Evolving door

As one door closes, another door opens. That's how life has changed this past fortnight for two key players in Tasmania's steadily evolving, cool climate wine industry. Leaving through the shed door was former Tolpuddle Vineyard manager, Carlos Souris. 

The talented, cool climate viticulturist has moved into retirement, having completed his career-defining 13-year stay on the Coal River Valley property.

Tolpuddle Vineyard became one of nation's most celebrated cool climate vineyards under Souris's day-to-day management of the site.

Arriving soon at the shed door will be Georgina Jacobs. Tolpuddle's newest incumbent was previously operations manager at Oakridge in Victoria's Yarra Valley. Prior to that, she worked at Ata Rangi, the superstar Pinot Noir producer in Martinbrough, New Zealand.

Oakridge has been defined by its holistic approach to vineyard management over the past decade. The use of compost teas, cover cropping, and natural pest control has brought enhanced soil health and increased microbial and insect life in Oakridge's award-winning vineyard ecosystem. That suggests Jacobs will be a neat fit in her new company role in Tasmania.

Tolpuddle Vineyard – just outside Richmond – was planted in four stages between 1988 and 1999 as a joint business venture between 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.

Its purpose back then was to supply premium sparkling wine grapes for use in Chandon's Cuvée Brut. In subsequent years – before Souris's arrival – it also played small but vital roles in the creation of a whole range of premium and prestige labels, including Eileen Hardy Chardonnay, Penfolds Yattarna Chardonnay, Domaine Chandon Tasmanian Vintage Brut, and Hardys' acclaimed Arras and and Bay of Fires wines.

The name evokes memories of the Tolpuddle Martyrs – six English farm workers from Tolpuddle in Dorset, sentenced to penal transportation to Tasmania in 1834. George Loveless – a key figure in the group – spent part of his sentence farming GlenAyr, the Richmond property later owned by the Casimaty family.

Souris entered the picture in August 2012, following the 20ha vineyard's purchase by Martin Shaw and Michael Hill-Smith MW, owners of South Australian company Shaw + Smith. The two Adelaide Hills wine producers had previously flown south on an industry reconnaisance mission and come away with ownership of a property that hadn't even been on the market.

When Souris arrived to take up his new management role, he was already a veteran of the Tasmanian industry.

"I came to Tassie in 1983 on the way to Margaret River, Western Australia, which was where all the wine-growing action was at the time," he recalls.

"After looking around the State for a while, I thought, 'Wow, why would you want to grow grapes anywhere else?'"

Initially trained and qualified in New South Wales – Souris was vineyard manager at Craigmoor during Mudgee's boom times – he cut his teeth in Tasmanian viticulture with the establishment of Tashinga and Meehan's Vineyards at Cambridge during the late 1990s.

Souris says Shaw + Smith's purchase of Tolpuddle Vineyard was a very astute one.

To begin with, he believes he was a fortunate beneficiary of the considerable professionalism that underpinned the property's development back in the 1980s and its subsequent acclaim as Tasmanian Vineyard of the Year in 2006.

"But Martin and Michael had no intention of making sparkling wine from their 20ha of vines," he explains.

"That meant commitment instead to some major undertakings in order to make the site better suited to single vineyard Chardonnay and Pinot Noir."

Souris's first move was to recommend purchase of a 20-tonne excavator. Indeed, he told Shaw and Smith exactly where they could buy one to begin work immediately

"The idea of using such a blunt instrument raised a few eyebrows, especially among the locals," the industry veteran chuckles.

Wish granted, Souris spent the next two years sculpting and re-defining the vineyard landscape according to plans developed by renowned viticulturist Ray Guerin, then engaged as Shaw + Smith group viticulturist.

Vineyard re-development and subsequent expansion continued into the 2020s under the direction of current company viticulturist, Murray Leake. Re-development included re-jigging pruning, canopy management and vital infrastructure like posts and wires. It also involved removal of 3ha of windbreaks, rogue eucalypts and under-performing blocks and clonal selections. New vermin-proof fencing excluded native foragers.

Much-needed additions included upgrades to drainage, irrigation and frost mitigation, with finely-tuned differential irrigation systems being installed to ensure vineyard blocks were capable of receiving exactly the right amount of water when they needed it. New and improved water storage provided flexibility and security of supply.

The introduction of certified planting material and purchase of an adjacent parcel of land enabled Souris, fellow viticulturist Wendy Borg and their small team of hard-working locals to create entire new blocks. Vine density on some older blocks was increased with the use of traditional layering techniques.

Less evident to untrained eyes are the subtle changes that have been made to soil structure, water-holding capacity and overall vineyard health and biomass. Targeted application of biochar and organic compost have reaped rich rewards and underscore an approach to viticulture that has become more and more sustainable and environmentally friendly.

The trickle of national awards that came Tolpuddle's way in the early days of Souris's employment has become a flood in more recent times, not just nationally but internationally.

In 2020, the 2018 Chardonnay secured five trophies at the (London) International Wine Challenge, including Champion White Wine. Two years later, it was three IWC trophies for the 2020 Chardonnay, and Decanter White Wine of the Year acclamation for the 2021 Chardonnay.

A little over six months ago, Shaw and Hill-Smith took the bold move of opening a small but beautifully crafted vineyard cellar door on the Richmond property. Its mere existence on the site serves as a constant reminder of the incredible journey that's been shared by Souris, his fellow workers and, of course, by his former employers.

"You know, I nearly didn't take that job because I initially thought the place had had its day," he muses.

"Martin and Michael should be bloody knighted, you know that? What they've done for Tasmania's wine industry is phenomenal.

"Their project was such a leap of faith. They put so much time, money and emotional energy into it. They really anguished over a lot of the decisions that were made. They wouldn't have taken them lightly.

"They are amazing, those guys."

It takes one to know one.

Last page update: December 2025