Strelley Farm Estate

02/15/2025

It's been 30 years since Peter Fogarty first planted vines at his family's Chestnut Hill property outside Perth. Next came plans for what has since become one of Australia's leading family companies in the premium wine sector, the Fogarty Wine Group.

Acquisition of Lake's Folly in 2000 marked the beginning of the company's expansions beyond its home state of Western Australia. A quarter of a century later, the Fogarty Wine Group is well-established in six of the country's key wine regions.

Tasmania joined the fold in 2019 when the company purchased Lowestoft and 50 percent ownership of Winemaking Tasmania (now 100 percent-owned and trading as Tasmanian Vintners).

Executive chairman Peter Fogarty has been a man in a hurry ever since. Two new vineyards commenced in 2021 – Strelley Farm at Richmond and Gilling Brook at Forcett – catapulted the Fogarty Wine Group into the front rank of Tasmania's leading players almost overnight.

Richmond's Strelley Farm – bordering Brinktop and Prossers Roads – lies in the heartland of the cool, dry Coal River Valley. The 120ha vineyard is home to Chardonnay, Pinot Gris, Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir. There's also a smattering of Gamay, Pinot Meunier and Shiraz/Syrah.

It's a far-cry from the sunlit slopes that grew lettuces and other loose-leaf vegetables during its years of ownership by the Houston family.

Site geology and topography here were 300 million years in the making. The vineyard's dolerite-derived soils take in sandy/alluvial material over sandstone as well as the valley's renowned black cracking clay.

Recent history has shown they work well in combination with the district's long, mild ripening seasons and produce world-class cool-climate wines.

The launch of the Fogarty Wine Group's first Strelley Farm wines in 2022 received significant wine media attention. It also provided a clear signal that the brand represents a range of commercial wines drawn from a variety of vineyard sources.

The 2023 Strelley Farm Estate Chardonnay, for example, is not a single vineyard wine as the label might suggest. It is in fact a carefully crafted blend from a handful of sites, including East Coast (61 percent), Tamar Valley (18 percent), Coal Valley (15 percent), Tasman Peninsula (3 percent), Derwent Valley (2 percent) and the Huon Valley (1 percent).

The 2023 Strelley Farm Estate Pinot Noir is a smart blend of 31 percent East Coast, 28 percent Coal River Valley, 20 percent Tamar Valley, 14 percent Tasman Peninsula, 4 percent Derwent Valley and 4 percent Huon Valley fruit.

That noted, they are very good wines nevertheless. The 2023 Pinot Noir won gold at the 2024 Sydney Royal Wine Awards, the 2024 Royal Queensland Wine Awards and the 2024 Royal Hobart Wine Show.

Executive chairman Peter Fogarty may well be a man in a hurry, but the company's Tasmanian wine quality is following along in hot pursuit.

Postscript

In late 2025, the Fogarty family joined with Pressing Matters' partner Anthony Hall to form Fogarty Hall Fine Wine Estates.

The company is believed to one of the Tasmanian wine industry's largest players.

The Fogarty Hall portfolio nationally is chock-full of premium brands, including Deep Woods Estate, Evans & Tate, Millbrook Winery, Smithbrook, Lake's Folly, Taltarni/Clover Hill, OSSA and Dalwhinnie.

Key details

  • Fogarty Hall Fine Wine Estates: owner/operator

  • Peter Fogarty: executive chairman/founder, Fogarty Wine Group

  • John Fogarty: chief viticulturist, Fogarty Wine Group

  • Liam McElhinney: chief winemaker, Tasmanian Vintners

Vineyard/cellar door address:

66 Prossers Road Richmond TAS 7025

No vineyard cellar door. See website for online sales and distribution

Head office address:

Level 1, 32 Ord Street, West Perth WA 6005

Mailing address:

PO Box 1982, West Perth WA 6872

Telephone:

+61 (8) 9756 6066

Email:

  • enquiries@fogarty.wine
  • enquiries@strelleyfarm.wine

Website:

www.strelleyfarm.wine

Image: Supplied
Image: Supplied

Tasmanian viticulture takes place within a diverse mix of soil types and microclimates.

Climate data* for sites in the Coal River Valley highlight the wide diversity of growing conditions here. Six Friends (MJT 15.9°C; 786 GDD); Pooley Cooinda Vale (MJT 16.8°C; 929 GDD); SISU (MJT 16.8°C; 929 GDD) figure among the coolest sites.

Richmond Park Estate and Strelley Farm Estate (both MJT 18.0°C; 1189 GDD) are considered to be among the warmest, along with Coal Valley Vineyard and Cross Rivulet Winery (both MJT 17.9°C; 1185 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 Prossers Road, Richmond, 1995-2024:

  • Total annual average rainfall: 484mm
  • Growing season average rainfall (Oct 1-Apr 30): 276mm
  • Average autumn rainfall: 106mm
  • Mean January temperature: 18.0°C
  • Growing degree-days: 1189 GDD
  • Average no of hot days (35°C or more) per year: 1
  • Average no of cold days (minimum 4°C or less) Sept 1-April 30: 10

*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