Tasmania: eight producers to know
Altaness
Having sold their Cascabel Winery in South Australia’s McLaren Vale to pursue cool-climate winemaking, Susana Fernandez and Duncan Ferguson are now making notable Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and pétillant naturel wines from deep in the Huon Valley. altaness.com
Bellebonne
Former Jansz winemaker Natalie Fryar has launched her own boutique sparkling wine venture, with the first vintages of her Bellebonne Blanc de Blancs and
Rosé cuvées showing great finesse and structure. This small, dedicated sparkling wine brand is destined to build a big reputation. bellebonne.wine
Derwent Estate
A long-time provider of elite grapes to Penfolds, Derwent Estate now retains most of its fruit for estate wines. A lithe, textural Riesling stands out as an exemplar of the style in Tasmania, but winemaker John Schuts is equally fixated on the top-quality Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. derwentestate.com.au
Glaetzer-Dixon Family Winemakers
Barossa-born winemaker Nick Glaetzer caused a stir when his 2010 Mon Père Shiraz won the Jimmy Watson Trophy for best one-year-old red wine at the 2011 Royal Melbourne Wine Show – a first for a Tasmanian wine. It has drawn eager crowds to his funky tasting shed in Hobart, and his enterprise has been augmented by a recently planted vineyard in Coal River Valley. gdfwinemakers.com
Holm Oak
‘We believe in the potential of this place. The story of excellentquality Tasmanian wines is just beginning’ --------------------------- Sam Connew, Stargazer (above)
Best known as a white wine specialist, winemaker Bec Duffy is reading her Tamar Valley vineyard cleverly to produce serious barrel-fermented Chardonnay. The brand also has notable Riesling, Pinot Gris and Sauvignon Blanc, along with the best example of Arneis grown on the island. There’s also a smart range of Pinot Noir expressions. holmoakvineyards.com.au
Pooley Wines
Significant among Tasmania’s pioneer grape-growers, the Pooley family’s shift from primarily farming to a serious wine business has propelled them on a quest for the highest quality. Winemaker Anna Pooley is now focused on specialising in single vineyards within the large Pooley range. pooleywines.com.au
Tolpuddle Vineyard
This estate sets a lofty new benchmark for vineyard management and winemaking finesse in Tasmania, with exceptional Pinot Noir and Chardonnay coming from an elite single site in Coal River Valley. It has benefited greatly from a decade of investment and vineyard improvement undertaken by its owners, cousins Michael Hill Smith MW and Martin Shaw p47). tolpuddlevineyard.com
Two Tonne Tasmania
The attention to detail of winemaker Ricky Evans, with his small parcels of Tamar Valley fruit, has resulted in a small portfolio of very interesting, particular wines. He explores a raft of different ideas, from use of whole bunches in his Dog & Wolf Pinot Noir to the Ziggurat range, which is his playground for experimentation. tttwine.com.au
emphasises. ‘The story of excellent-quality Tasmanian wines is just beginning.’
Another with long-term belief in Tasmanian wine is Robert Hill-Smith, former CEO and now chairman of historic Barossa Valley estate Yalumba. His curiosity in the island’s potential was piqued in the mid-1980s, when Tony Jordan of Domaine Chandon Australia planted grapes for sparkling wine production there, and then Champagne Louis Roederer followed, partnering with Heemskerk Wines to create the Jansz (jansz. com.au) sparkling wine label. ‘That European insight into the possibility of Tasmania signalled something of importance to me,’ says Hill-Smith.
When the opportunity emerged to buy Jansz in 1998, he pounced. ‘I felt a sense of adventure by being among the first to recognise the potential of Tasmania and embarking on improvement and specialisation,’ he explains, having just opened a new winery at the Pontos Hills Vineyard estate in Coal River Valley for the Jansz sparklings. ‘Now, we can see that our belief in consistently making wines of great quality has been entirely justified.’