Sterling Heights
Lilydale's Beutenmüller family grew wine grapes in Germany before settling in Tasmania in the 1850s. The vine-growing gene then skipped a few generations until direct descendant Geoff Wells and his wife Jenny planted vines at Winkleigh in the West Tamar in 1988.
The couple's bucolic site on Stringybark Hill provided a home to a smattering of varieties. Eventually, almost 2.0ha of Chardonnay, Riesling and Pinot Noir became mainstays of the shared family project.
Sterling Heights was a small hobby vineyard at first, mostly tended in spare time whenever the Wellses could find it beyond regular 9-5 work and raising young children.
The site's grey sandy loam over varying subsoils enjoyed an east-north-easterly aspect. Indeed, it was well suited to viticulture. Early wines – made by Bernard and Brigitte Rochaix at Rochecombe – allowed the fledgling business to hit the ground running.
The 1993 Sterling Heights Pinot Noir was an excellent young wine but was unfortunate to meet not just one match but two matches at the 1995 Royal Hobart Wine Show. The wine scored 56 points in its class, winning the top gold and just edging out the 1993 Elsewhere Pinot Noir, a prolific gold medal and trophy winner in its day.
At the trophy taste-off, Sterling Heights came up against another 56-pointer, the 1994 Freycinet.
Three highly-fancied Tasmanian Pinot Noirs. Two trophies up for grabs. In the end, Freycinet's wine was named Best Pinot Noir. Meanwhile, Elsewhere claimed the title of Best Tasmanian Red Wine, despite initially being out-pointed by the Wellses' Tamar Valley contender.
Close, but no cigar.
Sterling Heights Riesling and Chardonnay enjoyed strong support, too. Most especially those of the mid-late 1990s, when made under contract by Alain Rousseau, then at Moorilla Estate.
The vineyard reached a high water mark in 1999 when the 1997 Sterling Heights Chardonnay won gold and the Trophy for Best Chardonnay at the Tasmanian Wine Show. The achievement was arguably the most meritorious of the whole event. In addition to judges James Halliday and Huon Hooke – and associate judge Jim Chatto – panel membership included Michael Brajkovich MW.
The celebrated Kumeu River winemaker is widely recognised as the pioneer of the cool-climate Chardonnay movement in New Zealand. He championed wild ferments in an era when many New World winemakers were firmly committed to the use of safe-and-sound cultivated yeasts.
In 2024, Brajkovich was lauded internationally as the Winemakers' Winemaker by the Institute of Masters of Wine, based in the UK.
By the end of the 1990s, the Faulkners Road vineyard had repaid the Wellses' faith in the site, but there was a mismatch between risk and reward.
In 2003, the couple sold their 15 year-old labour of love and moved to St Helens. There they bought a home and a greenfield site on Ansons Bay Road, just out of town. The couple began planting their new Sterling Heights the following year.
This time around, there were three white varieties. Gewürztraminer, Pinot Gris and Schönburger.
Gamay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier provided the red trinity.
The East Coast property is a remarkably warm one. Authoritative climate data – independently collected over the past two decades – indicate the Ansons Bay Road site is the warmest of any located on the East Coast. It's also one of the warmest in the entire State.
With that comes significant risk. The Wellses lost a handful of early vintages to Jack Frost. More recent adverse events have been addressed by the construction of a purpose-built dam connected to a network of overhead irrigation sprays. These can be triggered by frost alarms when overnight temperatures get precariously low.
Geoff Wells's carefully crafted small-batch wines have a loyal customer base with local distribution.
The Sterling Heights vineyard cellar door broke new ground in 2004. It was the first to open at the northern, Bay of Fires end of the East Coast. It operates throughout the district's key tourism months, with home-grown and home-made cider (as well as Jenny's jams as preserves) also being offered. It's a very relaxed and convivial vineyard/garden setting.
All's Wells that ends well.
Key details:
- Geoff Wells: co-owner and vigneron
- Jenny Wells: co-owner/operator
Vineyard/cellar door address:
- 114 Ansons Bay Road, St Helens, TAS 7216
- Tastings and sales at a pop-up cellar door at 114 Ansons Bay Road
Telephone:
+61 (0) 0419 594 115
Email:
geoff@sterlingheights.com.au
Website:
Coming soon: www.sterlingheights.com.au
Refer to Facebook: Sterling Heights
Vineyard and Winery
Tasmanian viticulture takes place within a diverse mix of soil types and microclimates.
Climate data* for sites on the East Coast highlight the wide range of growing conditions here. Consider: Saltwater River Wines (MJT 16.0°C; 859 GDD) and Sterling Heights (MJT 18.3°C; 1267 GDD).
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 Ansons Bay Road, St Helens 1995-2024:
- Total annual average rainfall: 757mm
- Growing season average rainfall (Oct 1-Apr 30): 451mm
- Average autumn rainfall: 169mm
- Mean January temperature: 18.3°C
- Growing degree-days: 1267 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: 10
Climate data* for previous site, Faulkners Road, Winkleigh 1995-2024:
- Total annual average rainfall: 859mm
- Growing season average rainfall (Oct 1-Apr 30): 388mm
- Average autumn rainfall: 193mm
- Mean January temperature: 17.8°C
- Growing degree-days: 1131 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: 17
*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