Where to find star Tasmanian wines when visiting

Planning to visit Tasmania and wanting to know where to find interesting local wines on restaurant lists?

The judges for the 2025 Tasmanian Wine List of The Year award have done some work for you - this week naming the finalists in the state wide competition.

A record 16 venues from around the island have been selected as finalists in the 2025 Tasmanian Wine List of the Year awards.

The program recognises local venues going the extra mile to champion the island’s home-grown wine.

Finalists have been chosen from an exceptional field of nominated venues based on the diversity and representation of Tasmanian wine on offer as well as the quality of wine service and local knowledge.

Wine Tasmania CEO Sheralee Davies congratulated the 2025 finalist venues:

“The quality of this year's award entrants has been incredibly high and it's great to see a number of new venues being deservedly recognised as finalists this year," she said.

"The ever-increasing efforts our hospitality venues are making to highlight, promote and support Tasmanian wines is very valuable for both our local wine producers and visitors to these venues."

"The Tasmanian Wine List of the Year awards were instigated to encourage and recognise venues of all locations, styles and sizes who are our local wine champions, and the award categories allow for diverse offerings to be individually and equitably assessed.

"This year's finalists represent a wide range of some of Tassie's most well-known fine dining institutions alongside casual and specialised experiences, not just in our major cities but all the way from the Huon Valley to the East Coast, Cradle Mountain and Stanley in the North West."

The announcement also marks the commencement of the People’s Choice voting campaign, which invites Tasmanian wine lovers to visit and vote for their favourite finalist venue.

Among the awards under consideration by the judging panel include Best Hobart / Launceston Wine List, Best Regional Wine List and Best Small Wine Bar List, as well as the overall champion Tasmanian Wine List of the Year.

Public voting in the People’s Choice Wine List of the Year closes on Sunday, November 2, and votes can be submitted at winetasmania.com.au/vote. The winners of each 2025 Tasmanian Wine List of the Year Award category will be announced on November 5.

The following eateries (listed in alphabetical order) have been selected as finalists:

# Black Cow Bistro, 70 George Street, Launceston TAS 7250, blackcowbistro.com.au
# Driftwood Restaurant, 13 North Terrace, Lauderdale TAS 7021, driftwoodrestaurant.com.au
# Grain of the Silos, 89 Lindsay Street, Invermay TAS 7248, grainofthesilos.com.au
# Harvest and Light, 6 Church St, Geeveston TAS 7116, harvestandlight.com.au
# Hellyers Restaurant at Discovery Resorts Cradle Mountain, 3816 Cradle Mountain Road, Cradle Mountain TAS 7306, discoveryholidayparks.com.au/resorts/cradle-mountain/dining
# Lost Captain Restaurant & Taphouse, 2-4 Short St, Huonville TAS 7109, lostcaptain.com.au
# Mures Upper Deck, Victoria Dock, Davey Street, Hobart TAS 7000, mures.com.au/upper-deck
# Peppina, 2b Salamanca Place, Hobart TAS 7000, peppinarestaurant.com
# Piermont, 12990 Tasman Hwy, Swansea TAS 7190, piermont.com.au/restaurant/
# Stanley Wine Bar, 2 Church Street, Stanley TAS 7331, stanleywinebar.com.au
# Stillwater, 2 Bridge Rd, Launceston TAS 7250, stillwater.net.au
# The Branch Swansea, 7 Maria St, Swansea TAS 7190, thebranchswansea.com.au
# The Old Bank of Geeveston, 13 Church Street, Geeveston TAS 7116, theoldbankofgeeveston.com.au
# The Whaler, Salamanca Pl, Battery Point TAS 7004, thewhaler.com.au
# Urban Greek, 103 Murray St, Hobart TAS 7000, urbangreek.com.au
# WunderBar & Restaurant, 45 Goulburn St, Hobart TAS 7000, www.wunderbar.au

# Disclosure: The writer was a judge for these awards until standing down this year.

Why is Australian wine not making an impact in Canada?

Someone at Wine Australia appears to be falling down on the job. 

And someone at the Liquor Control Board of Ontario in Canada is doing their customers a disservice. 

On a recent visit to Kingston and Toronto in Ontario I visited several different restaurants and there was hardly any Australian wine to be found on any of the wine lists. 

And visits to monopoly LCOB stores showed that while mass market brands like Yellow Tail and 19 Crimes are available in abundance there are hardly any upmarket, or boutique, Australian wines on display. 

This is at a time when all US wines and spirits have been removed from the shelves, creating what should be a huge opportunity for Australian producers with a lake of quality red wine to offload. 

New Zealand, is contrast, has its sauvignon blanc well represented on wine lists. Thee are also plenty of choices from Italy, Spain, France, Argentina and Portugal, among others. 

I purchased a decent Wakefield (Taylor's) Promised Land shiraz an LCBO store to share with family. but there were precious few other enticing options from Australia. 

The question has to be asked: Why is Wine Australia not leaping in to fill the gap caused by the absence of US wines? Particularly as Canadians are comfortable with wines sold under screw cap and have a positive relationship with Australians.

Friends living in Toronto tell me promotions of Australian wine in the fourth-biggest city in North America are non-existent. 

And why is the LCBO offering only mass market Australian options to local consumers? Would they not like to try something different? 

Something, somewhere is very wrong.  

Image: Filotero Venturo, Scopio          

Wine menu prices reflect greed, says leading restaurateur

It is not just in Australia that restaurants are under fire for the massive mark-ups of their wine prices. 

“[Some] restaurants charge crazy prices for wines” says one leading French restaurateur, responding to similar criticism.

Parisian restaurant operator Franck Astruc has weighed in on behalf of consumers, the Vitisphere website reported.

Astruc operates the Café des Ternes brasserie, the Café des Beaux-Arts in central Paris, and the Bistrot Faubourg in La Défense.

"When you buy wines for your restaurant and you see the prices displayed by others, you quickly see that it no longer makes any sense," Astruc says. 

"The vast majority of restaurants charge crazy prices for wines, which consumers cannot afford. 

"It is understandable to put a coefficient of 3 on the price of a bottle purchased below €40, but it is not possible above €50. Doubling the price with VAT included is acceptable, it allows a good margin. 

"But let's not go too far. And the accountants can say whatever they want so that I put in more, with this margin we are already making money. But we don't kill customers. Without going below the price of wine merchants."

Many restaurants see wine as a way of making up for losses they make on food. 

"By buying at €100 and selling at €200 we make money even though we have done nothing," says Astruc. 

"We opened and put a bottle on the table with glasses. We didn't get in the tractor to move the earth, we didn't face hail, we didn't have the problems with the vines.. 

"Of course Burgundy wines have increased their prices a lot. 

"Yes it’s expensive, but the winegrowers do 100% of the work. If they put in a 10% increase, we pass it on, so let's not complain too much and think about reducing our margins. 

"The winegrowers sell us at €100 a bottle, but some restaurants put it at €400. They are the ones who are killing the business. We have to look at the long term. 

"My customers buy more wine and send other customers as we are reasonable on prices. I prefer to have a margin that gains sales, rather than a coefficient that leads to a reduction of consumption.

"Restaurants are not obliged to sell wines at stratospheric prices. With an affordable price, the consumer will not buy one bottle, but two."

Image: Daniel Rivera, Scop.io