Pooley 2025 Syrah

 

A few months ago I enthusiastically reviewed the excellent 2024 vintage of this wine. Within a couple of weeks it had snared major show trophies and sold out rapidly. The 2025 vintage has probably been released a little earlier than planned, but it is certainly worth jumping on the bandwagon if you enjoy savoury, spicy and thoroughly delectable cool-climate syrah (which most Australians call shiraz). The fruit comes from the Coal River Valley in the south of Tasmania with winemaking nous from talented Anna Pooley. This is extremely food friendly with a soft, supple mouthfeel. French oak is the support act to quality fruit. $60. https://www.pooleywines.com.au/

Holm Oak 2026 Riesling

Tasmanian rieslings are very under-rated. The best, including this one from Bec and Tim Duffy from Holm Oak at Rowella in the Tamar Valley, are outstanding This hits just the right balance between dry, high-acid structure and lively juicy, citrus characters. There are crunchy apple and zingy grapefruit flavours here, and hints of slatey minerality along with the zingy freshness and a bitey finish. This would match well with Thai. Korean or Vietnamese flavours, or some fresh Tassie oysters. Pure. Intense. $35. https://holmoakvineyards.com.au/

Stoney Rise 2026 Chardonnay

 

This wine's big brother, the seriously excellent 2025 Holyman Chardonnay, was this week named in the Halliday top 100 wines of the year. Gravelly Beach winemaker Joe Holyman is on fire with his new releases, crafting pure but intriguing riffs on the Tasmanian cool-climate theme. This is a serious bargain in Tasmanian terms; all about vibrant pure fruit from overlooking the River Tamar that has been gently aided and abetted by a short period in neutral oak and some lees stirring. There is plenty happening on the palate but this is a wine that has quickly settled into a comfortable bourgeois existence. Grilled prawns anyone? $40. https://www.stoneyrise.com

Broad Arrow 2025 Pinot Gris

 

A very tidy Tassie pinot gris from a top team. The fruit is grown at the Spikey Bridge vineyard in Relbia, just down the road from Josef Chromy, and the vinification is done by experienced Jeremy Dineen at a new winemaking facility. The end result, for both this and its pinot noir sibling, is a well-made, varietally correct wine that offers excellent value. There are bright peach and pear flavours to the fore in a wine best enjoyed well chilled and in its youth. Pair with salt and pepper calamari. $32. https://broadarrowwines.com.au/

Delamere Tasmania Cuvee NV

If you love sparkling wines full of youthful enthusiasm then the recent disgorgement from this Pipers River stalwart will please you. It is a classic from two of Tasmania's most reliable best producers of sparkling wines - Fran Austin and Shane Holloway - and is grown, made and disgorged on site. The varietal blend is 69% chardonnay and 31% pinot noir, with 20% reserve wine blended into the base wine to add complexity to the palate. You can enjoy this an an aperitif but it has enough power and persistence to be paired with food. Shellfish would be a good match. $45. https://www.delamerevineyards.com.au/ 

Pooley 2025 Cooinda Vale Pinot Noir

A new release from one of Tasmania's finest family wine producers is an each-way bet. Enjoy now, or cellar for a decade or more. This is a richly concentrated single-vineyard wine from the Cooinda Vale vineyard in the Coal River Valley - one that will appeal to lovers of bigger pinots in the Central Otago style. This is very much an Alpha wine with some macho attitude thanks to a full-bunch component and a swag of new oak. It’s powerful but well balanced - albeit more UFC than ballet. Pair with a gourmet burger or a venison steak. $90. https://www.pooleywines.com.au/

Forty-Two Degrees South 2025 Chardonnay

 

Classy cool-climate chardonnay from the south of Tasmania that won't break the bank? It's hard to find better value from the Apple Isle than this lively recent release from Alain Rousseau and the team at Frogmore Creek, at Cambridge in the Coal River Valley, just down the road from Hobart Airport. This is delightfully drinkable with the fruit doing the talking and the winemaking in the background. It ticks all the boxes for lovers of young whites; bright acid, zingy lemon-lime-peach fruit notes and some fresh minerality. Very refreshing on its own but it would be an absolute treat paired with roast pork, crackling and all the trimmings. $30. https://www.frogmorecreek.com.au/

Mewstone 2025 Riesling

 

This is a fun surprise; a way removed from your traditional dry riesling offer, but disarmingly slurpable and full of palate interest. It is made from grapes grown on Mewstone's dramatically beautiful estate vineyard overlooking the d'Entreasteaux Channel and Bruny Island in the far south of Tasmania by the Hughes brothers, who also make wines under the Hughes & Hughes label. Hand picked and whole bunch pressed to older French oak, the fruit spent 44 days fermenting slowly and was matured on lees, resulting in pure fruit flavours but more mouthfeel than in many of its Australian riesling siblings. $60. https://www.mewstonewines.com.au/       

Rooster & Robin 2025 Eleventh Hour Pinot Noir

 

It is always good to see a new Tasmanian wine brand off to a flying start. This is the impressive debut release from Rooster & Robin, a family-owned and -operated east coast producer. The sustainably farmed former Melrose vineyard at Cranbrook on the Freycinet Coast was purchased by Robert and Robyn Pearshouse in late 2024 and is now called Elmsroe. I really enjoyed the balance between bright red fruit characters and stylish savoury notes - good work from consultant winemaker Jake Sheedy (Sisu). Only only 2,100 individually numbered bottles were made. One for sipping and savouring. $55. https://roosterandrobin.com.au/

Sonnen 2025 Pinot Gris

This is an excellent value pinot gris from one of the rising stars of the Tasmanian wine business: Luke Andree. He sources fruit from some of the best vineyards across the state; this batch coming from long-established Grey Sands at Glengarry in the north of the state. This just oozes drinkability with its bright natural acid, but barrel fermentation has added structure and palate interest to a wine alive with melon and pear fruit flavours and vatrietal spice. This is sold out at the winery but Luke tells me there is still some stock with distributors Mezzanine and in retail land. Enjoy well chilled with spring salad, or a quiche lorraine. $36. https://www.sonnenwine.com.au/

Dalrymple 2024 Mount Lord Pinot Noir

 

Here's a new flagship pinot noir from Pete Caldwell and his team at Dalrymple Vineyards in the far north of Tasmania, although the grapes for this one come from a small vineyard at the other end of the state. The Hill-Smith family's Mount Lord Vineyard lies on a steep slope high above the Coal River Valley between Richmond and Sorell. This is all about quality. Cool-climate fruit intensity, pinosity, complexity and selected French oak barriques. Pair with roast Chinese Duck, or maybe a mushroom fricasee. I'll leave the final word to Cygnet taster and pinot noir lover Cho Lin. "That was very delicious". $130. https://www.dalrymplevineyards.com.au/  

Pipers Tasmania 2025 Syrah

This is the impressive latest addition to the Pipers Tasmania range - a collection from Luke Whittle and the Pipers Brook team that offers affordable cool-climate wines. This is made from fruit grown on Tasmania’s slightly warmer East Coast and offers a mix of bright fruit, hints of pepper and spice and a nicely balanced palate. It's immediately accessible and very food friendly. It was launched in Tasmania but is now being distributed nationally by Pure Wine Co. $35. https://www.kreglingerwineestates.com/product/Pipers-Tas-2025-Syrah

Woodlawn 2023 Three Wishes Vineyard Pinot Noir

Woodlawn is the premium wine brand from Ricky Evans, the talent behind the Two Tonne Tasmania and Havilah labels, and comprises small-batch, single-site releases of pinot noir and chardonnay from the Tamar Valley. All are sold in heavy bottles sealed with wax with strikingly stark labels. A serious statement. This one comes from the Three Wishes vineyard planted by the Whish Wilson family over 25 years ago. It is made in the small winery at Evans' Woodlawn farm. This is an aromatic, concentrated, varietal wine with impressive depth that you could pair with a roast lamb en croute right now, or confidently cellar for a few years. $70. https://tttwine.com.au/collections/woodlawn-tasmania

Pooley 2025 Cooinda Vale Riesling

 

I have long subscribed to the view that dry rieslings from Tasmania are best enjoyed several months after being bottled, or at four or more years of age if you like more savoury notes. Very young rieslings from the island state can often be ultra high in acidity. If you subscribe to that viewpoint then you'll find this wine from one of Tasmania's finest family producers to be right in the zone right now. There is serious depth of flavour thanks to whole-bunch pressing, and four months on lees, but the wine retains its bright, lively, citrusy attitude on the finish. Pair this Coal Valley product with pan-fried snapper or blue eye for a Tassie taste treat. $70. https://www.pooleywines.com.au/   

Kreglinger 2019 Vintage Brut

Looking for a serious, food-friendly sparkling wine? This is a classic blend of pinot noir and chardonnay from the same people that make the Pipers Brook table wines. It offers complexity and richness on the palate while retaining cool-climate freshness and vibrancy. Made from grapes grown in a single vineyard in Pipers River - in the far north of tTasmania - this is an excellent dinner party choice with berry/apple orchard aromas leading to a delightfully balanced palate that is simultaneously yeasty, toasty, citrusy and savoury with an impressive mousse. Cold fermentation in barrel, malo and battonage have added to a kaleidoscope of flavours and textures. This was aged for five years+ in bottle before release. $65. https://www.kreglingerwineestates.com/

Holm Oak 2024 Shiraz

 

Cool-climate shirazes from Tasmania are increasingly find favour with wine drinkers looking for more subtle/elegant takes on the grape variety. With the 2024 vintage wines coming from a warm, dry year at Rowella in the Tamar Valley, that created perfect conditions for fine, peppery shiraz. I really liked the immediate drinkability of this one, which has moderate alcohol but plenty of flavour. Red fruit and spice notes are aided and abetted by quality French oak (just 20% new) that sits comfortably in the background. Fruit driven, medium bodied and a statement that there is more to Tasmanian reds than just pinot. Pair this with poultry dishes, or maybe roast beef and Yorkshire pudding. $50. www.holmpoakvineyards.com.au.  

Freycinet Vineyard 2025 Louis Schönburger Riesling

This unusual sweet white blend has found favour with a couple of Tasmania's best producers - and is a very amiable companion for spicy dishes from the likes of Thailand and Korea, or maybe an Indian vegetable curry.  This one, from a pioneering producer on the east coast, is a blend of 67% German hybrid schönburger and 33% riesling, with a melange of sweet/ripe tropical fruit flavours to the fore, along with hints of white spice and citrus notes. Aromatic, and soft on the palate, this would also pair well with a platter featuring soft blue cheeses. Drink young. Drink chilled. $33. https://freycinetvineyard.com.au/

Dalrymple 2024 Single Site Pipers River Pinot Noir

 

Here’s a great combo. One of Australia’s leading wine families; top-quality Tasmanian grapes and talented winemaker Pete Caldwell. This is one of a pair of uber-impressive new release single-site Tasmanian pinots from Hill-Smith family-owned Dalrymple: this one from the winery’s home turf in Pipers River in the far north, the other from the Coal River Valley in the south. From a warm - for Tasmania - year, it has dark cherry and spice notes, is ripe and bright with well integrated oak. It pulls off the neat trick of being intense and elegant at the same time. Pair with Chinese roast duck  $80. www.dalrymplevineyards.com.au

Two Tonne Tasmania TMV Chardonnay 2025

 

Here's one of the stars from a batch of impressive new 2025 TTT releases from Ricky Evans - the pinots and riesling are also well worth seeking out. Evans makes wines under the TTT and Woodlawn Park labels as well as running popular Launceston wine bar Havilah and is a proven star on the Tasmanian wine scene. This is a lovely cool-climate chardonnay from Evans' home ground in the Tamar Valley, pure and linear with enticing chalky minerality. Whole-bunch, fermentation in older big format oak and some malo for palate complexity have delivered a wine with immediate appeal and brisk natural acidity/salinity on the finish. Very impressive - one for Burgundy lovers priced out of that market. Look out for this label. $39. 

Spring Vale 2019 Family Selection Pinot Noir

 

Hitting Tasmania’s delightful east coast? Want to take home a very stylish local wine that is mature and ready to enjoy right now? This one hits the bullseye; delicious classic cool-climate pinot noir from land at Cranbrook that has been farmed by the Lyne family since 1875. The vineyards arrived a bit later: in 1986, but Spring Vale is very much part of regional history. I really enjoyed the balance of this wine; beautifully poised between fruit and savoury notes, and well worth a splurge. Note, however, that it is made in tiny quantities - from one barrique - and virtually impossible to find anywhere other than cellar door. $125. www.springvalewines.com