Valley project a labour of love
When Matthias Utzinger left home to travel the highways and byways of Africa and Asia, few Swiss winemaking peers could have predicted a life-changing move to Tasmania and the creation of a small-scale wine business. It wasn't something the young bloke from Zurich ever considered himself.
"My wife Lauren is a Tassie girl," he explains.
"We met in Iran in 2015 and spent six months travelling together before coming to Tasmania to enjoy Christmas with Lauren's family...
"Just look where we are now. Lauren and I have two wonderful daughters and we're making wine together in the beautiful Tamar Valley. What could be better than that?"
Life is full of 'pinch me' moments, but for Legana's newest vignerons, the past seven years have swept by so quickly they can barely grasp the enormity of the project they've undertaken.
Pinching will have to wait a while.
Utzinger says the couple's Tasmanian wine odyssey began in earnest in 2017 when they moved to the Huon Valley to take up work with Stefano Lubiana Wines at their Lucille Vineyard.
Located at Cradoc - halfway between Cygnet and Huonville - the former Panorama Vineyard had been previously owned and operated by the Vishacki family. It was purchased in 2015 by Steve and Monique Lubiana.
On taking possession of the property, the Derwent Valley couple had subsequently embarked upon ambitious programs of vineyard and winery re-development.
Employment on the old Panorama site enabled the Utzingers to gain first-hand experience in Tasmanian viticulture and winemaking. Equally important, it provided opportunities to collect and propagate valuable vineyard planting material.
The couple also made small volumes of wine there under the Utzinger Wines label. That provided welcome encouragement for their previous joint decision of wanting to forge ahead with vineyard and winery projects of their own.
"After purchasing just over 20ha of land on Upper McEwans Road, we set about planting our Tamar Valley site in mid-2018," Utzinger recalls.
"Lauren and I – together with Lauren's dad – did much of the work ourselves. Northern Vineyard Services helped put in the posts, but Lauren and I came up with the vineyard design and laid out the rows ourselves. We also installed the vineyard's drip irrigation.
"It wasn't really a matter of choice. We couldn't afford to do it any other way."
In 2019, Utzinger Wines switched to sourcing its wine grapes from northern Tasmania.
"We spent five hectic months setting up our vineyard here at Legana," Utzinger says.
"With the last of our own vines only going into the ground in early February, that left us with very little time to prepare for vintage 2019. We just managed to convert an old garage on our property into an operational winery before harvest began.
"In mid-2020, we began construction of a winery and vineyard cellar door at our new home base in the Tamar Valley. The winery looked and felt like a building site but we were able to use it for vintage 2021. We still had tradies here the day before picking started."
Three years on, the facility has well and truly settled into the landscape. It certainly has a much more tranquil atmosphere than was evident during its inaugural vintage. The underground cellar there has almost shrugged off its winter chill. Many wines in barrel are now finishing the secondary (malolactic) fermentations that began spontaneously with spring's steadily increasing daytime and night-time temperatures.
The couple's estate-grown wines are produced from their vineyard's 4ha of Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Sauvignon Blanc and Syrah (Shiraz). Two more hectares are being planned, with the likely suspects including a selection of Swiss varieties the couple imported themselves and now have in quarantine in Victoria.
Winemaking on-site also includes contract work for Utzinger's near-neighbours at Velo Wines. Another client - Grey Sands Vineyard - is located 15km away at Glengarry.
"Grey Sands is really interesting because Bob and Rita Richter have so many different varieties planted on their property," Utzinger notes.
"That's one of the things I really love about Tasmania. It's still a very young industry. Things are very fluid here, with people still finding their way. They're not fixed on certain ideas. We're still figuring out what works best for certain vineyard sites and certain wine styles.
"Where I worked before in Europe, it was all so closely regulated you couldn't try doing things differently. The industry there is also feeling the effects of climate change. As a winemaker who likes to be 'hands off' as much as possible in the winery, I know how important it is to be able to work with good fruit grown in a genuinely cool climate.
"We are true vignerons. Our wines are grown, not made.
"Long ripening periods produce beautifully balanced and aromatic wines. Wines that fully express their origins, their vineyard and their grape variety. That's why Lauren and I believe this valley – now our home – is such a really special place."
This weekend will see Lauren and Matthias Utzinger welcoming guests to the launch of their vineyard cellar door. The facility enjoys dramatic views of the broad expanse of river below and will be open from 11am to 4pm on Saturday.
It will be open every Thursday, Friday and Saturday.
The cellar door is located at 5 Upper McEwans Rd, Legana. Bookings are required and can be made online at the Utzinger Wines website:
Vineyard visitors will find time there is well-spent.
Barely four months ago, the Tamar Valley couple featured in the 2025 Young Gun of Wine Awards.
Held annually since 2017, the initiative is the brainchild of Melbourne's Rory Kent and is intended to promote wine labels and winemakers on the rise.
The Utzingers won trophies for 2024 Winemaker's Choice and 2024 Danger Zone.
The couple's coveted Winemaker's Choice trophy is a peer award, chosen by the award's Top 50 finalists.
The Danger Zone is the only trophy among the winemaker awards that is presented for a specific wine product. It recognises a wine that in the judging panel's view successfully pushes winemaking boundaries.
The couple's winning wine submission was the 2022 Utzinger Roter Satz. It's an estate-grown field blend created from five different grape varieties. Among them were Cabernet Sauvignon and Pinot Noir picked on the same day.
You'd better be quick. Few bottles remain.
Last page update: 26 May 2026