Omrah Wines

‹ Back to Our Wines

The Omrah label was born in the late 80’s from what at the time was a pioneering idea - at least within Australia - the Unwooded Chardonnay. The Chardonnay bubble had grown on the back of the white wine boom to become the most planted of all varieties in Australia.

The use of oak during maturation was increasingly limited to specialised selections of the variety which could command higher prices. Plantagenet had the idea to produce an Unwooded Chardonnay which would be well made and reasonably priced.

It so happened that the Chardonnay selected for this first unwooded wine was from a vineyard called Omrah and so the name was used for the label. As the label’s success grew over the years, further varieties were added to the Omrah range; a Sauvignon, Shiraz and Cabernet Merlot.

Omrah is now our core wine brand and a vehicle to provide excellent value to the wine consumer. The future of Omrah’s quality is also secure, particularly as our Rocky Horror and Rosetta vineyards planted in the mid to late 90’s to meet the growth of Omrah are now reaching their full potential. They are providing us with a surfeit of wonderful fruit (if you could ever have a surfeit of wonderful fruit!) Indeed some of the fruit meets the standard required of our Plantagenet label wines, in particular Shiraz, a variety that has found a natural home in the Great Southern and now has become our biggest selling Omrah wine.

"As a winemaker, I take pride in producing wines that are consistent in terms of quality from every vintage. My definition of quality is based first and foremost on structural balance and flavour harmony, with a varietal purity and, where possible, also expressive of the region. Qualities I hope you will find in Omrah"  John Durham    , Plantagenet Wine Maker.