From the earliest days of colonial settlement, the Coal River Valley surrounding Richmond became synonymous with tough, gritty dry land agriculture. Cereal crops came first – wheat, oats and barley – then broad-acre farming, based around sheep and cattle.
Dr James Murdoch at Craigow raised small crops of medicinal plants along with the apricots that grew to become a vast orchard by the beginning of the 1900s. Higher value crops – small fruits, wine grapes, vegetables and seeds – had to wait another 80 years for their time to shine.
Completion of the Craigbourne Dam in 1986 changed valley landscapes forever. No longer dependent on rainfall and seasonal river flows to maintain healthy soils and bank balances, smallholders showed what could be done with niche crops. They included Chardonnay, Riesling, Cabernet Sauvignon and Pinot Noir.
The past decade has seen spectacular growth and development of the industry in the Coal River Valley. In 2025, growers there accounted for more than 30 percent of Tasmania's total wine grape harvest. Ten years earlier, it had been 16 percent.
Valley floors, river terraces and rolling foothills all bear vines. Higher ground is underpinned by Jurassic dolerite and sedimentary rock. Basalt flows often snake through alluvial sands, mudstone and gravels; heavy clay and clay-loams. Valleys are a complex mix of soil types, structures and textures.
The wines here are quite simply world-class.
In May 2026, National Geographic named southern Tasmania one of the 15 best places in the world for food right now:
'In Hobart, Tasmania's capital, that deep relationship to terra and tide surfaces in everyday food.'
Frogmore Creek Wines was founded in 1997 when Californian friends and business partners Tony Scherer and Jack Kidwiler began exploring the wine potential of southern Tasmania's pristine environment and long, cool growing seasons. Scherer – a former vegetable grower – had moved into organic viticulture on arriving in Australia in the late 1980s.
Winemaker Nick Glaetzer quietly slipped onto the Tasmanian wine scene in 2005 when he took up a position at Hood Wines in the Coal River Valley. Few locals heard much about him until Glaetzer hit the headlines in September 2011 when he was named Australia's Young Winemaker of the Year by Gourmet Traveller Wine magazine.
Richmond's GlenAyr Vineyard was first planted in 1975 by the late Bill Casimaty AM, just six years after the visionary farmer and entrepreneur founded his innovative StrathAyr Instant Lawn business. It was only the second vineyard to be established in the valley.
Paul Laing waited 10 years before planting vines on his Mapleton property at Tea Tree in the Coal River Valley. In the next 10 years, the vineyard newbie went from managing one hectare of vines on one site to joint ownership of 4ha of vines across two sites, then 8ha of vines across three sites.
First impressions are often the best. And Mark McNamara was right. Much of the hard work had already been done when he and Kirralee Hatch first saw their 2ha Tea Tree vineyard back in late 2016. The property had been owned by vendors Marcia and John Skinner since July 1999.
The 34ha Nocton Vineyard occupies a prominent location on the Colebrook Road, heading north from Richmond. Its planting back in 1999 was equally prominent. Along with Josef Chromy Wines, Roslyn Estate and Tamar Ridge, Nocton Park (as it was then called) was among the industry's largest vineyard projects.
Eunice and Phil Dunham's Parallax Organic Vineyard sprang into life in 2004, when the couple set about transforming 5.5ha of rough grazing land at Penna into Tasmania's first fully certified organic vineyard and winery. It was challenging. Even management of their vineyard's small flock of sheep needed to be fully compliant with organic standards.
When Peter McKay and Damon Hawker founded Pembroke Wines at Cambridge in 1980, only George Park's Stoney Vineyard (1973) and Bill Casimaty's GlenAyr (1975) had established vines in the Coal River Valley. The McKays had farmed its basalt-derived soils for more than 130 years. Could there be untapped potential beneath their feet?
Vineyards have a habit of changing people's lives. For New South Wales couple Tim Hodgkinson and Kate Akmentins, that day came when they began Petrichor at Tea Tree in the spring of 2018. It was the realisation of a shared love of Tasmanian lifestyle, mutual respect for biodynamics, and a deep-seated passion for small batch wines.
When Denis and Margaret Pooley planted 17 rows of vines at Cooinda Vale in the Coal River Valley in 1985, their plan was to make a little home-grown wine in retirement. The couple could never have guessed their tiny hobby vineyard would mark the start of Tasmania's first three-generation family wine company.
