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.'
When Martin Shaw and Michael Hill-Smith flew to Tasmania to recce the State's cool climate wine industry, they didn't know they were about to purchase one of Tasmania's most distinguished vineyards. It was 2011 and Tolpuddle was not even on the market.
Visit Torch Bearer winemaker Anh Nguyen at her èse Vineyard in the Coal River Valley and you soon get the feeling there's not much she doesn't know about grape-growing and winemaking. Truth is, she is an engineer and researcher by profession. Nguyen and her husband were living and working in Sydney just a decade ago.
During its first two decades of European settlement, the Coal River Valley was known as the granary of New South Wales. By the early 20th century, it was home to one of the largest orchards in the Southern Hemisphere. By the 2020s, its vineyards made up Tasmania's second largest wine-growing area.
Australians love their fur babies. More of us live in households with a dog or a cat than with a child. Tasmania has the highest incidence of pet-ownership. Some 44 percent of residents live with at least one dog. (RSPCA Tasmania, Speaking Up For Animals, 2024).
Victoria's Yabby Lake was established at Tuerong – on the Mornington Peninsula – by the Kirby family in 1998. Under the direction of general manager and chief winemaker Tom Carson, the company has developed an enviable reputation for producing premium cool-climate Chardonnay and Pinot Noir from its single vineyard and single block sites.
