Patina

Gerald Naef ’s childhood home in sunny Lodi, California, was surrounded by the vast vineyard and winery operations of Gallo and Robert Mondavi. It would be hard to imagine a more different environment than that provided by Orange, where their cool-climate vineyard now sits at 930m elevation. Gerald and wife Angie moved to Australia in ’81; Gerald was pursuing a career in agriculture and they established a farm in northwest NSW. In ’95 they moved the family to Orange and by ’99 had planted their first vineyard, with a winery following in ‘07. Steve Mobbs has been involved in the winemaking since ’17 and wines from the ’22 vintage are made by Steve and Nadja Wallington at ChaLou. -JAMES HALLIDAY