A few random wineries picked up on travels around the Pipers Brook region of Tasmania, plus one Victorian on the way home. There are at least 36 wineries open for tastings in Pipers Brooks if you followed a ~170km loop drive. Everyone’s complaining about lack of visitor traffic – interest rates & the general economic climate seem to have people cutting back on essentials like wine in favour of food, clothing, housing etc.
House of Arras
First visit in many years, and also since Accolade in 2023 sold the business to Handpicked Wines after all sorts of fizzmakers gave it the once-over (though what multi-million-bottle Champagne houses would want with a 20,000-case operation in northern Tasmania is beyond me). $25 fee in a booking-required, sit-down tasting, not refundable. Comes with an informative masterclass presentation on history, vineyards, winemaking, etc. Includes a couple of Tas-based Handpicked wines following three Arras wines. Decent glasses, generous pours. Wines are pricy, but very good. Value marginal, in that at the higher level, they’re Champagne-quality, but also at Champagne prices…
- NV House of Arras Brut Elite Rose no 1801 - Australia, Tasmania (13/01/2025)
{cork, A$68} Faint onion-skin tint. Pungent strawberry nose. Dusty fruit palate; doesn’t taste especially red-tinged. Verging on bone-dry at 2.4g/l of sugar. Quite light-bodied, with medium acid and quite small fine bubbles. Medium length finish. It’s nice enough, but the value is marginal I must say. 64% pinot noir, 8% meunier, the rest chardonnay. Derwent, Coal River and Tamar fruit, based largely on the 2018 vintage (about 70%) - 2016 House of Arras Grand Vintage - Australia, Tasmania (13/01/2025)
{cork, A$125} 65/35 chardonnay /pinot. Smoke and dust and fleshy yellow fruit. A little bread, but there’s not an obviously yeasty character, despite all the years on lees. Medium weight, with small, creamily delicate bubbles. Quite youthful palate, with juicy, fleshy rockmelon and mango-tinged flavours. Still bone-dry, with just 2g/l of sugar. Medium/long finish. Some cellaring time will help this now I reckon – it’s still tasting very young. Derwent, East Coast, Coal River fruit. - 2016 House of Arras Blanc de Blancs - Australia, Tasmania (13/01/2025)
{cork, A$136} Floral nose – very restrained. As is the palate, with only gentle autolysis character, a touch of nougat, soft biscuit flavours. Even medium-bodied palate, with small creamy bubbles and a medium-long finish with 3g/l dosage. Gentle and persistent, and wants more time. As with the 2016 Grand, a mix of East Coast, Derwent and Coal River fruit in that order. - 2021 Handpicked Pinot Noir Collection Tasmania - Australia, Tasmania (13/01/2025)
{screwcap, 13.2%, A$60} All Tamar fruit this vintage. Floral, perfumed nose of rose-petals and cherries. Palate has more obvious oak than the nose, with low/medium powdery tannins, the same flavours as the aromas, with the additional of the slightly dirty forest-floor and spicy characters. Medium/high acidity adds lively freshness, it’s light/medium in weight, with an even palate and a dry medium-length finish. I preferred this to the more expensive single vineyard wine immediately following. - 2022 Handpicked Pinot Noir Auburn Road Vineyard Tasmania - Australia, Tasmania (13/01/2025)
{screwcap, 13.2% A$90} Nose of floral, rose and musk aromas. The palate additionally sees some cherry flavours, with a fine oak character. Low/medium dusty tannins, medium acidity. Almost medium weight, but very subtle on the palate generally. Medium length finish. Wants some time. The 50% price premium over the ‘Collection’ bottling might be rarity-related, because I don’t see additional quality here.
First visit since 2017. New tasting room since then. Non-refundable fee (six wines for $15), although it was waived in my case (taking notes & spitting, perhaps?) Excellent wines at decent value. No fining or filtering across the range, so a hint of cloudiness to everything in the glass. No cause for alarm – they know what they’re doing.
- 2024 Sinapius Grüner Veltliner - Australia, Tasmania, Tamar Valley (17/01/2025)
{screwcap, 12.5%, A$42} Spice, green-tinged fruit and a hint of oak on the nose. Spicy apple flavours, with a little richness from old oak. Light/medium weight, with medium acidity, and a medium length finish. Less pepper/steel than your average Austrian example, by comparison. Interesting savoury wine for the shorter term. - 2022 Sinapius Chardonnay Single Vineyard Close Planted - Australia, Tasmania, Northern Tasmania (17/01/2025)
{screwcap, 13%, A$65} Aromas of smoke, grapefruit, citrus and nuts. Dusty palate, cool, with tart white-fleshed fruit and gentle cashew oak (20% new). Even palate, low/medium acidity, medium weight, medium-long finish. Impressive wine. I suspect best in its first 5-8 years. - 2023 Sinapius Clem Blanc - Australia, Tasmania, Pipers River (17/01/2025)
{screwcap, 12%, A$42} Field blend of Pinot Gris, Pinot Blanc, Gewurz, Chardonnay Musqué, Riesling, Grüner, co-fermented, and bottled without fining or filtering. A touch cloudy, then. Pungent. Skin-contact textures on palate (low powdery tannins), apricot flavours (but dry), peach and some furry-skin fruit. No oak apparent. Medium weight, medium acidity, medium length finish. Interesting wine for the short term. - 2024 Sinapius Jean Morice Rosé - Australia, Tasmania (17/01/2025)
{screwcap, A$35} Few in Australia take gamay as seriously as here. Pale onion-skin colour. Rosewater, rose-petal aromas. Light-bodied palate, with a perfumed sort of roses, peaches-and-cream flavour. Surprisingly persistent medoum/long finish for a wine so light overall, helped by medium acidity. Very tidy and convincing. - 2023 Sinapius Gamay Vaughn's Jardin - Australia, Tasmania (17/01/2025)
{screwcap, 12.5%, A$68} Made like a proper Beaujolais Cru. Aromas of roses, spice, pepper and a hint of soft oak. Super-fine low chalky tannins – still noticeable – on the palate, helped along by 10 months oak treatment. Smoky, polished palate, light/medium bodied, with medium acidity. Even palate, medium length and convincing finish. Perhaps a bit pricy, but then it’s also reflecting the vineyard passion and grapes of the estate’s late proprietor. - 2023 Sinapius Pinot Noir Close Planted - Australia, Tasmania, Pipers River (17/01/2025)
{screwcap, 13%, A$68} Spice, cherry, rhubarb, tobacco, earth. These aromas carry through to the palate, which has proper dirt, forest-floor but also genuine fruit flavour. Medium-bodied, with medium acidity. Seamless tannins complement an even, gentle, medium-length palate. Still very primary in character and wants at least five years cellaring. Very impressive. - 2016 Sinapius Pinot Noir Home Vineyard - Australia, Tasmania, Pipers River (17/01/2025)
{screwcap, A$75} The penultimate vintage under this name, available as a back-release from the cellar door. Vineyard subsequently replanted. Has a mature, hint-of-mint nose, with some earthy character. Mature palate, with soft black fruit, little oak, medium acidity and weight. Fully developed I reckon, possibly a bit past peak given the short/medium length finish.
$20 non-refundable for a curated four-bottle tasting, although they were happy to amend the selection when I asked (swapping out a SB for a Riesling). Then, I guess because I was taking notes and spitting, they kindly brought me some extra premium wines (the two exxy chardies and the premium fizz) not in the default options. Generous pours, decent glasses. Pretty good value wines overall.
- NV Josef Chromy Tasmanian Cuvée - Australia, Tasmania, Tamar Valley (19/01/2025)
{12%, A$35} A 50/50 blend of chardonnay and pinot with just 15 months on lees. Pungent kiwifruit and peach with minimal yeast influence on the nose. Bright and fruity palate, clean and zesty, with minimal autolysis character. Medium-sized, vigorous bubbles, medium weight, medium/high acid. More of a grapefruit aspect on the palate, but otherwise flavours track the nose. But the finish is a bit short and patchy. Not quite convincing for the price. - 2024 Josef Chromy Riesling - Australia, Tasmania, Tamar Valley (19/01/2025)
{screwcap, 13%, A$35} Lively floral and lime nose. Dry palate, medium/high in acid. Aparet from lime flavours, there’s a minerality to this also, along with a hint of sherbert. Crunchy texture, medium weight, medium length finish. Lovely wine now and over the next five years. - 2023 Josef Chromy Chardonnay - Australia, Tasmania, Tamar Valley (19/01/2025)
{screwcap, 13.2% A$45} Lots of oaky nuts, cashews, figs. Seems so oaky. Nose is a little better, with peachy fruit flavours but the wood still shines through a little more than necessary. It’s dry, with medium weight and a medium length finish. It’s OK, but no bargain – you get a much better wine for $10 more with the ‘Expression’ bottling. - 2023 Josef Chromy Chardonnay Expressions - Australia, Tasmania, Coal River (19/01/2025)
{screwcap, 13%, A$54} Restrained, polished nose and palate of grilled pine nuts, grapefruit. Subtle classy oak, medium/high acidity, medium weight. A medium to long finish follows an even palate, but it’s still a bit young for full value – wait a while. Impressive. For the mere 20% price premium over the standard bottling it’s a no-brainer, unless you must drink the oak! - 2021 Josef Chromy Chardonnay Zdar - Australia, Tasmania, Tamar Valley (19/01/2025)
{screwcap} Not even on their sales list – a label-damaged bottle they still had, apparently. This is the flagship bottling, but for this vintage it’s surprisingly broad, advanced and earthy. There are aging yellow fruits, medium acid and a medium/full weight, helped along by some subtle but classy oak. The palate is more impressive than the nose (unusually) but despite the medium/long finish I’m still surprised to find it so advanced. It’s a nice wine in a slightly old-fashioned style that I think needs drinking in the shorter term. - 2019 Josef Chromy Finesse Brut - Australia, Tasmania, Northern Tasmania (19/01/2025)
{A$50} Here’s the third of the ‘bonus wines’ at the tasting. This is a clear step above the ‘Tasmanian Cuvee’ offering a tight nose of cheese and bread. It’s dry, with very fine bubbles, medium weight, subtle yellow fruit, some yeast character. Can stand by itself, although food would help. I think this will blossom a bit with some short term cellaring. - 2023 Josef Chromy Pinot Noir - Australia, Tasmania, Northern Tasmania (19/01/2025)
{screwcap, 13%, A$45} Smoked strawberry nose. A more earthy palate, helped by some oak character, with tobacco, roses and ripe strawberry, Low/medium dusty tannins, almost medium weight overall and a medium length finish. This is a pretty decent pinot for a very fair price, and should see out a decade with hope of some evolution.
Opportunistic visit ninety minutes before closing time (on the way back to the Devonport ferry) with newish co-owner & winemaker James Oliver. This 4000-case business changed hands in 2022, bought by a couple of Burgundy nuts. Six-wine tasting for $15 refundable on a two-bottle buy. Fine glasses. Fair value, with potential here. I’m not sure about the future for sparkling – they require such an investment of time and capital to make I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see no more of it for some time.
- NV Moores Hill Chardonnay Pinot Noir - Australia, Tasmania, Tamar Valley (19/01/2025)
{A$50} Made from inherited wine in tank at the time of sale – mostly 2022 vintage but not labelled as such out of conservatism. 18 months on lees (I’d guess the maximum possible for financial reasons) but I can’t get away from the sense that this was the best option to deal with (possibly) some slightly sub-par grapes. There’s not a lot of anything much on the nose – there’s a bit more citrus on the palate. It’s light-bodied, with medium acid, and a short/medium finish. Apart from a dilute quality, there’s nothing really wrong that another three years on lees wouldn’t have cured, but it is what it is. More cellaring might help a bit. - 2024 Moores Hill Riesling - Australia, Tasmania, Tamar Valley (19/01/2025)
{screwcap, 12.5%, A$35} Semi-germanic custard apple nose. Luscious palate; mix of apple, custard, lime. Dry, medium acidity and medium body. Very enticing indeed. Medium/long finish. Terrific wine. - 2024 Moores Hill Pinot Gris - Australia, Tasmania, Tamar Valley (19/01/2025)
{screwcap, 13.5%, A$35} Not my favourite grape, by a long way. This does have the standard pear flavours, but it’s dry, quite balanced, and has a warm palate with tropical fruit. Medium length finish but without a lot of personality. A gris that’s aware of its grigio sibling! Nothing wrong with this at all; if you like the grape it’s a fine example for the next few years. - 2023 Moores Hill Chardonnay - Australia, Tasmania, Tamar Valley (19/01/2025)
{screwcap, 13%, A$45} A buttery, malo-loaded, oak-driven nose with plenty of vanilla, The palate is less oaky than you might expect; it’s fresh and pure with more tropical fruit to go along with the butter all supported by medium acidity. It’s dry, medium/full in weight, with a medium/long finish. The ambition is for at least medium-term aging. - 2024 Moores Hill Pinot Rosé - Australia, Tasmania, Tamar Valley (19/01/2025)
{screwcap, 12.5%, A$35} Gentle bubble-gum and strawberry aromas, turning gently floral on the palate. It’s dry, light-bodied, with minimal tannin, no oak, and an easy short/medium length finish. Best not to over-chill, lest all flavour be lost I reckon. - 2023 Moores Hill Pinot Noir - Australia, Tasmania, Tamar Valley (19/01/2025)
{screwcap, 13%, A$45} Perfume, roses, some oak. Palate offers red fruit, violets, tobacco, earth. A generally light/medium character across the board, but with noticeable tannin and medium acidity. There’s structure here to see this aging in the medium term at least. Pretty good value. James also pulled a couple of barrel samples of the 24 vintage, which is intended to produce a reserve cuvee (unlike the single-bottling 23); there’s a clear if fairly minor concentration difference between the two exemplars. Bodes well. This 2023 example is a decent wine at a very fair price.
Late afternoon tasting with longtime winemaker Paul Dahlenburg, who’s manning the tasting room on this quiet and hot day. Most of the range on tasting (& newly opened too), no fee apparent. Good glasses again (seems common these days, finally!). Really good value for money here, and signing up to the club gets you 10% off these prices. Another business that has changed hands a few years ago, this one from Treasury back into family ownership (Casella), which will only do it good.
- 2024 Baileys of Glenrowan Fiano - Australia, Victoria, North East, Glenrowan (20/01/2025)
{screwcap, 12.5%, A$23} Baileys’ only white. Light rockmelon and mineral nose. Palate adds a bright citrus character. It’s light/medium weight, bone dry, with medium acidity. Medium length savoury finish. Fine. - 2024 Baileys of Glenrowan Small Batch Series Rosé - Australia, Victoria, North East, Glenrowan (20/01/2025)
{screwcap, 13.9%, A$23} Strawberries and cream nose. Grape-skin quality to the texture; roses and strawberry flavours, all very fresh and gentle. Light-bodied, dry, no real tannin, mostly front-palate presence. Short/medium finish. Perfectly OK from an uncommon variety to see as a rosé. - 2024 Baileys of Glenrowan Nero d'Avola Organic Small Batch Series - Australia, Victoria, North East (20/01/2025)
{screwcap, 13.5%, A$23} Oak-free, Turkish delight aromas; strawberry joins the party on the palate. This is barely medium-bodied (perhaps contrary to expectations), but balanced with medium acidity, low/medium dusty tannins and welcome absence of alcoholic heat. Short/medium length finish. Terrific for the price. - 2022 Baileys of Glenrowan Shiraz - Australia, Victoria, North East (20/01/2025)
{screwcap, 13.5%, A$29} Nose of vanilla, spice and plum. Medium weight, low/medium acidity, and low/medium dusty tannins. Nicely balanced on the palate, with plummy fruit lifted by a confectionary sort of note, plus integrated oak flavours. Even palate with a medium length finish. Crowd-pleaser for the shorter term. - 2023 Baileys of Glenrowan Shiraz 1920's Block - Australia, Victoria, North East (20/01/2025)
{screwcap, 14.5%, A$55} Aromas of liquorice, rich black fruits and a lick of earth. Medium powdery tannins seems as much from the skins as the puncheons this was matured in. Medium weight, with blue fruit and plum flavours, polished mouthfeel. Plenty of front and mid-palate presence, medium length finish with the promise of plenty of development over a decade. - 2021 Baileys of Glenrowan Durif - Australia, Victoria, North East, Rutherglen (20/01/2025)
{screwcap, 14.8%, A$29} Big, black and plummy. Blueberry and blackberry jam on the palate; medium/full-bodied heft without brawn is on display but it’s not raisiny at all, despite the alcohol. Medium powdery tannins, medium length finish. Another decade needed here; good wine for the price. - 2021 Baileys of Glenrowan VP140 - Australia, Victoria, North East (20/01/2025)
{screwcap, 17.6%, A$35} Blend of portugese varieties with shiraz and some durif. About off-dry in style, with perfumed violet aromas. Black fruit weight, medium/high acidity. The brandy element is quite subtle – it’s a fairly unique style that’s actually not too far from some turbo-charged high-alcohol table wines but without the palate heat. Even palate, and although quite drinkable it’s very primary indeed and really needs a decade in the cellar. - NV Baileys of Glenrowan Founder's Series Classic Topaque - Australia, Victoria, North East (20/01/2025)
{vinolok, A$35} Toffee and tea with a caramel accent. Tasty cold tea on the palate but always fresh and lively. Medium-sweet with medium/high acidity. Medium-long finish. Very good and outstanding value for the 750ml bottle. - NV Baileys of Glenrowan Winemaker's Selection Rare Old Topaque - Australia, Victoria, North East (20/01/2025)
{375ml, screwcap, A$75} At four times the unit price of the ‘Founders’ bottling, this certainly shows the difference in concentration and heft. There’s also an acetic quality that comes here to as a measure of the extra age I guess but I’m not convinced that the loss of freshness is worth it. For a minute I wanted to blend the two wines just to see what would happen… - NV Baileys of Glenrowan Muscat Founder Series Classic Muscat - Australia, Victoria, North East (20/01/2025)
{vinolok, A$35} Molten caramel and molasses nose, becoming syrupy and rich on the palate. Fully sweet, medium/high in acid, full-bodied. Still fresh and balanced. Very good, although here the value equation to the ‘Rare’ bottling is less clear-cut in my view. - NV Baileys of Glenrowan Muscat Old Winemaker's Selection - Australia, Victoria, North East (20/01/2025)
{375ml, screwcap, A$75} As for the ‘Founder’ cuvee generally but the concentration of raisins, molasses and caramel is turned up to 11. Still has a fresh liveliness thanks to the acid, but the concentration is hugely impressive and the balance is what makes the eternal finish here. Not cheap, but not a silly price either (especially compared to some of the Rutherglen offerings at the ‘Rare’ level).
