vineyards we manage so it’s very rewarding to see our hard work paying off!

What led you to your passion in wine?
I have been making alcohol (beer, cider, mead, wine…) since I was 18 after my dad bought me a home brew kit for my birthday. Another passion of mine is growing things, especially food.
When I came to the conclusion that I wanted to change careers from hairdressing, I realised I could combine my passions in the wine industry. So I started studying viticulture, bought a house, packed my stuff and moved to Orange. 6 years later, here I am.

Is there a wine you’re keeping for a special occasion?
I’ve got this magnum of 1999 Cab Sauv I won in a karaoke competition when I was about 20. Not entirely sure why but I’ve never opened it…

What do you love about being part of the Rikard team?
Great peeps. An absolute wealth of knowledge to be around. Plenty of chuckles. The view!
But one of the best bits is we are all in every aspect of the process.
We get our hands dirty at every stage from pruning to growing to making to bottling to selling. The contract side of the business also allows us to play with varieties of grapes we wouldn’t see in the Rikard labels. It’s a very educational space to be in.

#rikardwines #iconicsmallbatchwines #orangensw #teamrikard

VINTAGE 2025 @ RIKARD: glorious Shiraz in the morning.
Our Amboseli vineyard never disappoints with its perfect rows of pristine fruit, making it a joy to harvest.

Baskets, baskets and more baskets of Shiraz 🍇 230 approx and sunrise picks are still the best way to start a day!
...
#rikardwines #iconicsmallbatchwines #orangensw #rikardshiraz #vintage2025 #nswwine #orangewineregion #adropabove #orange360

BELLS ON @ RIKARD: our annual exclusive wine club member event is on Saturday 3rd May.
Bell Club members, we’ve sent you an email to invite you with the link to RSVP - so check your junk in case the email bots have marked us as spam.

We’d love to see you there for the afternoon ...exploring the vintage, new and pre-release wines, tunes, snacks, the best view in Orange and of course excellent chat with team RIKARD.

If you’re missing the link or can’t find the email, get in touch with Carine ([email protected]) to confirm your place.

If you’re not a Bell Club member, ask yourself why, then fix that!🍷

#rikardwines #iconicsmallbatchwines #orangensw #rikardwinery

A SMALL BATCH OF THE BEST PEOPLE @ RIKARD: meet our cellar hand Brenda.

Also our resident sommelier, bringing a raft of hospitality experience and our favourite Argentinian, this year is Brenda’s 3rd vintage at Rikard.

What excites you about the 2025 vintage?
I am excited ...about playing with La Cloche fruit. It’s been great to be part of the first vineyard pick from our home vineyard and I’m looking forward to seeing what the land has to offer.

When did you know you wanted to work in wine?
I never logically decided to pursue a career in wine; the industry and the people involved just got me. Wine ticks many boxes I am interested in: Philosophy, Art, and Science… How could I not love it!

What’s your favourite wine or bottle you’re keeping for a special occasion?
The 2023 Black Label Pinot Noir… it was my first vintage, I always wanted to learn about Pinot and it’s very fragrant yet structured.

What do you love about being part of the Rikard team?
The flexibility to learn about wines from planting the vines through to selling the bottle and I have wonderful colleagues making that journey very enjoyable.

#rikardwines #iconicsmallbatchwines #orangensw #teamrikard @brend.ucca

VINTAGE 2025 @ RIKARD: sunrise and Riesling.
Returning to our resurrection vineyard for a beautiful start to the day and hand picking Riesling. 10kg lugs, straight to press in the winery - the fruit looking its finest and our biggest crop to date from this vineyard, sitting pretty at 1070m ...above sea level.

#rikardwines #iconicsmallbatchwines #oramgensw #vintage2025 #rikardriesling #sunriseharvest #orangewineregion #adropabove