I loved this wine at the Tasmanian Red Wine Weekend a few weeks ago, and I enjoyed the new-release 2014 even more the other night, when a bottle mysteriously evaporated over a couple of hours. Eddystone Point is nominally the second label of Bay of Fires, producing wines that are more immediately accessible and more cheaply priced. This has everything you'd want in a "drink now" cool-climate pinot; freshness, vibrancy, raspberry and dark cherry notes, hints of Asian spice and undergrowth. It is wonderfully supple - and dangerously easy to drink. $28. www.eddystonepoint.com.au.
This is a quintessentially modern-style Tassie chardonnay from the talented husband-and-wife team of Shane Holloway and Fran Austin from Delamere at Pipers River. Estate made, grown and bottled, it comes from a vintage that produced high-quality fruit in small quantities. This is a wine of impeccable balance. Unmistakably cool-climate chardonnay, it offers stone fruit and citrus notes, judicious, well-integrated French oak tones and lively acidity. It has undergone wild ferment, partial malo and months of lees stirring that has added complexity without diluting the purity. A wine of exceptional quality, this shines whether you are a sip-and-savour aficionado or like to go the full monty. Top stuff that I want to pair with roast pork and crackling. $45. www.delamerevineyards.com.au
Constable Amos is Gala Estate's premium pinot noir, produced only in excellent vintages. It is named after estate owner Adam Greenhill's ancestor Adam Amos and won three trophies at the 2016 Tasmanian Wine Show. This is rich and ripe with a distinctive smoothness on the palate. It is a plump and juicy East Coast pinot that is drinking beautifully right now but will cellar well over the next five years. $57. www.galaestate.com.au
Many mainlanders might be surprised that cool-climate Tasmania is able to produce quality red wines made from Bordeaux varieties but Domaine A, Grey Sands and Freycinet Vineyard all demonstrate that it can be done. This is a delightfully mature 50-50 blend of cabernet sauvignon and merlot; beguiling and enticing with dark fruit notes, leafy characters and black olive/smoky cedar notes. Very savoury and potentially long-lived, this will delight Bordeaux lovers but comes without the price tag. I'd pair this with something like a beef casserole with herbed dumplings. $35. www.freycinetvineyard.com.au.
As debuts go this is a pretty impressive one; particularly in the extremely competitive arena of Tasmanian pinot noir. Winemaker James Broinowski, who has worked several vintages around the globe, crowd-funded his entry into the wine business and his 90 or so initial investors must be pleased with this astutely judged new-release pinot; nicely balanced with both attractive fruit flavours and structural integrity. Small Island is off to a very impressive start.
$45. www.smallislandwines.com.
A new name on the Tasmanian wine scene; but not a new vineyard. This venture between three friends uses the fruit from the former Diamond Island vineyard, 15 minutes north of Bicheno on the east coast of the island state. This is a young wine, fresh and attractive, and is estate grown, hand-picked and matured in French oak barrels. Pretty nifty all round. Vinified at Winemaking Tasmania but with a sense of individuality, this a label to look out for down the track. $33. www.macleanbaywines.com.au.
Domaine A vigneron Peter Althaus marches to the beat of a different drum. Who else would seek to make quality cabernet in cool-climate Tasmania? Who else would hold back wines for up to eight years until they are at their peak. Who would continue to use corks when there is a swing towards screw caps? But Althaus is a man on a mission to make fine wine in the image of Bordeaux, and his little hot spot of a vineyard at Campania in the Coal River Valley performs miracles more often than not. Made with minimal intervention, matured in French oak barriques for 30 months, unfined, unfiltered and then given years in bottle, this blend of cabernet with smidgens of cabernet franc, merlot and petit verdot, has both balance and character. It is ripe, complex and elegant with fruit and oak in harmony. One for the aficionados. I'd give it 95 points. $120. www.domaine-a.com.au/
