Head south for wine adventures
It may not be the proper season for it, but this week sees a fair bit of spring-cleaning taking place in and around Tasmania's Southern Wine Trail. For close to 40 of the State's 185 licensed wine producers, the cleaning will be more than idiomatic.
They'll be out in force, sprucing up wineries and vineyard cellar doors in readiness for Wine South's annual Southern Open Vineyards Weekend.
The event takes place at the end of this week, from 28 February to 2 March, 2025.
Participating producers can be found in the Coal River Valley, the Derwent Valley, the Huon Valley/D'Entrecasteaux Channel and the State's South East. Put simply, the weekend is a unique, self-guided journey into Tasmanian wine.
Small wineries have played key roles in the Open Vineyards Weekend, ever since Hobart-based food and wine writer Graeme Phillips began the initiative in 1998.
Back then, online wine sales were little more than a pipedream for Tasmanian producers.
The former restaurateur and columnist for The Mercury also felt it was time industry small-fry were given opportunity to come face-to-face with consumers that supported them throughout the year.
Merriworth Wines' co-owner Mark McNamara believes the Open Vineyards Weekend remains an important annual event. The Tea Tree winemaker and Wine South President says a significant number of producers taking part are sole operators, or are small-scale, family-owned businesses still undergoing development.
"They simply don't have the capacity to build and operate a financially viable vineyard cellar door alongside equally challenging winegrowing, winemaking and wine marketing activities," he explains.
"They're also likely to have very limited wine production, ruling them out of conventional cellar door sales conducted over 52 weeks."
Wobbly Boot Vineyard's Paul Williams has clear recollections of the Open Weekend's formative years. Prior to taking on ownership of an established vineyard at Campania, he and wife Lynda figured among the small army of wine enthusiasts who sought out labels and producers given top billing by Phillips in his specially prepared weekend guide.
The tables have turned. This weekend finds the couple - and their golden retriever Maeve - sharing wines at their picturesque bush property on White Kangaroo Road, 35km from Hobart. At any other time of year, the 10ha site is open only by appointment.
"In addition to our current releases, we will be pouring Pinot Noirs from 2015 and 2017, giving people an idea of just how well our Tassie wines can hold up in the cellar," Williams says.
Be prepared to be impressed. The vineyard's contract winemaker is Frogmore Creek's Alain Rousseau.
Bring your four-legged friend if you like. Three fenced off-lead areas will cater for dogs of various sizes and dispositions.
"We have an 'animals first' and ethical philosophy where our organic grape growing, winemaking and business practices all place animals first and foremost," Williams adds.
"We love nature and we're committed to animal welfare and wildlife rescue. We're giving back to the community."
Wobbly Boot's mantra of 'making great wines for great causes' isn't something its owners sourced from a switched-on marketing consultant. That's how the couple live their daily lives. By all accounts, this is Australia's only philanthropic vineyard.
Since taking on vineyard ownership in 2015, the Williamses and Maeve have raised in excess of $115,000 to support all manner of wildlife rescue and animal welfare organisations. 'Wine and Woofs' has become a very successful quarterly fundraiser, reaching a 40-event milestone during 2024.
In mid-January 2025, more than 100 people attended a fun-filled day of food, music, and furry friends to raise funds for Campania's Sloth Hill Animal Sanctuary. Two-and-a-half years earlier, Wobbly Boot partnered with the Australian War Animal Memorial Organisation to provide displaced animals in war-torn Ukraine with essential food and medications.
"We're keen to demonstrate to people that you can farm successfully and help look after animals and wildlife at the same time," Williams concludes.
It's been 20 years since Darren and Jackie Brown first opened their Puddleduck Vineyard to the public, providing a regular cellar door destination on the Open Vineyards Weekend. Like the Williamses, the Browns work hard to ensure visitors feel comfortable and relaxed from the moment they first set foot on the property.
The business is located between Cambridge and Richmond, in the south of the Coal River Valley. It's easily spotted by passing road traffic. A larger-than-life, vine-woven duck named Morrison drifts serenely on the property's vineyard dam. So too do the occasional remote-controlled yachts that sail here.
"People often drop by just to see what the name is all about," says Darren Brown, who first started out in the Tasmanian wine industry as a trainee at Moorilla Estate in 1985.
Almost entirely reliant upon online wine sales, vineyard events and steady visitor patronage, Puddleduck offers a diverse range of beautifully packaged gifts and other merchandise. These provide worthy supplements to Puddleduck's bar and self-guided tastings. Ditto the delicious dishes prepared on-site for its Vineyard Pecking Menu.
Indeed, self-catering is actively encouraged there. This comes by virtue of the couple's Reverse BYO initiative. Vineyard visitors are welcome to bring their own foods to enjoy out of doors, as long as they leave all beverages at home. A site fee is charged for groups of 15 and over.
"If ever a winery was born with blue blood in its veins, Tolpuddle would have to be it."
Thus reads the opening line of the 2025 Halliday Wine Companion's introduction to one of the book's three megastar operations in the Coal River Valley.
(The others, highlighted by the publication's coveted '5 red stars' rating and bold red text, are Pooley Wines at Richmond and Domaine A outside Campania. The former is described as 'a glowing exemplar of a boutique Tasmanian family estate.')
Wine enthusiasts and professionals alike should note that despite officially being opened for tastings, Tolpuddle is not a participating winery in this year's Southern Open Vineyards Weekend. The new, state-of-the art tasting room is only open by appointment each Friday through Monday.
Business hours span 11am to 5pm, with 4pm providing last opportunities for end-of-day bookings. Tastings cost $55 per person.
That noted, a visit to this distinguished site should be mandatory for every fine food and wine fan. Guests taste a flight of four wines, commencing with the current release Tolpuddle Vineyard Chardonnay and its sibling Pinot Noir. Each sits alongside a more mature back vintage of the same wine, enabling comparisons in style and quality to be made.
A concise menu of small share plates with local ingredients also features at the Back Tea Tree Road facility. The Tongola Curdy Goats Cheese with Hazelbrae Hazelnuts and Kunzea Honey is an ultra-smooth, heavenly delight.
Wines from 2023 and 2018 make up the current tasting foursome.
Last September's Melbourne Royal Wine Awards saw the wonderful 2023 Chardonnay win three trophies: Best Tasmanian Chardonnay, Best Chardonnay, and the prestigious Francois De Castella Trophy for Best Young White Wine of the show. Chardonnay entries at the event totalled 270 wines from all over Australia.
The fabulous 2018 Chardonnay drinks superbly, replete with a neatly textured palate and gentle, savoury finish.
Sadly, Tolpuddle tasting room purchases are limited to one bottle of each wine presented there. This reflects increasing pressure on product inventory and the extensive waitlist now controlling subscriber purchase of annual new releases.
Online customers might soon face further disappointment. In 2024, Halliday's 'industry bible' predicted Tolpuddle Vineyard Pinot Noir will become Australia's most collected Pinot Noir within the next three years.
First published 28 February 2025: tasmaniantimes.com
Last page update: 26 May 2026