Our northern vineyard sits on the rising west bank of the Tamar River, fifteen kilometres north of Launceston. You can’t visit St Matthias. Go to Launceston instead. They’ve got monkeys.

With ancient volcanic and newer clay soils, St Matthias is much more fertile than our southern vineyard. Starting at ten metres above sea level, there are deeper and siltier clays. Moving west up the slope and rising to a height of 115 metres, the clay loam soils make way for granite stone and outcrops.

The site’s slope and proximity to the water provides natural frost protection. Facing east, the full sun on the west bank is tempered by near constant cool breezes, helping to ensure long and cool ripening conditions and limit the spread of Botrytis, the noble rot, which is prevalent in Tasmania. These are stellar conditions for producing fruit-driven and acid-balanced wines.

The wines we make from this vineyard show fruity flavours and aromas. They’re racy and mineral, yet they retain the delicate, natural vitality of high acidity that is the trademark of cool-climate wines. There is so much versatility in what we can make here: from intense sparkling and white wines to medium-full bodied reds, and even naturally sweetened dessert wines.