Tasmanian Wine Online
Friday, 27 June 2025
Glaetzer-Dixon 2024 Uberblanc Riesling
Friday, 20 June 2025
Holm Oak 2021 Hotshot Pinot Noir
A rather bland label disguises the flagship pinot noir from family-owned Tamar Valley winery Holm Oak. At four years of age, this has developed in to a lovely wine that combines power and poise in the style of Central Otago. Made from small batches of estate fruit and produced only in outstanding vintages, this has impressive structure thanks to the use of whole bunch material. The fruit was basket pressed and matured in French oak (50% new) for 14 months. The end result: complexity and style and a balance between dark red fruits, deli and undergrowth notes, allied to that intense concentration. $130. https://www.holmoakvineyards.com.au/
Friday, 13 June 2025
Small Island 2024 Chardonnay
James Broinowski's Small Island Wines is one of the rising stars of the Tasmanian wine industry. The first wines were produced using crowd sourcing and a decade along the business is producing some excellent drinking at fair prices. This impressively balanced cool-climate chardonnay comes from vines at Saltwater River on the Tasman Peninsula, around an hour east of Hobart, one of Broinowski's regular sources of grapes. This is a young wine, but the quality fruit from the single vineyard shines through - as does short-term potential for cellaring, although it already has "come hither" accessibility. $49. https://smallislandwines.com/
Friday, 6 June 2025
Sailor Seeks Horse 2023 Pinot Noir
Those in the know when it comes to cool-climate pinot noir have the name Sailor Seeks Horse in their notebooks. Paul and Gilli Lipscombe have built a formidable reputation for the quality of their estate wines grown at Cradoc in the Huon Valley. This is a pinot with impressive tension; there's a panoply of flavours on the palate, but aligned to a sense of calmness and cohesion. This a classic style with immediate appeal, along with medium-term cellaring potential. The balance between fruit and savoury characters and some grippy tannins make this beguilingly rustic. $70. https://www.sailorseekshorse.com.au/
Friday, 30 May 2025
Henskens Rankin 2015 D2 Brut Rosé
There are artisan wine producers; and seriously artisan winemakers. Frieda Henskens and David Rankin may be small - but their sparkling wines are very much in demand by aficionados. Only 500 bottles of the second disgorgement of this wine were made; released after spending five years on lees and then five years on cork. The fruit all comes from the fabled Orani vineyard outside Sorell and is made from 100% pinot noir. The pale salmon colour and delicate mousse disguise a palate alive with wild strawberry, freeze-dried raspberry, cranberry and hints of rhubarb along with brioche notes and zingy acid. So many flavours in one coherent package. My wife, very particular about sparkling wines, tasted it blind and said: "Gee, that's a nice wine". $105. https://henskensrankin.com/
Friday, 23 May 2025
Kate Hill 2024 Riesling
Kate Hill has been making stellar rieslings for well over a couple of decades now, and this is one of the best I have tasted under her own label; vibrant and crisp but without the excessive acidity that marks many young Tasmanian rieslings. This new release is made from fruit grown in the Derwent Valley - just a short distance as the crow flies from her Huon Valley winery. From a vintage that offered a long, slow ripening period, this would be an excellent match for dishes ranging from a splurge on fresh Tassie oysters to a budget meal of fish fingers, Think lemon/lime and grapefruit notes and a long, soft finish. Disclaimer: I occasionally help out at Kate's cellar door but will definitely be buying a few bottles to pair with Thai and Korean dishes. $39. https://www.katehillwines.com.au
Friday, 16 May 2025
Westella Vineyard 2021 Sparkling Rosé