Go behind the scenes with Tasmanian boutique wine producers

Some of Tasmania's best - and smallest - wine producers will be opening up this weekend before the 2026 vintage.

Producers without regular cellar doors including Trial Bay Estate, Resolution Vineyard, Chatto and Sailor Seeks Horse will be offering tastings from February 27 to March 1 for Southern Open Vineyards Weekend.

Stargazer will be showing off its new tasting facility in the Coal River Valley, while Alice Davidson of Aunt Alice will be showcasing its new garagiste-style winery in Geeveston.

The weekend offers the chance to explore 51 small and large wine producers and vineyards across some of Tasmania's striking wine landscapes - all under an hour from Hobart.

There is the opportunity to uncover hidden cellar doors - like the new facility at Elsewhere - tour working vineyards, chat with winemakers, and enjoy special barrel tastings. 

Many producers will offer food, or entertainment.

There is also a special deal with Bargain car rentals for festival goers. Use the code TASWINES15 when booking online for 15% off.

The weekend is run by Wine South with backing from Events Tasmania.   

For more details see https://winesouth.com.au/open-vineyards/

Astutely-judged pinot noirs from a micro producer

Back in August 2005 I was contacted by Kevin Bell and Tricia Byrnes from a start-up wine business called Hurley Vineyard at Balnarring on the Mornington Peninsula.

I was writing a wine column for the Sun-Herald in Sydney at the time and they were looking for suggestions for possible outlets for their first vintage.

Five Way Cellars purchased three cases, I recall; their first Sydney order.

I didn't know it, but Kevin Bell was at that time a judge of the Supreme Court of Victoria. He was promoted to the Office of the Order of Australia in the 2024 King's Birthday Honours List. 

Byrnes was a distinguished legal practitioner, now a barrister and nationally accredited mediator at the Victorian Bar.

I thought then that their Burgundy-inspired pinot noir wines, made in minute quantities, were outstanding.

For two decades now I have been lucky enough to follow their vinous journey. And I'm pleased to report their 2022 vintage releases still charm and beguile.

The bad news is that the trio of 2022 releases has already sold out at cellar door. The good news is that some is still available in retail land. 

The 2022 releases are the Hurley Vineyard 2022 Lodestone Pinot Noir ($110), the Hurley Vineyard 2022 Hommage Pinot Noir ($110), and the Hurley Vineyard 2022 Garamond Pinot Noir ($130). 

No estate blend was released for this vintage but the three wines all reflect Bell and Byrnes' obsession attention to detail and quality. Quite how they find the time I do not know. 

In previous years my favourite has wavered between the Hommage and the Garamond, but this time around it was the super-smooth Lodestone that most took my fancy with its minerality and completeness. 

The velvety Hommage is tighter knit and potentially longer lived, while the Garamond is the most complex of the trio, a little bit of a show off in its youth. 

All three wines are definitely Burgundian accented, however, with intensity matched by purity and balance.  

The new releases are the 22nd vintage from vines that are 24 years old (with the exception of a  small part of Lodestone that is 18 years old). 251 cases were made of each of the Hommage and Lodestone and 277 dozen of the Garamond.

"Vintage 2022 was outstanding in quality and small in quantity," Bell reports, which suggests speed might be crucial for would-be buyers.

For details see www.hurleyvineyard.com.au  

          

     

A chance for Victorian wine enthusiasts to head for the bush

The Macedon Ranges Budburst wine festival returns next month after a two-year absence with an expanded program.

The annual festival will run from Friday, November 18 to Sunday, November 20.

Being held for the first time since 2019, Budburst will feature over 25 Macedon Ranges winemakers, who will open their wineries and cellar doors to enthusiasts for wine tastings, curated food menus championing local produce, art shows, sculpture walks and live music.

For the first time, the event will run over three days with the inaugural Budburst Blooms on the Friday night that brings pop-up cellar doors from wineries off the beaten track to three hubs across the region.

Budburst Blooms offers wine lovers the chance to speak directly with some of the Macedon Ranges’ more artisanal winemakers while sipping on local drops and grazing on a selection of small bites.

The three Budburst Blooms hubs are Lancefield Lodge in Lancefield, the Victoria Hotel in Woodend and Piper Street Wine Co. in Kyneton.



Over the weekend festivalgoers can choose to travel independently around Macedon Ranges or on board a Budburst Hoppa bus to visit up to five wineries on two dedicated hop-on/hop-off routes.

New for Budburst 2022 is the Daylesford to Kyneton Drive.

This Hoppa bus route shuttles wine lovers between Cliffy’s Emporium in Daylesford and The Kyneton Hotel in Kyneton, visiting event hubs in Trentham and Kyneton as well as Hunter Gatherer Winery.

The other Hoppa route is the Lancefield Loop that departs Woodend Station before weaving its way around wineries in Romsey, Hesket, Newham and Lancefield.

Across the weekend, two festival hubs will be set up at The Cosmopolitan Hotel in Trentham and The Kyneton Hotel in Kyneton featuring a line-up of wineries who don’t have physical cellar doors.

Budburst festival tickets start from $30 (Budburst Blooms only) with a range of packages for across the weekend.

Tickets are on sale from today at budburst.com.