VINES

There's no doubt about it. Tasmania's viticulture is small scale. Just 2,888ha of vineyard plantings in 2025, according to Wine Tasmania, the industry's producer body.

The figure represents bearing and non-bearing vines.

In 2025, Tasmania harvested a record 23,002 tonnes of wine grapes from vineyards across the island. Around 1.2 percent of Australia's total wine grape crop.

Tasmanian vineyard plantings are dominated by Pinot Noir. It accounts for almost half the State's total wine grape harvest in any given year.

No matter where you travel in Tasmania, you are never far from single vineyard Pinot Noir.

Chardonnay accounts for nearly one quarter of the State's wine grape harvest each year. Three other white varieties in total – Pinot Gris, Sauvignon Blanc and Riesling – account for another 25 percent.

Only three wine producers – Brown Family Wine Group, Hill Smith Family Estates and Fogarty Hall Fine Wine Estates – own and manage Tasmanian vineyard operations of more than 100ha.

All three are large national companies, with offices located on the Australian mainland.

Leading asset management company GO.FARM operates a 230ha Tamar Valley site as a grower rather than a wine producer. The company's head office is located interstate.

It is common practice for many vineyards to grow grapes for other producers as well as for their own premium Tasmanian wine labels.

The average value of a tonne of Tasmanian wine grapes in 2025 has been calculated at $3,924.

This compares more than favourably with the national average of $604/tonne. It places the State at the head of 2025's top five Australian regions by wine grape value. The others in descending order are Mornington Peninsula, Geelong, Beechworth and Pyrenees.

That noted, the financial investments required to fund vineyard establishment and annual operating costs are very significant in Tasmania. A guide to growing wine grapes published way back in 1991 by the Tasmanian Department of Primary Industry stated that a minimum of $700,000 in equity would need to be invested in a 10ha vineyard and winery during the first five years of development if the venture were to be debt-free within 15 years.

By way of comparison, the median price for a typical home in the Hobart suburb of Sandy Bay in 1991 was $161,500.

Industry sources suggest vineyard establishment costs alone are now of the order of $70,000-$80,000 per hectare.

Most licensed Tasmanian wine producers are small to medium-sized family businesses.

Many Tasmanian vineyards are less than 5ha in area. Visitors dropping by a cellar door might easily find themselves shaking hands with the person who grew the grapes and made the wine as well.

The entire State of Tasmania is a single GI. That makes the island's wine industry one of the most diverse and most de-centralised of any of the 65 GIs distributed across Australia.

Almost 1.75 degrees of latitude – around 195km – separate the East Coast's most northerly and southerly vineyards.

A road trip from Lanigan's Vineyard (North West Tasmania) to Altaness Winery (Huon Valley) requires a drive of some 440km and a minimum travel time of 5 hours 15 minutes.

Cellar door visits need very careful planning.

Few tasting rooms are open all year round. Check details in Wine Trails Tasmania, published annually by Wine Tasmania.

Last page update: 20 February 2026