Dell scholar announced

With vines across Tasmania now undergoing their annual winter dormancy, vineyard management over the past few weeks has been pretty routine on most sites. Snip, snip, snip. Snip, snip, snip.

But this July has been a little more out of the ordinary for Tolpuddle Vineyard manager Georgie Jacobs. The long list of regular pruning and maintenance tasks that sits on her desk has just been joined by another one. It's headed: July 2027.

What was simply a wish list has suddenly become a reality.

On Monday of this week, Jacobs was announced the inaugural winner of the Tasmanian wine industry's Vaughn Dell Scholarship. 

The new initiative has been established with the support of the Dell family, industry body Wine Tasmania, and the Tasmanian Government. It honours the life and legacy of a talented 39 year-old winemaker who died suddenly in May 2020.

The scholarship offers Tasmanian wine professionals opportunity to undertake study-based travel on topics of relevance and benefit for both the individual and the broader Tasmanian wine sector.

The $10,000 travel bursary that comes with it will provide Jacobs with much of the wherewithal needed to down tools on the 31ha Coal River Valley site and spend two weeks of July 2027 touring the USA's West Coast.

She'll spend her time there investigating the range of regenerative practices now being adopted by vineyards in long-established wine regions like Santa Barbara, Paso Robles, Napa Valley, Sonoma Valley and the Willamette Valley.

Regenerative practices focus on actively restoring and improving soil health and biodiversity, along with eliminating harmful synthetic chemicals and heavy ploughing.

Instead of simply sustaining land use, they aim to elevate its use.

Improved soil structure and organic matter can mitigate the effects of prolonged drought and heavy rainfall. They can also promote deeper root systems, making plants more resilient to disease and other environmental challenges.

"The industry here is facing some really big concerns at the moment," Jacobs noted.

"While I'm only in the early stages of my career, I'm already thinking about the climate challenges we'll have in the years ahead. We have to learn to farm in ways that give us some resilience and the best fighting chance of living with the consequences of a changing climate.

"We need to ensure that the top-performing vineyards we have in the industry today will still be here in 30 years' time, still continuing to make good wines."

Jacobs's travel itinerary will focus on investigating the range of viable vineyard options for effective under vine management. On-ground explorations of cool-climate biological farming methods will include opportunities to see how increasing soil biology and fungal populations can be achieved in a commercial vineyard environment.

The negative effects of soil compaction and reliance on synthetic herbicides will also be addressed.

"It's all about holistic farming, looking at the big picture," Jacobs added.

Big picture doesn't mean big commitment.

Jacobs believes one of the strengths of the regenerative agriculture movement is its willingness to try new practices on a small scale and to assess their benefits and shortcomings objectively.

Embracing change often means embracing evolutionary rather than revolutionary management practices.

"I'm not convinced that we should be prescribing certain kinds of management just to fall in line with dogma for dogma's sake," Jacobs said.

"It's often unrealistic to bind yourself to those kinds of programs.

"At Tolpuddle, our planning and practices are rooted in organic philosophy, but we prioritise building soil and vine health to be resilient with a changing climate and unpredictable weather systems. This gives us flexibility and sustainability in a holistic sense.

"It gives us crop security too, to ensure we're able to remain in business and keep people employed over the long-term."

In announcing this week's award, Wine Tasmania CEO Sheralee Davies says Dell's relentless desire to learn and excel is reflected in today's meticulous management of his family's Sinapius Vineyard and the extraordinary wines being made there by Linda Morice.

"Vaughn had such a big presence and was so well respected across the wine community," Davies observed.

"With Linda's support, we hope this new scholarship program recognises and builds on Vaughn's desire to always learn and elevate the wine offering in Tasmania.

"He was never one to do things the easy way – or to settle and be a follower – with his curiosity, positive attitude, determination and generosity serving as an inspiration for many."

"Georgie's project captures so much of what Vaughn believed in," added Dell's wife, Linda Morice.

"He was endlessly curious and never content to accept conventional thinking if there was a better way. He believed the best ideas came from asking questions, learning from others, and then generously sharing that knowledge with the wider wine community."

"Growing wine in places of natural significance is a privilege and I believe it comes with a responsibility to be proactive in our farming decisions," Jacobs responded.

"I'm very grateful to Linda Morice and the Dell family for this opportunity and hope that I can do justice to Vaughn's curiosity and love of travel and learning. Many thanks also to Wine Tasmania, the Tasmanian Government, and to the team at Tolpuddle Vineyard for their support."

The vineyard is owned by Adelaide Hills winemakers Martin Shaw and Michael Hill-Smith.

Located just outside Richmond, it was planted in four stages between 1988 and 1999 as one of the State's first joint wine ventures. Ownership then comprised local agricultural entrepreneur and StrathAyr Lawn king Bill Casimaty, Victorian winemaker and viticulture consultant Garry Crittenden, and managing director of Domaine Chandon Australia, Dr Tony Jordan.

The vineyard's initial purpose was to supply premium sparkling wine grapes for use in Chandon's traditional method sparkling wine program.

The dynamic Shaw + Smith duo purchased the property in 2011. They've devoted the past 15 years to pitching the venture onto the world stage as a celebrated producer of cool-climate Chardonnay and Pinot Noir.

It's been time and money well-spent.

In 2025, for example, Tolpuddle Vineyard's 2023 vintage wines collected six trophies at the prestigious International Wine Challenge, held in London. The 2023 Tolpuddle Chardonnay was named Champion White Wine.

Georgie Jacobs took up her appointment as Tolpuddle Vineyard manager in August 2025. She spent the previous four years working at Oakridge Wines in the Yarra Valley.

Her mentor was Oakridge senior viticulturist Steve Faulkner. He was a nominee for the Halliday Wine Companion Viticulturist of the Year in 2024.

In 2025, Faulkner was named Viticulturist of the Year by the Australian Society of Viticulture and Oenology.

Jacobs is yet to prove she's a chip off the old block, but right now it's pretty clear where she's heading.

Last page update: 15 July 2026