Quest for quality
Good wine takes time. But just how much time is enough can't be fathomed out before you start your quest for quality, says Clemens Hill Vineyard owner John Shepherd. It's something you discover along the way.
When the retired medico and his wife Joan moved to their Coal River Valley property in 2001, they felt they'd already given enough time to the business of growing grapes and making wine.
The couple had just sold their Rosabrook Vineyard in WA's Margaret River wine region to industry newcomer Pilandri. They were anticipating a quiet life together after a seven-year career as premium wine producers.
The Shepherds had lived in Tasmania in the 1970s, so when they bought Kevin and Jacqui Wagner's pocket handkerchief vineyard, they purchased it for family and lifestyle considerations rather than for the prospect of producing small batches of premium quality, cool-climate wine.
"I was anticipating before I came here that I would buy Kevin's grapes – which I did – and then I would just grub out the entire vineyard and forget all about it," he explains.
"But then – rather rashly – I decided I'd give it another year or so after the 2001 Pinot Noir picked up a gold at the Tasmanian Wines Show."
He has subsequently expanded the vineyard to a little over two hectares. It comprises the valley's usual suspects – Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir.
A chance meeting with Winemaking Tasmania's Julian Alcorso then led to Shepherd's appointment as a director of the southern-based operation. That confirmed the couple's decision to continue to operate Clemens Hill as a going concern, at least for the short term.
"I think 2004 was the first vintage when we really started to get our heads around what was happening," Shepherd adds.
"Because of our interest in Winemaking Tasmania, I felt we should be prepared to be guinea pigs and try a few different things. I wasn't just thinking about our own wines. Some of the things we've been trying to do have since percolated through the system to the point where the company now has a small number of reserve quality Pinot Noirs in barrel.
"That's not only good for the clients involved, it's good from a business point of view.
"If we can have half a dozen or more producers making some really outstanding Pinots, it's good for the industry as a whole. After all, the only way Tasmania is going to get itself on the map is by putting up its best wines and allowing the critics to come here and taste them and say, 'wow, they're good.'
"It's going to take time, but it will be the making of Tasmanian wine. The only way you can go in a small place like this is to go for quality.
"You can't rely on one-hit wonders or having good wines from just one or two producers. You have to be able to provide good value for money; to generate a customer base that really wants to buy up all your wine."
Success won't happen overnight, Shepherd adds. But it won't happen at all unless producers develop a sense of camaraderie and work together to allow a free exchange of ideas and aspirations.
A neat prescription.
First published 5 July 2006: The Examiner
Last page update: 31 August 2026