Five Bob Farm
Five Bob Farm at Birchs Bay in the D'Entrecasteaux Channel has been in the Read family since 1960, when it was purchased and developed as a mixed farm with orchards, vegetables, and native bushland. Between 1970 and 2000, financial stresses saw this southern end of the Channel experience the loss of almost all commercial agricultural activity.
Much of it was due to the collapse of the apple industry following UK admission to the European Union in 1973.
Dr Chris Read – a former research fellow at the University of Tasmania – returned to the 100ha family property in 2001. Over the next 15 years, the entrepreneurial plant physiologist expanded his horticultural focus to include native pepper production – under the Diemen Pepper label – as well as community gardens, walking trails, and the not-for-profit Art Farm Birchs Bay sculpture trail.
Diemen Pepper has become the world's leading producer of the spicy Tasmanian native berry.
The Annual Art Farm Birchs Sculpture Prize – valued at $10,000 in cash and acquisition – showcases new work from a wide range of Tasmanian sculptors. It's designed to encourage both artists and the broader community to engage with art through the landscape.
In 2017, Read established a 3ha vineyard on the site, adding a further 2ha in 2023. Free-draining sandy loams with deeper loam-clay play host to Chardonnay, Pinot Gris, Riesling and Pinot Noir. The cool maritime climate – with mild summers, cold autumn nights and refreshing sea breezes – ensures long, gradual ripening periods. These are ideally-suited to creating elegant, aromatic cool climate wines.
Five Bob wines are made by Jonny Hughes at Mewstone Wines. A celebrated over-achiever in the national Young Gun of Wine awards, Hughes and his well-appointed modern winery are located just 2km away.
Estate-grown grapes are hand-picked, small-lot fermented, often with the help of wild yeast. The resulting wines showcase the fine natural acidity and restrained fruit style that define the table wines produced south of Hobart.
'The nascent Five Bob wine label... makes for an exciting addition to the southern Tasmania wine scene.'
2025 Halliday Wine Companion
Key details:
Dr Chris Read: owner/winemaker
Jonny Hughes: contract winemaker
Vineyard/cellar door address:
3866 Channel Highway, Birchs Bay, TAS 7162
Telephone:
+61 (0) 407 781 600
Email:
info@fivebob.com.au
Website:
www.fivebob.com.au
Tasmanian viticulture takes place within a diverse mix of soil types and microclimates.
Climate data* for sites in the Huon Valley/D'Entrecasteaux Channel highlight the wide diversity of growing conditions here. Nandroya, Two Bud Spur (both MJT 14.8°C; 622 GDD) and Bruny Island Premium Wines (MJT 15.4°C; 747 GDD) appear to be the coolest sites south of Hobart.
Tinderbox Vineyard (MJT 17.3°C; 1088 GDD) and Trial Bay Estate (MJT 17.1°C; 1044 GDD) are the warmest.
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 Birchs Bay 1995-2024:
- Total annual average rainfall: 836mm
- Growing season average rainfall (Oct 1-Apr 30): 441mm
- Average autumn rainfall: 190mm
- Mean January temperature: 16.4°C
- Growing degree-days: 916 GDD
- Average no of hot days (35°C or more) per year: 0
- Average no of cold days (minimum 4°C or less) Sept 1-April 30: 12
*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