At our next stop we were introduced to a possible solution to that problem - buy a couple of bottles and place them in a box, then keep filling the box and the last winery on your itinerary will send it to your home address. In hindsight this was an option we could have chosen, but I doubt I would have been able to keep it down to one box. There’s also the small matter of freight to the mainland, which at thirty-something dollars is not to be sneezed at. ...
Stop Number Two was Dalrymple Vineyards in Piper’s Brook Road, where, again, everything was good and the pinot noir was excellent. We left with a bottle of the 2006 Pinot which ended up in the clutches of the Cox Combo as thanks for the parking facilities they provided in Mackay.
Just down the road from Dalrymple we turned off to the right and followed a circuitous path which eventually brought us to the cellar door at Piper’s Brook, which was also a suitable venue for lunch. The Chardonnay and Pinot Noir rated highly, though I didn't mind the Pinot Grigio either.
After a substantial lunch we followed the road through the vines to Jansz Tasmania, dedicated to producing sparkling wine and they do it rather well. They offer freight free delivery throughout Australia for half a dozen bottles. They’re part of the Yalumba group so the packaging indicated Angaston in South Australia (rather than Tasmania) as the point of departure for the half-dozen Premium Non-Vintage Brut Cuvee that found their way to our doorstep.
Once we’d found our way back to the highway the next stop was Brook Eden, one of the coolest sites on the island, a delightful spot overlooking wetlands, home to several peacocks, a Jack Russell named Chilli and wines that prompted me to sign up for their Vintage Club. That involves agreeing to buy a 6-bottle tasting pack of Brook Eden wine each year at a discounted price (which offsets the cost of freight). The Pinot Noir and Riesling were (again) outstanding and I’d rate it alongside Pfeiffer’s in Rutherglen as a winery I’ve taken a particular shine to, though that’s not to disparage any of the others we visited in any way.
Every one was excellent. It’s just that I thought Brook Eden was particularly excellent.
Five wineries in the space of a couple of hours the palate tends to become jaded and so although the prospect of visiting a lavender farm doesn’t exactly fill me with unalloyed delight, I didn’t mind the detour associated with calling into Bridestowe Lavender Farm. Madam positively loved it. From there we headed back towards the wine route and made a detour at Lilydale to visit Providence, the oldest vineyard in Tasmania. The cellar door is an agent for a number of other small Tasmanian wineries, and though you can only taste the Providence range, they do ship freight free by the dozen anywhere in Australia.
After a day in and around Launceston the final day saw us take a leisurely drive up the west bank of the Tamar, and a navigational error landed us on the doorstep at Holm Oak, where I found a particularly impressive 2005 Riesling, and, what with the last day and all, decided a dozen was a worthwhile investment though a 94 from Mr Halliday had something to do with the decision.
Since 2007 Tasmanian wineries have gone from strength to strength, and a return visit is eagerly anticipated...
