Doing it once, doing it right

As a teenager used to life outdoors on a northern Tasmanian sheep farm, Peter Caldwell might have been expected to run a mile from any part-time job involving routine tasks and attention to detail.

But when the boss is Tasmanian wine pioneer Graham Wiltshire - and your work space is a neat new winery partly funded by Champagne Louis Roederer - you can't help but get swept along by the hustle and bustle of a busy vintage.

"'Do it once; do it right' was Graham's mantra," Caldwell recalls.

"Peter showed more promise and had a greater feel for growing vines than any of the 50 or so novices I employed during my time at Heemskerk," Wiltshire recounted in the years before his death in 2014.

"In fact, I like to think that I was responsible for launching his career. I told him he asked too many questions. Eventually, I gave him the sack and said he needed to head to Roseworthy to get a degree."

Caldwell smiles broadly when he reflects on the wise words and formative experiences of that brief employment three decades ago. These days, he's safely ensconced at Dalrymple, barely two kilometres from Wiltshire's old stomping ground. 

Caldwell has just completed his 10th vintage at the Pipers River property. Established by the Sundstrup and Mitchell families in the 1980s, Dalrymple became part of Hill-Smith Family Vineyards in 2007. Six years earlier, the South Australian company purchased Heemskerk Jansz to create the sparkling wine flagship, Jansz Tasmania.

"Working with Graham was great," the Dalrymple vigneron says of his late mentor.

"When I began studying winemaking and viticulture at Roseworthy College in South Australia, it was nothing like working in Tasmania. It was all about warm climate, grow-as-much-as-you-can viticulture. It was a different world entirely. Nowadays, industry leaders like the Hill-Smiths acknowledge that quality winemaking starts in the vineyard. That's where our key efforts are directed."

Wiltshire would not be the least bit surprised to find Caldwell has excelled in his key role at Dalrymple. In addition to expanding its Pipers River plantings by 50 percent, he's rejuvenated the site's winemaking operations. Along with a brand new warehouse and barrel room, there's also a vineyard insectarium.

Caldwell's working brief is the production of modern, stylish, cool climate table wines. 

Historically, that would have meant adding value to Dalrymple's 18ha of Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc at its home base. However, recent additions to the Dalrymple portfolio include a range of discretely different, single site Pinot Noirs from the Coal River Valley, East Coast (Swansea) and upper Derwent Valley (Ouse).

For the past three years, Caldwell has also been closely involved with the planning and development of Hill-Smith's new 43ha Glenview Vineyard. Located at White Hills, outside Launceston, the site is presently home to 36ha of vines. Around 20ha of them – planted in 2018 – yielded their first sparkling wine grapes in 2020.

Those small parcels of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay are now under the care of southern Tasmanian Jansz vigneron, Jen Doyle. Winner of the Tasmanian wine industry's prestigious 2011 Dr Don Martin Sustainable Viticulture Fellowship, Doyle joined Hill-Smith Family Vineyards following its purchase of Frogmore Creek Vineyard in late 2012.

The Coal River Valley site on Brinktop Road is now called Pontos Hills. These days, around 40ha of its Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Pinot Meunier are devoted to Jansz Tasmania's sparkling wine portfolio. A further 3ha of the property's 20-year-old vines produce small volumes of Parish Vineyard Riesling. Meanwhile, a neighbouring 10ha parcel of land - also purchased in 2012 - has become Mount Lord Vineyard under Doyle's watchful eyes and guiding hands.

Caldwell says his Glenview project on Egerton Road is a living example of Wiltshire's 'do it once, do it right' philosophy.

"We're really happy with the way things have gone," he adds.

"Getting a vineyard crop in the second year is quite a big leap forward from what would be the normal approach. But if you're well prepared, have the right plan and do the right things with the right budget, you can get a young vineyard up and running more quickly than expected. To be fair, we've been doing this sort of thing for a little while now at Hill-Smith. (Laughter.)

"It's pretty daunting putting in a new vineyard if you've never done it before. For a lot of people, it's a one-off story. It's really good to be able to show what can happen with a new development when you go about it the right way."

Doyle has shown she's no slouch either when it comes to vineyard establishment. In addition to making changes to Pontos Hills and planting out Mount Lord, the former New South Wales farm girl has been instrumental in the establishment of a green field site at Forcett. The 40ha Woodside Vineyard in southern Tasmania was planted in the spring of 2017. Last year, it had its first small harvest.

It was a milestone event, Doyle admits. Far from being cold, wet and miserable for much of the year, the Coal River Valley and the emerging Forcett district figure among Australia's driest wine-growing areas.  The long-term average annual rainfall at nearby Hobart Airport is officially 497mm. Pontos Hill's own weather station receives barely 450mm.

"We were really lucky because the 2017-2018 growing season was such a good one for vineyard establishment, and we also had access to water from South East Irrigation Scheme 3 at Sorell," Doyle says.

"We had a much drier year in 2019. Despite some water restrictions, we were able to irrigate from our dam at Woodside. We don't have that kind of option at Pontos Hills. Our vineyard blocks there are a lot drier and much more difficult to manage. The great thing is we had a really beautiful autumn in the south this year.

"A long, slow ripening period finished the season perfectly. We couldn't have asked for better."

First published 29 May 2020: tasmaniantimes.com