Hughes & Hughes 2020 Pinot Gris

 

Brothers Jonny and Matt Hughes love to push the envelope when making wine, both with their Mewstone range of estate wines and the Hughes & Hughes range using grower fruit. They make "small batch wines that challenge the status quo". This is as different to most regular pinot gris as The Spice Girls are to Little Richard. Both are music but....This is at the Richard Penniman end of the scale; a blend of fruit from north-west Tasmania, the Derwent and Tamar valleys that is pinker in colour than most rosés. Natural ferments and lees aging with no fining have produced a funky, earthy, spicy wine that is thoroughly modern with a nod to wild 50s rock 'n' roll. $30. https://mewstonewines.com.au/

Apogee 2016 Deluxe Vintage Brut

Serious bubbles here; worthy of a special celebration. Andrew Pirie, the man behind the Apogee label, is a Tasmanian wine pioneer who created brands including Tamar Ridge, Pipers Brook and Pirie. He now concentrates all his attention on his tiny vineyard at Lebrina in the north of the Apple Isle. This is a classic pinot noir/chardonnay/pinot meunier blend that has spent 45 months on lees. Complex and living up to Pirie's belief that northern Tasmania can produce sparkling wines that "stand tall alongside traditional Champagne cuvees". $65. www.apogeetasmania.com.au 

Bay of Fires 2019 Chardonnay

 

The 2018 vintage of this benchmark Tasmanian chardonnay has been sold out for a while; and the 2019 is much-awaited. The news is all good, the '19 is another cracker from Penny Jones and her team; an extremely classy cool-climate chardonnay that has classic stone fruit and citrus characters and excellent length and balance. The fruit has been sourced from the East Coast and Tamar Valley. All class. $55. 

House of Arras NV Blanc de Blancs

The first new release in the House of Arras range for six years is an impressively vibrant chardonnay-dominant bubbly with plenty of crowd appeal. Fruit has been sourced from Pipers River, the Derwent Valley, Coal River Valley, East Coast and Tamar Valley and this is steely and focused with grapefruit and lemon notes; nicely balanced after 30 months on lees. Very stylish and terrific value. $35. www.houseofarras.com.au.    

Haddow & Dineen 2018 Private Universe Pinot Noir

Haddow & Dineen is a small-batch wine collaboration between Bruny Island cheesemaker Nick Haddow and Josef Chromy chief winemaker Jeremy Dineen, using fruit from a small vineyard at Yorktown at the mouth of the Tamar River in northern Tasmania, where the vines grow in white quartz gravel. This is a very serious pinot with complexity and cool-climate intensity.  It is hand-picked, 50% whole-bunch fermented using indigeneous yeasts and unfined and unfiltered. This is easily among the 10 best pinots from Tasmania with savoury notes (think mushrooms and rainforest undergrowth) and structure alongside quality red fruit flavours. Very impressive. $48. www.haddowanddineen.com.au/

Kate Hill 2019 Shiraz

Not a lot of shiraz gets made in Tasmania. Many of the regions are simply too cold to ensure fruit ripeness and there aren't enough shiraz grapes grown to meet demand. Widely experienced Kate Hill is based in the cold Huon Valley but sourced the fruit for this rather spiffing cool-climate shiraz from the slightly warmer Coal River Valley. It well worth-seeking out with a real vivacity; red berry fruits meet savoury and spice characters with a soft. plummy finish. A delightful choice for end of winter pleasure; ours was enjoyed - and emptied - with a steak and kidney pie in front of a wood fire. $48. www.katehillwines.com.au.   

Josef Chromy 2019 Pepik Pinot Noir

Not all Tasmanian pinot noirs demand you take out an overdraft. This is a delightfully fruity entry level offering from Jeremy Dineen and the team at Josef Chromy that delivers freshness and easy drinking, along with plenty of varietal character. This is at the lighter end of the spectrum and could easily be enjoy chilled on a warm day, but it also has enough substance to pair stylishly with both vegetarian and casual dishes. Pair with a veggie burger for a real treat. For those worrying about "Pepik", it is a diminutive of Josef in his native Czech Republic. $25. www.josefchromy.com.au