Grape Pirates

23/05/2026

VINTAGE 2026 ~ officially ended for Grape Pirates on Friday, with Pirate Aaron putting our Merlot to barrel.

We hand-picked our Merlot on the 3rd of April from the little block we manage at 997 metres altitude. The quality of the grapes was epic, and we were super excited about it. It was the best harvest we’ve had from the little site since taking over management in 2023 and giving it a new lease of life.

At the winery, we dropped the grapes straight into a tank for our favourite winemaking technique: carbonic maceration. We left them to macerate for four weeks, then transferred them to a fermenter at 4° Bé for a damn good soak for a further three and a half weeks! After pressing this past week, the wine was racked to older French oak barrels for malolactic fermentation and maturation.

This Merlot is destined for our 2026 Merlot Malbec blend, which will be ready for bottling around the start of 2028.

Small batch! BIG love!

www.grapepirates.com

08/05/2026

YGOWA FINALISTS ~ Us Grape Pirates are still beaming with excitement to be recognised in the Top 50 Winemaker Finalists for the 2026 Young Gun of Wine Awards! Alongside some of Australia’s top talented young winemakers! Now, there is a YGOW Peoples Choice Award up for grabs…🍇🏴‍☠️

If you could please take the time, pop over to the link in our bio to vote: Grape Pirates (Aaron Onegin-Ward & Rebecca Milne).

We’d be super grateful for your support!

Vote and go in the draw to win a YEAR SUPPLY OF WINE! 🍷 How good!!!

www.grapepirates.com

07/05/2026

2026 VINTAGE ~ We love a damn good Cabernet Franc (hence planting cuttings last year at our new site; Shadforth Vineyard).

To get the ball rolling, for 2026 vintage we sourced local, hand picked Franc (on the 17/03), that my gosh - looked tidy. Being the Grape Pirates that we are, we tipped it straight into a tank for some good ol’ Carbonic Maceration baby!! Only pressing off yesterday. Then off it goes to French Oak Hogsheads for secondary ferment and maturation.

Excited to see this addition added to the 🍇🏴‍☠️ portfolio.

www.grapepirates.com

04/05/2026

🍁The Riesling & Merlot block in all its Autumn glory. It’s the quietest time of the year in the vineyard. Grapes are in the winery, the Rieslings locked down in barrel, the Merlot still fermenting. A slight respite from vineyard work as we wait for the vines to go dormant.

www.grapepirates.com

01/05/2026

https://younggunofwine.com/australias-best-young-wine-labels-winemakers-in-2026/

Twenty years ago, Young Gun of Wine set out to make wine more relevant to a new generation of Australians. Since then, confidence in wine among young Australians has risen over 250 per cent — and the makers on this list are a big part of why. Meet the 2026 finalists: the most diverse, inventive an...

01/05/2026

YGOW FINALISTS!!! 🍾🍾🍾2026 top 50 Winemakers ‘GRAPE PIRATES’ in the 20th Annual Young Gun Of Wine Awards.

WHOOHOOO!! We are extremely excited and humbled to announce Grape Pirates are Young Gun Finalists 😃

We are feeling very gracious for the recognition! Thank you

Grape Pirates is a lifestyle, passion and commitment ingrained in our soul. We love working with vines and making delicious wine. We love doing what we are doing ❤️❤️❤️ 🍾🍾🍾🥳🥳🥳🍇🏴‍☠️

www.grapepirates.com

29/04/2026

🍂🍁🍂This Sunday the 3rd of May, come find the Grape Pirates at ‘Experience Orange’, in Cook Park from 12pm-4pm.

Bring the whole family, play in the Autumn leaves, have a glass of Grape Pirates wine and check out this great community event.

🍇🏴‍☠️www.grapepirates.com

23/04/2026

2026 Vintage ~ Next in the winery (01/04), Merlot for the Grape Pirates Rosé.

Straight into the press for a super light squish. The juice came out vivid crimson pink! During fermentation and settling we will loose a bit of colour, that’s OK, it should hold the bright pink hue. From press to tank to settle over night, then racked off to mature oak barrels for ferment and secondary Malolactic fermentation. Regular bâtonnage building texture and palate weight.

For our topping Rosè wine, we Saignée juice from the 2026 Shiraz, fermented also in mature oak - we are liking the multi varietal Rosé style.

Might see the 2026 Rosé in bottle by the end of the yeaarrrrrr 🍇🏴‍☠️

In the meantime check out the 2025 Grape Pirates Rosé - it’s a great Autumnal drop.

www.grapepirates.com

16/04/2026

2026 Vintage ~ Malbec baby! 🍇🏴‍☠️

This was one of those weeks! Aaron was flat out at work, the child had a virus and the Malbec needed to be picked (18/03)! When working with the land it definitely keeps us on our toes.

We blend the Malbec in with our Merlot and it has become quite a little rockstar.

Sourcing the Malbec from a vineyard at 860 meters altitude here in Orange, NSW. We hand picked 650kgs with around half going into the fermenter whole bunch. Plunged twice a day, the colour coming from this was eclectic ⚡️! Into the press when completely dry and off to our .oak hogshead for Malo and 18 months maturation. Yewwww!!

www.grapepirates.com

16/04/2026

2025 Grape Pirates Rosé ~ Textual and jam packed with flavour. What us Grape Pirates love!

Saignée from Pinot Noir, Shiraz, Malbec and Merlot, she’s bit of a fruit salad some may say but packs a lot of punch! Barrel ferments going through 100% malolactic to give it that nice creamy finish. Loads of regular bâtonnage, stirring up all that leesy goodness to build heaps of texture.

Aromas of guava and peach leap out of the glass. Bone dry, yet the palate weight begs to differ. Smooth rounded toffee apple finish leaves the taste buds asking for more…

Only 1200 bottles produced.

Order online at: www.grapepirates.com

📸: the beautiful .orange