The Tasmanian wine industry is celebrating a major milestone: 200 years since Australia's first sparkling wine was made on the Apple Isle.
Back in 1826, former convict Bartholomew Broughton was making wine from grapes grown at Prospect Farm in the Hobart suburb of New Town having planted a vineyard three years earlier.
His 1826 vintage was advertised as “grape wine made in imitation of Champaigne,” Wine Tasmania reports.
For various reasons the nascent Tasmanian wine industry died out - and was not revived until 1956, when Jean Miguet at Providence in the Tamar Valley and Claudio Alsorso, on the banks of Derwent on what is today Moorilla Estate, revived wine grape growing and winemaking.
Two centuries later, Tasmania has over the past 50 years built a global reputation for exceptional sparkling wine - regarded by some critics as second only to Champagne.
Some of the best producers make only Methode Champenoise wines: House of Arras, Jansz Tasmania, Pirie, Bellebonne, Clover Hill and Henskens Rankin.
Others make both sparkling and table wines: Freycinet Estate (Radenti), Delamere, Stefano Lubiana, Apogee, and Pipers Brook (Kreglinger) among the highest profile.
Tasmania has proved a hugely successful island for producing key Champagne grapes chardonnay and pinot noir. Here's cheers to its sparkling success!
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