2025 set to be a record year for Tasmanian winemakers

With demand for the island’s cool climate varieties ever growing, Tasmanian wine producers say they are anticipating a record yield for 2025. See why.

Wine Tasmania CEO Sheralee Davies at Pressing Matters winery, Tea Tree. Picture: Chris Kidd

Tasmania’s wine industry is shaping up to deliver an exceptional 2025 vintage, as the last of the season’s grapes are harvested.

With demand for the island’s cool climate varieties ever growing, Tasmanian wine producers say they are anticipating a record yield for 2025.

Describing the harvest as a “bumper crop”, Wine Tasmania CEO Sheralee Davies said it was an exciting time for Tasmanian winemakers who have faced lower yields in recent years.

“The 2025 Tasmanian wine grape harvest is virtually over, all but the last few grapes have been harvested and are safely now in wineries,” she said.

“It is great news because it’s been six years between above-average yielding crops for us,”

“We’ve been waiting a while to actually get some decent wine availability to build on the ever-increasing demand for Tasmanian wine.”

Ms Davies said alongside the record yields, the grapes have been of “exceptional quality” thanks to warmer weather.

“It’s predominantly weather driven, we talk a lot in Tasmania about being high risk high reward,” she said.

“You know it’s excellent wine but the risky bit comes down to where we are, an island exposed to so many different weather patterns and seasonal conditions,

With harvests beginning in mid-February, this season saw above average temperatures, meaning producers were able to harvest earlier and bring in larger amounts of high quality grapes.

While wine lovers will have to wait until later in the year before the first of this year’s aromatic whites to hit the shelves, Ms Davies is confident Tasmania’s wines will continue to attract new fans.

“We as Tasmanians know how great our wines are, but right around the world, we’re seeing a lot of interest in the quality and the styles of wine that are being grown and crafted here,” she said.

“A year like this where we’re seeing quality and yields both looking very high gives us a chance to actually grow new markets and find new Tasmanian wine lovers.”

As Tasmania’s wine industry expands into new export markets, Ms Davies encouraged locals to continue visiting cellar doors to support high quality, local producers.

“Even though it has been an above average yielding vintage, we’re still talking about wine businesses that are really quite small,” she said.

“But it’s good news for locals, they get to sample the wine people have crafted right where it grows.”

Originally published as 2025 set to be a record year for Tasmanian winemakers