Cross Rivulet Winery
It takes years of backbreaking effort to bring a new vineyard to fruition. Its undoing can take just a single night, especially if you receive unwanted visits from hordes of native wildlife. The usual suspects come in a variety of shapes and sizes – and Lloyd Matthews has seen them all during the last 40 years.
He first planted Cross Rivulet Vineyard back in 1980.
Matthews' 1.2ha pocket handkerchief operation may be one of the smallest in the valley, but he's nevertheless one of its pioneering players. Only the Parks at Stoney Vineyard and the Casimaty family at GlenAyr put vines in the ground ahead of him.
Cross Rivulet takes its names from a small, local watercourse that often stops in summer and does little more than trickle its way through the rest of the year. Former Norfolk Island settler William Cross (c 1763-1831) spent his final years in a landmark cottage built somewhere close by.
Annual rainfall in this corner of the valley barely tops 500mm. That's a good deal less than many parts of South Australia's Barossa Valley.
Viticulture was slow to get underway in the Coal River Valley. It wasn't until the completion of the Craigbourne Dam and its accompanying irrigation scheme – in 1986 – that vineyards of any scale were introduced into the landscape.
A century earlier, Matthews' landholding would have been at the edge of the large and prosperous Craigow property. It was established by Scottish immigrant Dr James Murdoch, in the 1820s.
Stage one of Cross Rivulet – planted in brown/black cracking clay on dolerite – began in 1980 with around 0.5ha of vines. Another 0.7ha or so was added in 1990 to complete the project.
Chardonnay, Gewürztraminer, Müller-Thurgau, Riesling, Cabernet Sauvignon and Pinot Noir were all sourced with the help of the Tasmanian Department of Agriculture's Sandford Research Station. Gewürztraminer and Müller-Thurgau were recommended for their early-ripening habits.
Cabernet Sauvignon planting material was sourced from industry pioneer Graham Wiltshire. His gold medal 1982 Heemskerk wine was a Jimmy Watson Trophy contender at the 1983 Royal Melbourne Wine Show.
Matthews learned to make wine through his book reading and attendance at several Adult Education courses held in Hobart. The first was led by Julian Alcorso (Moorilla Estate). A later one was guided by former Mudgee winemaker John Rozentals, who had moved to live in Hobart.
Handpicked fruit from the vineyard's initial plantings brought forth an inaugural harvest somewhere around 1986. Those pesky bush critters – especially marauding black jays – wrought havoc on Cross Rivulet's early vintages. When vineyard netting provided something of a solution, it was the valley's hare and possum populations that brought new challenges.
These days, large and determined mobs of wallabies and kangaroos do most of the damage. Brushtail possums have largely disappeared.
That noted, the veteran vigneron is not about to wind down any time soon.
Vintage number 41 is beckoning.
Key details:
Lloyd Matthews: owner/vigneron
Vineyard/cellar door address:
334 Richmond Rd, Cambridge TAS 7170
Telephone:
+61 (0) 073 753 370
Email:
N/A
Website:
N/A
Tasmanian viticulture takes place within a diverse mix of soil types and microclimates.
Climate data* for sites in the Coal River Valley highlight the wide diversity of growing conditions here. Six Friends (MJT 15.9°C; 786 GDD); Pooley Cooinda Vale (MJT 16.8°C; 929 GDD); SISU (MJT 16.8°C; 929 GDD) figure among the coolest sites.
Richmond Park Estate and Strelley Farm Estate (both MJT 18.0°C; 1189 GDD) are considered to be among the warmest, along with Coal Valley Vineyard and Cross Rivulet Winery (both MJT 17.9°C; 1185 GDD).
Vineyard sites on the Australian mainland are far warmer than those in Tasmania.
South Australia's Piccadilly Valley* (MJT 20.4°C; 1730 GDD) and Macedon Ranges* (MJT 19.9°C; 1365 GDD) in Victoria are regarded as the coolest GIs in their respective states.
Climate data* for Richmond Road, 1995-2024:
- Total annual average rainfall: 475mm
- Growing season average rainfall (Oct 1-Apr 30): 272mm
- Average autumn rainfall: 105mm
- Mean January temperature: 17.9°C
- Growing degree-days: 1185 GDD
- Average no of hot days (35°C or more) per year: 1
- Average no of cold days (minimum 4°C or less) Sept 1-April 30: 9
*Source: My Climate View, utilising past data from the Bureau of Meteorology and the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts. Funded by the Australian Government.
Last page update: January 2026