Tasmania
"Without question, Tasmanian wines have been one of the greatest discoveries for us over the past few years. Some of the greatest Chardonnay and Pinot Noir we’ve ever tasted come from this tiny island."
Positioned just over 400 km from mainland Australia’s south east coast, Tasmania has rapidly gained a reputation for being a premium, cool climate wine region, not just for sparkling wines but also for top quality still wines such as Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Shiraz. With vineyard sites positioned on the north and south east side of the island taking full advantage of the cool, maritime influences and coastal breezes that help to preserve the crisp acidity and freshness that is so important in producing wines of this Calibre. Wine makers in Tasmania utilise the whole region often blending parcels from vineyards across the different sub-regions that each lend its own specific identity to the wines.
Tamar Valley on the north coast is one of the warmer sub-regions with a higher level of rainfall producing fruit with a riper character. Just to the east of this is Pipers River, one of Tasmania’s coolest regions with a terroir dominated by red, ferrosol soils. As we travel south we come to the East Coast region followed by Coal River Valley, Derwent Valley and Huon Valley. Based in the Huon Valley is Glaetzer-Dixon, responsible for producing, amongst others, the legendary La Judith Pinot Noir with 3 years of aging in new oak. Dr Edge is a producer that focuses on the unique expression of each terroir creating three individual, single vineyard Pinot Noirs each from a different sub-region. Simply named North - from Stoney Rise vineyard in Tamar Valley, East – from Hazards Vineyard in the East Coast and South – from Meadow Bank vineyard in Derwent Valley. As well as these single vineyard expressions Dr Edge also produces a blend of all three named Tasmania.
Based in the Huon Valley is Sailor Seeks Horse who brought a derelict, 6.5 hectare vineyard back to life from which they now produce exquisite Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. Hughes & Hughes can be found in a tiny hamlet called Flowerpot, who as well as Pinot and Chardonnay, produce Riesling and Sauvignon Blanc from grapes sourced from growers across the island. Our range of Tasmanian wines is continuously growing and we believe the region is just beginning to discover its potential for world class class Pinot Noir and Chardonnay as still wines as well as the famous sparklings to come out of Tasmania.
