Tasmanian wine
Encyclopedia
Tasmanian wine is produced in the Australian state of Tasmania
. Located at a more southerly latitude
than the rest of Australia's wine regions
, Tasmania has a cooler climate and the potential to make distinctly different wines than in the rest of the country. The area grows primarily Pinot noir
, Chardonnay
and Riesling
with some smaller plantings of Cabernet Sauvignon
and Sauvignon blanc
. Global warming
has had positive effects on the Tasmanian wine industry, allowing most of the grapes in the past few vintage
s (as of 2005) to ripen fully and produce more vibrant wine.
and South Australia
. It was also home to some of the earliest wines to gain attention outside of the county with a fortified
dessert wine
by Bartholomew Broughton being praised by one English
writer as Australia's equivalent to Port
.
, Tasmania has a temperate climate that is marked by the strong winds of the Indian Ocean
, Bass Strait
and Tasman Sea
. These winds necessitate the use of large screens around the perimeter of vineyards in order to protect the grapevines. The cool climate of the regions gives way to a late harvest
typically around April. The effects of global warming have caused the area's grapes to progressively ripen slightly earlier which has allowed most of the recent vintages to be successful. It has opened up the prospects of increasing red wine production with Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot
and Shiraz.
The majority of Tasmania's vineyard are located near the cities of Launceston
in the north and Hobart in the south. Most of the area of Tasmania is well suited for the production of dry, aromatic white wines but the warmer Coal River Valley
and Freycinet Peninsula
are starting to distinguish themselves with red wines.
with many of Australia's mainland producers having production facilities on the island to make the base cuvée
that is later transported to the winery's main facility. Even some French Champagne houses have taken notice with companies like Moët et Chandon
and Louis Roederer
using some Tasmanian grapes for the Australian sparkling wines. Tasmanian Rieslings have begun to gain notice for their closer similarities to a Mosel Riesling than that which is typically produced in Australia.
Tasmanian wines are noted for their naturally high acidity and good balance of fruit flavor that tend to age well. Due to the tendency of some grapes to not fully ripen, Tasmanian wine makers have petitioned the government to make exceptions for them in the country wide ban on chaptalization
so that they can increase the alcohol level of some of their weaker red wines. As of 2007, there has been no action on this issue.
Tasmania
Tasmania is an Australian island and state. It is south of the continent, separated by Bass Strait. The state includes the island of Tasmania—the 26th largest island in the world—and the surrounding islands. The state has a population of 507,626 , of whom almost half reside in the greater Hobart...
. Located at a more southerly latitude
Latitude
In geography, the latitude of a location on the Earth is the angular distance of that location south or north of the Equator. The latitude is an angle, and is usually measured in degrees . The equator has a latitude of 0°, the North pole has a latitude of 90° north , and the South pole has a...
than the rest of Australia's wine regions
Australian wine
The Australian Wine Industry is the fourth largest exporter of wine around the world, with 760 million litres a year to a large international export market and contributes $5.5 billion per annum to the nation's economy...
, Tasmania has a cooler climate and the potential to make distinctly different wines than in the rest of the country. The area grows primarily Pinot noir
Pinot Noir
Pinot noir is a black wine grape variety of the species Vitis vinifera. The name may also refer to wines created predominantly from Pinot noir grapes...
, Chardonnay
Chardonnay
Chardonnay is a green-skinned grape variety used to make white wine. It is originated from the Burgundy wine region of eastern France but is now grown wherever wine is produced, from England to New Zealand...
and Riesling
Riesling
Riesling is a white grape variety which originated in the Rhine region of Germany. Riesling is an aromatic grape variety displaying flowery, almost perfumed, aromas as well as high acidity. It is used to make dry, semi-sweet, sweet and sparkling white wines. Riesling wines are usually varietally...
with some smaller plantings of Cabernet Sauvignon
Cabernet Sauvignon
Cabernet Sauvignon is one of the world's most widely recognized red wine grape varieties. It is grown in nearly every major wine producing country among a diverse spectrum of climates from Canada's Okanagan Valley to Lebanon's Beqaa Valley...
and Sauvignon blanc
Sauvignon blanc
Sauvignon Blanc is a green-skinned grape variety which originates from the Bordeaux region of France. The grape most likely gets its name from the French word sauvage and blanc due to its early origins as an indigenous grape in South West France., a possible descendant of savagnin...
. Global warming
Global warming
Global warming refers to the rising average temperature of Earth's atmosphere and oceans and its projected continuation. In the last 100 years, Earth's average surface temperature increased by about with about two thirds of the increase occurring over just the last three decades...
has had positive effects on the Tasmanian wine industry, allowing most of the grapes in the past few vintage
Vintage
Vintage, in wine-making, is the process of picking grapes and creating the finished product . A vintage wine is one made from grapes that were all, or primarily, grown and harvested in a single specified year. In certain wines, it can denote quality, as in Port wine, where Port houses make and...
s (as of 2005) to ripen fully and produce more vibrant wine.
History
Tasmania was one of the earliest regions in Australia to be planted with vines and was even the source of cuttings for the first vineyards in VictoriaVictoria (Australia)
Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....
and South Australia
South Australia
South Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories.South Australia shares borders with all of the mainland...
. It was also home to some of the earliest wines to gain attention outside of the county with a fortified
Fortified wine
Fortified wine is wine to which a distilled beverage has been added. Fortified wine is distinguished from spirits made from wine in that spirits are produced by means of distillation, while fortified wine is simply wine that has had a spirit added to it...
dessert wine
Dessert wine
Dessert wines are sweet wines typically served with dessert.There is no simple definition of a dessert wine. In the UK, a dessert wine is considered to be any sweet wine drunk with a meal, as opposed to the white fortified wines drunk before the meal, and the red fortified wines drunk after it...
by Bartholomew Broughton being praised by one English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
writer as Australia's equivalent to Port
Port wine
Port wine is a Portuguese fortified wine produced exclusively in the Douro Valley in the northern provinces of Portugal. It is typically a sweet, red wine, often served as a dessert wine, and comes in dry, semi-dry, and white varieties...
.
Climate and geography
Being an islandIsland
An island or isle is any piece of sub-continental land that is surrounded by water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, cays or keys. An island in a river or lake may be called an eyot , or holm...
, Tasmania has a temperate climate that is marked by the strong winds of the Indian Ocean
Indian Ocean
The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's oceanic divisions, covering approximately 20% of the water on the Earth's surface. It is bounded on the north by the Indian Subcontinent and Arabian Peninsula ; on the west by eastern Africa; on the east by Indochina, the Sunda Islands, and...
, Bass Strait
Bass Strait
Bass Strait is a sea strait separating Tasmania from the south of the Australian mainland, specifically the state of Victoria.-Extent:The International Hydrographic Organization defines the limits of the Bass Strait as follows:...
and Tasman Sea
Tasman Sea
The Tasman Sea is the large body of water between Australia and New Zealand, approximately across. It extends 2,800 km from north to south. It is a south-western segment of the South Pacific Ocean. The sea was named after the Dutch explorer Abel Janszoon Tasman, the first recorded European...
. These winds necessitate the use of large screens around the perimeter of vineyards in order to protect the grapevines. The cool climate of the regions gives way to a late harvest
Harvest (wine)
The harvesting of wine grapes is one of the most crucial steps in the process of winemaking. The time of harvest is determined primarily by the ripeness of the grape as measured by sugar, acid and tannin levels with winemakers basing their decision to pick based on the style of wine they wish to...
typically around April. The effects of global warming have caused the area's grapes to progressively ripen slightly earlier which has allowed most of the recent vintages to be successful. It has opened up the prospects of increasing red wine production with Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot
Merlot
Merlot is a darkly blue-coloured wine grape, that is used as both a blending grape and for varietal wines. The name Merlot is thought to derive from the Old French word for young blackbird, merlot, a diminutive of merle, the blackbird , probably from the color of the grape. Merlot-based wines...
and Shiraz.
Wine regions
Launceston, Tasmania
Launceston is a city in the north of the state of Tasmania, Australia at the junction of the North Esk and South Esk rivers where they become the Tamar River. Launceston is the second largest city in Tasmania after the state capital Hobart...
in the north and Hobart in the south. Most of the area of Tasmania is well suited for the production of dry, aromatic white wines but the warmer Coal River Valley
Coal River Valley
The Coal River Valley in located in the City of Clarence, Tasmania and is a primarily agrarian area to the west of the city, located between the townships of Cambridge, and Richmond...
and Freycinet Peninsula
Freycinet Peninsula
Freycinet Peninsula is a large peninsula in eastern Tasmania, Australia. It is located north of Schouten Island, at . It is the site of Freycinet National Park....
are starting to distinguish themselves with red wines.
- North West - south of DevonportDevonport, Tasmania-Sport:The Devonport Football Club is an Australian Rules team competing in the Tasmanian Statewide League. The Devonport Rugby Club is a Rugby Union team competing in the Tasmanian Rugby Union Statewide League...
- Tamar Valley - along the valley north of Launceston
- Pipers River - on the Georgetown to Bridport road.
- East Coast - between BichenoBicheno, TasmaniaBicheno is a town on the east coast of Tasmania, Australia, 185 km north-east of Hobart on the Tasman Highway, with a population of 640. It is part of the municipality of Glamorgan/Spring Bay...
in the north, and east of SorellSorell, TasmaniaSorell is a town in Tasmania, Australia, north-east of Hobart. It is on the Tasman Highway which continues up the east coast of Tasmania. At the 2006 census, Sorell had a population of 1,546.... - Coal River - between CambridgeCambridge, TasmaniaCambridge is a suburb in the greater area of Hobart, capital of Tasmania, Australia. It is in the City of Clarence Local Government Area. The suburb is situated in close proximity with Hobart International Airport and the Cambridge Aerodrome, and is approximately 18 km to Hobart via the Tasman...
and north of Colebrook. - Derwent Valley - between HamiltonHamilton, TasmaniaHamilton is a small rural town north west of Hobart in Tasmania on the Lyell Highway. At the 2006 census, the town and surrounding area had a population of 300....
and Hobart - Southern - between KingstonKingston, TasmaniaKingston is a township and region on the outskirts of Hobart, Tasmania, Australia. Nestled 15 km south of the city between and around several hills, Kingston is the council seat of its wider municipality, the Kingborough Council, and today serves as the gateway between Hobart and the...
and Southport
Wines
The region's cool climate has made Tasmania a good location for the production of sparkling wineSparkling wine
Sparkling wine is a wine with significant levels of carbon dioxide in it making it fizzy. The carbon dioxide may result from natural fermentation, either in a bottle, as with the méthode champenoise, in a large tank designed to withstand the pressures involved , or as a result of carbon dioxide...
with many of Australia's mainland producers having production facilities on the island to make the base cuvée
Cuvee
Cuvée is a French wine term derived from cuve, meaning vat or tank. The term cuvée is used with several different meanings, more or less based on the concept of a tank of wine put to some purpose:...
that is later transported to the winery's main facility. Even some French Champagne houses have taken notice with companies like Moët et Chandon
Moët et Chandon
Moët & Chandon , or Moët, is a French winery and co-owner of the luxury goods company Moët-Hennessy • Louis Vuitton. Moët et Chandon is one of the world's largest champagne producers and a prominent champagne house. The company holds a Royal Warrant to supply champagne to Elizabeth II...
and Louis Roederer
Louis Roederer
Louis Roederer is a producer of champagne based in Reims, France. Founded in 1776, it was inherited and renamed by Louis Roederer in 1833, and is noted as the producer of the luxury champagne Cristal.-History:...
using some Tasmanian grapes for the Australian sparkling wines. Tasmanian Rieslings have begun to gain notice for their closer similarities to a Mosel Riesling than that which is typically produced in Australia.
Tasmanian wines are noted for their naturally high acidity and good balance of fruit flavor that tend to age well. Due to the tendency of some grapes to not fully ripen, Tasmanian wine makers have petitioned the government to make exceptions for them in the country wide ban on chaptalization
Chaptalization
Chaptalization is the process of adding sugar to unfermented grape must in order to increase the alcohol content after fermentation. The technique is named after its developer, the French chemist Jean-Antoine-Claude Chaptal...
so that they can increase the alcohol level of some of their weaker red wines. As of 2007, there has been no action on this issue.
Further reading
- Laing, Phil. (2003) Tasmanian wines Sandy Bay, Tas. : Laingvin Basket Press. ISBN 0958143900