2024 Sinapius Clem $42
The 2024 Clem Blanc marks ten vintages of this wine created from Sinapius Vineyard's estate-grown Pinot Gris, Pinot Blanc, Gewürztraminer, Riesling, Grüner Veltliner, and Chardonnay Musqué.
Ten vintages, half of them brought to fruition since Linda Morice's husband and vineyard co-founder Vaughn Dell was so tragically and unexpectedly taken from his young family, aged 39 years.
It was a devastating time for all who knew and loved the Pipers Book family. But time works its magic, and Morice has continued the extraordinary trajectory of success that accompanied each release of the vineyard's wines prior to that fateful day in May of 2020.
It probably seems aeons ago now, but Morice was a health professional before she and Dell began their Tasmanian wine odyssey together back in 2005. The care and attention lavished upon her property's 4.3ha vineyard in subsequent years has been equally professional. Nothing goes on there without it coming under the gaze of her watchful eyes.
Morice is especially attentive when it comes to vine health and crop yields.
Her eye for quality ensures a sound start to vintage and in topnotch seasons like 2024 it means the resulting wines are very impressive indeed. The current Sinapius releases from that vintage – 2024 Chardonnay, 2024 Esmé, 2024 Vaughn's Jardin Gamay and 2024 Close Planted Pinot Noir – are all worthy of a place among the most distinguished collections of Tasmanian cool-climate wine.
They are very smart indeed.
The 2024 Clem is more likely to receive qualified support from some consumers, not because it doesn't cut it at the meal table but because it arrives there at the end of a somewhat unusual journey from the vineyard to the winery. Mixing together six vineyard parcels before they even arrive at the press seems a bit haphazard. Then comes around seven days on skins after de-stemming and crushing and the long nervous spell that ensues while the whole shebang undergoes wild fermentation and seven months' maturation in oak. Malolactic fermentation (100 percent) is also allowed to take place spontaneously.
But Morice has a creative eye for detail Those component parts all come together beautifully to provide quite sumptuous drinking, something that appears at odds with its relatively modest (12.5%) alcohol. It's deliciously textural, with a good portion of each slurp being driven by the wine's Gewürztraminer.
Those rosewater/Turkish Delight notes are complemented by tropical and citrus fruit characters, with the oak introducing some subtle almond-like complexity. The wine's lingering finish comes with a slightly briny tang that elevates the drinking pleasure.
Sinapius's 2024 Clem may well be a significant milestone wine but I'm hoping there will be a good many more of them further on down the road.
Source: Cellar door purchase
www.sinapius.com.au
Last page update: 17 October 2026