TasWeekend: Tassie living up to grape expectations
AS Tasmania’s climate becomes increasingly more advantageous for grape growing, more mainland winemaking companies and vignerons are packing their bags and making the most of our perfect conditions.
Taste Tasmania
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THE Tasmanian wine industry is surging ahead, aided by climate change, a shift in drinking behaviours and hard-won experience, according to Bream Creek vigneron Fred Peacock.
“Tasmania is in the right place at the right time,” says Peacock, a pioneer of the industry who was appointed Tasmania’s first Viticulture Officer in the mid-1980s.
“Climate change has been very kind to Tasmanian viticulture. Consistently warmer temperatures have made us more reliable as a producer. It’s giving us a greater range of planting options. There’s now quite a lot of Shiraz being planted, particularly in the south and east of Tasmania. Our colder seasons are nowhere near as cold for vines as they were 15-20 years ago. That’s one of the reasons why we are seeing mainland winemaking companies [such as Brown Brothers] coming into Tasmania.”
Peacock says Australians are increasingly happy to pay for high-quality wines such as Tasmanian wines, which typically have a higher price point ($22.44 per bottle, on average, according to Wine Tasmania figures) than other Australian wines ($8.13 per bottle, on average).
“If you look at the trends concerning how alcohol is consumed in Australia, there’s a definite focus on drinking better quality wine, but probably a little less of it,” he says. “In a way, Tasmania has finally come of age and the future is particularly exciting because we now have a very strong industry that is producing some stunning wines.”
Growing national and international interest in Tasmanian wine is borne out by the latest tourism figures. According to the 2018 Tourism Visitor Survey, just under 300,000 tourists from interstate and overseas called into a Tasmanian cellar door in the year to March 2018 – the equivalent of 23 per cent of all visitors to Tasmania.
The industry contributes more than $100 million annually to the local economy, and $15.2 million through wine-related tourism, according to a report commissioned by Wine Tasmania, which was published this year.
There are currently 2000-plus hectares under vine, producing 16,280 tonnes of fruit — up from 47ha producing 154 tonnes of fruit in 1986. There are seven distinct wine growing areas: the Tamar Valley, East Coast and North-East (Pipers River), which together account for the bulk of grapes grown here (40, 20 and 19 per cent respectively); the Coal River Valley; the Derwent Valley; North-West; and the Huon/Channel area.
Peacock says the current success follows years of experimentation by industry pioneers such as Pipers Brook Vineyard and Heemskerk, both in northern Tasmania, and Moorilla in southern Tasmania, combined with the gradual mechanisation of vineyard work in recent years.
“Back in the ’70s we were at the very forefront of learning about cool climate viticulture,” he says. “When the industry started here, it was made up of over one-third cabernet sauvignon, which was generally unsuited to our climate then. It really only showed promise in the hottest areas of Tasmania. In parts of the Coal Valley and some areas around Launceston it performed quite well.
“The lesson was, we should have planted a lot more pinot originally than we did. Tasmania is really becoming known as the home of pinot noir in Australia.”
When vineyard owners better understood how Tasmania’s climate and topography interacted with the grape varieties, changes were made to planting systems and harvesting techniques. “In the late 1980s, there started to be a realisation that we needed a more efficient planting system, including higher vine densities, single-row plantings and simpler trellises,” Peacock says.
“About that time, the cost of labour increased and we were encouraged to look at the future mechanisation of some of the vineyards. We are now doing a significant portion of mechanical harvesting of grapes, and also mechanical pruning of grapes.
“That’s been a massive change. A vineyard services industry has grown up around the viticulture industry in terms of vineyard maintenance and establishment.”
The expansion of the industry over the past decade has been rapid in areas such as the East Coast, and the Coal River, Tamar and Huon valleys. “The track record of the vineyards on the East Coast has been very strong and that’s encouraging more development there. The establishment of the Swan Irrigation Scheme [which should hopefully be fully operational within 12 months] also means there’s now irrigation available in some prime vineyard areas,” Peacock says.
Wine Tasmania’s chief executive Sheralee Davies agrees: “The East Coast of Tasmania is one of the fastest growing wine areas in the state.”
Events such as the East Coast Wine Weekend, which is in its fourth year, reflect the growth of wine tourism in the state. Beginning on Friday with a ‘Meet the Makers’ event at Freycinet Lodge, the two-day celebration of Tasmanian wine and food includes cellar door specials (of up to 15 per cent off wine sales) and wine tastings – and the signature event, the Great Eastern Wine and Dine Dinner, at Freycinet Lodge on Saturday night.
There are nine participating wineries, from Orford to Ansons Bay on the northeast coast, including Spring Vale at Cranbrook, Devil’s Corner at Apslawn, Milton at Swansea, Craigie Knowe at Cranbrook and Freycinet at Bicheno.
“We have a few new people moving into vineyards on the East Coast and they are bringing different ideas and abilities, and all of that is contributing to a really exciting time and a lot of interest in East Coast wines,” Davies says.
Newcomers include Sandy and Glenn Travers, who recently bought Craigie Knowe Vineyard, which was first planted in 1979.
“This is their first foray into wine and they are doing great things there,” Davies says. “Gala Estate is a farming property that’s been in the family for five to six generations but only recently has had grapes. It’s run by a young couple with kids and again, they have a cellar door and they are planting more vineyard area in the next year.”
Peacock says the interest in high-quality Tasmanian wine is exciting. “We have finally got an industry that is strong and stable and has solid backing in terms of experience, and we have attracted a lot of international attention. The world is watching us,” he says.
For more information visit freycinetlodge.com.au/wineweekend
‘Meet the Makers’ is a free event with complimentary tastings and wine sales at Freycinet Lodge Hazards Bar and Lounge on Friday from 5-7pm. Accommodation is available at Freycinet Lodge from $309 per night, including breakfast, for the duration of the East Coast Wine Weekend. To book, phone 6256 7222
Sparkling praise for state’s bubblies
Tasmania is meeting the huge demand for sparkling wine by producing more bubbly now than it ever has before, and the experts from the French birthplace of Champagne are deeming it some of the best wine in the world.
It was just a passing compliment. But it’s a compliment that has Tasmania’s wine industry abuzz. One of the world’s top experts has likened our sparkling wines to the best French champagnes. And that expert is cellar master Cyril Brun – a fourth-generation French champagne maker, one of the true greats of the celebrated winemaking region, and a man who is typically hard to impress.
Brun is the Chef de Caves for Charles Heidsieck, arguably one of the most respected houses of champagne in the world.
When Brun makes comments about sparkling wine, people tend to sit up straight and listen. He flew to Tasmania for the first time in late July to be a part of a special sparkling wine weekend at the Saffire Freycinet resort on the East Coast. At the end of the weekend, Brun sat down with TasWeekend to reflect on his adventure.
First, he described Tasmania as a terrific, pristine and preserved treasure. He said he had been enjoying Tasmanian sparkling wine for several years after picking up some of our bottles in the UK. Tasmanian sparkling had great potential, he said, it impressed him. And then, he said this: “Every time I taste the sparkling wine from Tasmania I feel like it is the one that could be potentially the closest to champagne.”
“That is very cool,” Wine Tasmania chief executive Sheralee Davies exclaimed when told of Brun’s comparison. “It is a seriously, big compliment to Tasmania. To have that kind of feedback about our sparkling wine from someone from such a well-respected sparkling wine region is very significant.
“To have someone from Champagne with his expertise say that about Tasmanian sparkling wine is huge.”
Davies says the compliment is even more meaningful given the French are so fiercely protective of their wine culture.
“It is exciting on many levels – one: is the fact Tasmania is even on Brun’s radar; two: is that he has an appreciation for the quality of our sparkling wine; and three: his view on comparisons between Champagne and Tasmania can only ever be favourably received. Champagne is universally regarded as the home of champagne so this is high praise indeed. It is quite extraordinary. Here we are at the bottom of the world. To get that sort of perspective is so incredibly valuable. We don’t need every person on the planet to know about our Tasmanian sparkling wine, but if we can let a small amount of influential people know about us, then that can be the difference between growing our global reputation or not.”
According to Tyson Stelzer – one of Australia’s top wine critics and the man who organised the Saffire Sparkling weekend – the compliment from Brun is an important comparison that could be massive for Tasmania. “It is the strongest endorsement that might be possible because,” Stelzer says, “not only are the Champenois obviously privy to the greatest sparkling wines on earth but they are also perhaps rightfully jealously guarding of that premium sparkling space. And for them to be complimentary towards any other region at all is perhaps the strongest endorsement that the great makers of Tasmania could receive. By every measure Tasmania is making the best sparkling wines in Australia and on a global stage there is nobody making better wines than Tasmania outside of Champagne itself.”
About one third of the wine made in Tasmania is sparkling. But on a global scale our sparkling wine production is minute. Davies estimates that of the 160 licensed wine producers in Tasmania, about 45 are making sparkling wine, and of that only 2 per cent makes it on to the international market.
But what we lack in quantity, she says, we definitely make up for in quality.
The growth in champagne consumption in Australia is sky rocketing. We are the fastest growing champagne consumers on the planet. Our annual national champagne consumption has gone from less than one million bottles a year 16 years ago, to a current eight-and-a-half million bottles a year. Perhaps following in the footsteps of that champagne popularity is the perception and consumption of Tasmanian sparkling wine. Tasmania is making more sparkling wine now than it ever has, and it is in greater demand than ever before.
This month, Stelzer will be taking his top Tasmanian sparkling wines to showcase in New York and San Francisco alongside some of the best champagnes available globally. He did the same last year and was blown away by the buzz Tasmanian sparkling wines created. “We had Carol Duval Leroy who is the owner and the name of champagne Duval Leroy – she’s developed this house to the 15th largest in Champagne in the last 20 years,” he says. She asked to try the top Tasmanian sparkling wines and afterwards she was full of praise. Stelzer says she said: “Thank you for showing me such amazing wines, I almost said ‘champagnes’ because they are on the same level.”
When Stelzer tells these stories his pride for Tasmania is etched into his smile lines. The reason for that pride, he says, is that in tasting wines blind in wine show line-ups or at home when he knows what he’s tasting, Tasmania’s sparkling wine comes out so far ahead.
Stelzer tastes thousands of champagnes and sparkling wines every year. He reviews more than 500 Australian sparkling wines annually, and has been winning awards for his books and wine writing for a decade. Stelzer’s known Brun for eight years, met with him a dozen times, and describes him as one of the most fanatical wine makers in Champagne right now. But Stelzer says, Brun is also possibly the best.
“He has an uncanny ability to blend his knowledge of the vineyards and his insight into the wines,” he says.
Brun believes that Tasmania could be the country with the closest temperature to Champagne. Their grape quality is also similar, he says, but the soils are vastly different. Champagne has chalk as its bedrock and Tasmania’s soil varies between clay, sand and loam.
Brun says Tasmanian sparkling wine producers have also been inspired by the makers in Champagne.
“Some of these Tasmanian producers of sparkling wine have learnt our tricks that you need to know to fine-tune the making of your bubbles,” he says.
Brun’s favourite glass of bubbles that weekend was the House of Arras magnum: EJ Carr Late Disgorged 2002. House of Arras winemaker Ed Carr says it’s described as an elegant and vibrant sparkling and it will set you back $199 for a 750ml bottle.
“There is limited stock of the 2002 in the magnum and the 2003 in the 750ml as we are just about to roll with the 2003 Magnum and the 2004 in the 750ml,” he says. According to Brun, it’s worth lashing out for: “It was really, really, super well balanced, and really well set up as a sparkling wine”. He sighted a soil tasting difference but says, “otherwise it could be as similar to champagne”.
House of Arras is Australia’s most awarded sparkling wine brand. Its maker Ed Carr has been exclusively using Tasmanian grapes for Arras since the 1990s. He has collected a swag of prestigious national and international awards and accolades.
So far this year, House of Arras has won three gold medals at the Champagne and Sparkling Wine World Championships for the EJ Carr Late Disgorged 2002 magnum, Museum Release Blancs 2001 and the Grand Vintage 2008. At the beginning of August Carr also picked up a varietal award in the Halliday Wine Companion 2019 edition for his 2006 House of Arras Rosé. Last year he took home the Best Sparkling Trophy in every capital city wine show in Australia (Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Perth and Hobart), an achievement that had never been done before. In the same year, House of Arras also won the Best Australian Producer trophy at the International Wine and Spirit Competition – the first time it has been awarded to a sparkling wine brand.
“I think it’s brilliant that Tasmanian sparkling wine is doing so well,” Carr says. “Tasmanian sparkling is holding a very high ground at the top of the table. Tasmania has matured I guess and these wines have such longevity. You can age them for so long, they pick up that lovely complexity, but they are still bright and fresh, which to me is world-class.”
Davies says that despite the Champagne comparison being something worth celebrating, our Tasmanian sparkling wine represents and tastes like Tasmania.
“Nobody else can replicate the taste of our sparkling wine because it is unique to Tasmania,” she says. “Because Tasmania is an island we have maritime influences. Each season is different. The sparkling wine we produce here in Tasmania is not going to be like anything else in the world.”
There are many great sparkling wine events being held in Tasmania in November as part of the Effervescence Tasmania festival. effervescencetasmania.com
Travel into the grape beyond
Freycinet Vineyard is throwing open its cellar door and co-hosting The Great Eastern Wine and Dine Dinner, giving wine lovers the opportunity to taste and compare some of the winery’s youngest and oldest wines.
AS one of the first winemakers on Tasmania’s East Coast, Claudio Radenti has been at the forefront of change – both at the vineyard he’s worked at since 1992, and within the broader industry.
As winemaker and co-owner, he’s overseen the expansion of the picturesque, award-winning Freycinet Vineyard from 4ha to 16ha; and watched as a league of others have planted vines, established wineries and opened cellar doors along the coast.
He’s been making wine since he was 16 – as a teenager in Launceston for his Italian father’s friends, “they thought my wine was better than my dad’s” – but he says there’s never been as good a time to drink Tasmanian wine as now.
“It’s incredibly exciting,” says Radenti, who is hosting a two-hour tour and wine tasting at Freycinet Vineyard and co-hosting the Great Eastern Wine and Dine Dinner at Freycinet Lodge, both on next Saturday, September 8.
“Tasmania is not only a fantastic place to live and bring up a family, there’s so much potential to make some of the nation’s best wines.
“Back in 1979, Tasmania was barely growing 100 tonnes of grapes in the whole state, mainly in the north and south. This year Tasmania is producing 16,200 tonnes – a record harvest. We were one of the early pioneers on the East Coast, with Craigie Knowe Vineyard.” Radenti goes on to say that the key to Tasmania’s winemaking success is its “southerly latitude”: “With that comes a lovely, cool maritime climate. We are surrounded by water. That’s the key to the quality of the wine and also to the quality of the state’s produce.
“Fruit, grapes and vegetables are all grown slowly over a long period and they develop a wonderful intensity and brightness of flavour, and plenty of natural acidity.”
Radenti, who worked as a winemaker in NSW and WA before returning to Tasmania to work with his wife Lindy, also a winemaker, at her family’s Freycinet Vineyard (established in 1979), says the flavour of East Coast wines reflect the climate and topography of the area and each vineyard site.
“The East Coast is a wonderful place for grapes and wines. Conditions are a little bit milder here, and there’s a lovely generosity of flavour,” he says.
“Grapes seem to ripen a bit earlier than on the North-West and North-East coasts, and south of Hobart. I think that the slightly warmer regions get a more robust, slightly bigger style of wine. In cooler regions, it’s a little bit more elegant, a bit more feminine.”
Radenti, who lives near the vineyard with Lindy and his three children, will be highlighting some of the seasonal differences in his acclaimed Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Riesling and sparkling wines as part of the Great Eastern Wine Weekend next Saturday. There will be a tour of the vineyard (where “the vines are just starting to wake up”) and winery, and a comprehensive tasting of some young and old wines.
“We will be bringing out a few museum wines to show how they compare,” he says. “Our vineyard is 16ha and depending on the season we produce around 160 tonnes of grapes. We grow it all, make it all ourselves, and do everything on site.”
Ultimately, every wine and vintage is unique, Radenti says. “It all depends on your site, the soils, sub soils, topography, slope. All of these factors add up to the differences in your wine,” he says.
“Even five kilometres can make a difference. Each of us has different vineyards. The beauty of wine is it can express your location. Providing you do all the right things in the vineyard and winery, the wine you produce is unique, even to the wine produced down the road. They are an expression of the place – the grapes that are grown, and the season.”
Discover Freycinet Vineyard – with Claudio Radenti at Freycinet Vineyard, Saturday, September 8, 2-4pm, tickets $50 per person. Bookings are at reservations@freycinetlodge.com.au or by phoning 6256 7222
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