Exploring Tasmania’s Southern stars
On the first weekend of March 2023, wineries in Tasmania’s southern wine regions will throw open their doors for Southern Open Vineyards. All a short drive from Hobart, here’s a selection of participating wineries to visit either during the event or to bookmark for your own self-guided adventure.
IT’S A COLD but clear and sunny morning in Hobart when we pull up outside an old ice factory on the outskirts of the city. Inside is Hobart’s first (and only) urban winery and cellar door, home to Nick Glaetzer of Glaetzer-Dixon Family Winemakers, and the first stop on our self-guided tour of Tasmania’s southern wine regions. Our trip becomes a preview of the state’s Southern Open Vineyards weekend, due to take place March 3–5, 2023.
Over 30 wineries across the Coal and Derwent Valleys (surrounding Hobart) and the Huon Valley and D’Entrecasteaux Channel (south of Hobart) participate in the three-day event, throwing open their doors to visitors far and wide. As well as special tastings, wineries will also host vineyard picnics, dinners, live music events and more. Southern Open Vineyards has been running annually since the mid ’90s, with local winemaker Greer Carland taking over management of the event in 2020. As well as making wine at her parents’ winery, Laurel Bank, Greer runs her own label, Quiet Mutiny, inspired by Australia’s first female pirate.
“This event is about encouraging people to get out into wine country, see the vineyards, meet the people behind their favourite wines and discover some new favourite wines,” Greer says. “Many of these guys have limited mainland representation and many don’t have cellar doors, so there’s something really honest and beautiful to connect with here during that weekend.” Here’s a small selection of participating wineries to visit during Southern Open Vineyards weekend next year, or whenever you next feel like exploring Tasmania’s southern wine trail at your own leisurely pace.
HUON VALLEY & THE D’ENTRECASTEAUX CHANNEL
SAILOR SEEKS HORSE
Using the tray of his ute as a makeshift table, Paul Lipscombe knocks the crown seals off a few half bottles he’s brought out to show us. We’re standing among the gnarled winter vines at his Huon Valley vineyard, which he and his wife, Gilli, bought in a dilapidated state in 2010 and nursed back to health. Now, Paul and Gilli make bright, elegant and ethereal chardonnay and pinot noir (consistently rated in the mid-to-high 90s) from it, under their Sailor Seeks Horse label. They don’t have a cellar door – the setup is, in their words, “tres rustique” – but they’ll let you pop by for a vineyard tasting if you send them a message via Instagram prior. They’ll also be offering similar back-of-the-ute tastings of their super-limited '21s during the Southern Open Vineyards weekend.
MEWSTONE WINES
In Flowerpot, about 40 minutes’ south of Hobart and on the other end of the spectrum setup-wise, is the staggeringly beautiful Mewstone Wines. Owned and operated by brothers Jonny and Matt Hughes (and dog, Solomon), the Mewstone vineyard is planted to pinot noir, chardonnay, riesling and syrah. The wines are lovely but what draws visitors back is the stunning cellar door, all concrete and timber with floor-to-ceiling windows offering incredible views over the D’Entrecasteaux Channel and Bruny Island. As well as the full suite of Mewstone wines, the brothers’ négociant label, Hughes & Hughes, is on tasting. The latter incorporates experimental techniques Jonny has picked up from vintages worked in New Zealand, Italy and Canada, and includes their range of lo-fi, living wines.