The Auswine Forum

Evening all,

My folks are off on a Tasmanian odyssey and are keen for any recommendations for wineries and restaurants. Here's their itinerary.

3 nights - Tamar Ridge Chalet - within the Cellar Door winery Complex,
near Grindelwald.

6 nights - The Henry Jones Art Hotel, Hobart (maybe Bruny Island from
here, or from Deep Bay)

3 nights - Edge of the Bay, Coles Bay Road, Freycinet / Wineglass Bay
(and Bay of Fires)

2 nights - @ The Beach, Stanley

2 nights - Peppers Cradle Mountain Lodge

3 nights - The Cray Accommodation, King Unit, Strahan. (Gordon River
Cruise; 1/2 day West Coast Wilderness Railway)

2 nights - Pumphouse Point, Derwent Bridge

3 nights - Deep Bay, South of Hobart.

1 night - White Croft Cottage, Ross

Ferry

4 nights - Hotel Lindrum, Flinders St, Melbourne (close to 101 Collins)

Thanks in advance for any recommendations.

Cheers,

Travis

Like many - I recommend visiting Moorilla Estate when they visit MONA, and they really must visit MONA (and take the Catamaran for the complete experience).
Also from Hobart- if they are going to Richmond, Pooley and Frogmore Creek are probably the picks for cellar doors.
I think its Domaine Simha that have a cellar door in Hobart which wont be far from the Henry Jones?

Not sure if Huon Valley is on the agenda so soon after the fires? i think there are a few cellar doors down that way, Home Hill is the one I visited. Also Willie Smith and Pagan cideries if thats their thing.

I would try to visit Stony Rise Winery when in Tamar Valley, home of the lovely Holyman Chardonnay, one of the nations best. I’m down there playing at Barnbougle next month.

For me the unmissables are:

Pooley, Domaine A, Pressing Matters, Puddleduck in Coal Valley.
Domaine Simha in Hobart
Freycinet Vineyards on the East Coast
Bream Creek if you can find them (down Dunalley way)
Bay of Fires, Delamere, Sinapius in Tamar.

I haven't been to Moorilla for ages (was at MONA a month ago, but already abused the kids patience long enough without inflicting the cellar door on them too). But I did taste the Muse brut at Domaine A, and if that's a guide to what's happening with the wines these days then it's worth a look.
Other wineries I haven't been to for a while but which were worthy included Craigow (Coal V), Home Hill (South of Hobart). Maybe Holm Oak in Tamar?

There are some bigger names which tend to be pricey and/or commercial; Pipers Brook, Lubiana, Frogmore/Meadowbank which have OK food but I've been underwhelmed by the wines a bit. Same goes for the foodless Jansz. Haven't been to Tamar Ridge (still Brown Bros?) for ages, nor their East Coast relative Devil's Corner - great location/view, and there's food there too, but as a second label the wines didn't hold much appeal.

There's not much bad wine around in Tassie in my experience (any more, at least), but there's a lot of too-expensive-for-what-it-is. But then, Tas makes less than 2% of the nation's wines, so you'd expect it a bit.

Graeme