Is it possible to own and operate a small Tasmanian vineyard when you've been city-bound for all of your working life? Bronya Dance and Jade Nicholls believed you could. When they first set eyes on their 3ha vineyard in northern Tasmania, it was early 2021 and they were in Melbourne, looking to jump off the corporate treadmill.
When Clinton Mead entered his vineyard's first commercial release of Pinot Noir in the 2023 Tasmanian Wine Show, no-one was more surprised than he when it won one of the only two gold medals awarded in its class.
"When you're in your own lane, there is no traffic." US film-maker Ava DuVernay gave good advice to those who dared to take it. The reality is most of us join the queue. But not Will Adkins.
As a young bloke growing up on the edge of Western Australia's Margaret River wine region, all Andrew Gaman wanted to do was to contribute to running his family's 11ha vineyard and winery. The idea of making cool climate wines in northern Tasmania never entered his head.
Greg Melick was underage and living at home when he made his first significant wine investment. He won the daily double with a dollar bet and bought two cases of Hunter Valley red with his ill-gotten gain.
Like their peers among the farming fraternity, Australia's wine producers pride themselves on their capacity to innovate and diversify. You want to plant or expand an existing vineyard? There are more than 160 different grape varieties currently being used for wine production in Australia, according to Darby Higgs and his Vinodiversity website.
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.
Tasmania's cool climate wine industry may be small but one of its strengths is that many of its key players have a high degree of public accessibility. Drop by all but the largest vineyard cellar doors and the chances are those hands with the tasting glass grew the grapes and made the wine as well.
Duncan Ferguson and Susana Fernandez are no slouches when it comes to winemaking. It's what you'd expect of a couple who've lived and worked in some of the world's top wine-producing regions.
Two trophies; 2 gold, 5 silver and 10 bronze medals. That was the story behind the Brown Family Wine Group's crowd-pleasing performances at the recent 2025 Tasmanian Wine Show. The presentation of awards on Friday 10 January - at Hobart's Henry Jones Art Hotel - followed three busy days of judging. There were 413 wines submitted by 65 producers.
