Balancing act
Small is beautiful. OK, that may have been the anthem of the switched-on 70s, but its relevance to the production of fine wines in the era of economic rationalism is no less important than it was 20 years ago. If your goal is the production of world-class premium wines, you have to be prepared to sacrifice quantity for quality.
There are no short-cuts to success, least of all in a cool-climate industry like Tasmania's.
That's the reason you won't readily find Laurel and Kerry Carland's wines on the shelves of your local wine retailer.
Their Laurel Bank Vineyard may already be a highly successful operation, but its production in any given year is tiny.
A good vintage will still result in only a few hundred cases of wine.
"It's always going to be a small vineyard," Carland says of his windswept site at Granton, overlooking the Derwent River.
"That's the way I want to keep it. I want to work the vineyard myself. And that's not easy when you're balancing it with a full-time job. It's quite difficult, really."
By profession an industrial chemist, Carland's working week is split between shifts with a Hobart textile manufacturer and Laurel Bank's 2ha of vines.
The vineyard's first plantings – four rows of Pinot Noir and 10 rows of Cabernet Sauvignon – were made just on a decade ago. (Cabernet Sauvignon pictured below.)
The latter variety is planted on the vineyard's best soils – black cracking clay with some limestone outcrops. Vines have a northerly aspect to maximise sunlight exposure and promote both flavour and physiological ripeness.
Gradual expansion over subsequent years has seen the mix of varieties change to include Merlot, and a high proportion (1ha) of Sauvignon Blanc.
"I was planning to become a red wine specialist. Since then, I've learned that that was a mistake. For a small vineyard, you should really plant whites initially, to get a bit of cash-flow. Then you can concentrate on your reds, if you're still young enough!"
Carland says commercial quantities of white wines are still a while away yet.
On the other hand, the vineyard's meagre red wine releases made by Moorilla Estate's Julian Alcorso have already distinguished themselves.
From their first foray into the wine show arena – the 1995 Royal Hobart Wine Show – the Carlands were rewarded with a gold medal for their 1993 Pinot Noir, and a silver medal for their 1991 Cabernet Merlot.
That also gave them bragging rights. Laurel Bank Vineyard shared the Show's Trophy for Most Successful Exhibitor with East Coast high-flyer, Freycinet Vineyard.
Not yet released, but waiting patiently in the wings, is a rich and very stylish 1993 Laurel Bank Cabernet Merlot.
Its excellence does more than confirm that the vineyard's initial show successes were justified.
It vindicates the Carlands' commitment to quality, and the arrival on the national wine scene of another significant Tasmanian producer.
First published 28 March 1996: The Advocate
Last page update: 24 August 2026