The final state of Australia we visited on our tour is Tasmania. After a flight from Melbourne in a small aeroplane we got on our tour bus and drove to Ghost Rock, where we were welcomed by owner Justin Arnold. To start he took us for a stroll in his vineyards and told us about the winery as well as the Tassie wine scene in general.

Ghost Rock was founded in 1998 by Justin’s parents and has 30 hectares of vineyards. In 2001 they started planting the current vineyards. Justin took over from his parents in 2007. Pinot Noir is the main variety with over 60% of the plantings.

To compensate for the fertile soil, the vines are planted further apart and with a higher fruiting line. This gives more space to the sea breeze, which helps to keep the grapes dry and to keep the vigor of the vines in check. This vineyards in the North of Tasmania are the latest to be picked, because the South is warmer than the North (in summer — in the winter it’s the other way around).

The lowest vineyard of Ghost Rock is picked two weeks before the highest vineyard. This is not because of the (small) difference in altitude, but because the higher vineyard gets more of the (cooling) wind. The winery picks by machine, so no whole bunch fermentation is applied.

Tasmania produces less than 1% of the volume of Australian wine in volume, but about 5% of the value. It only has some 2,800 ha of vineyards, but has grown considerably from only 500 ha in 2000. The wineries are predominantly family-run. Viticulturists used to bring their grapes to a few central facilities and get them back as bottled wine, but now more and more have their own winery. There are about 25 wineries in Tasmania. All of Tastmania is one wine region, even though their are clear subregions (north, east, south). Tasmania is an agricultural state, so the wineries mostly focus on growing the best fruit (rather than fixing bad fruit in the cellar). Pinot Noir is the main grape variety of Tasmania. The climate used to be too cool, but thanks to global warming it is now the sweet spot for Pinot Noir. The west of Tasmania gets a lot of rain, up to 4 meters, whereas the east gets only .4 meters. This is why irrigation is needed to bring the water from the west to where the vineyards are. The east of Tasmania is more impacted by the weather patterns of El Niño/La Niña than the north. 

Of course there was wine to be tasted as well:

• Supernatural PetNat (30% Pinot Noir, 30% Pinot Gris, 20% Chardonnay, 20% Riesling): fresh, clean for petnat, fruity
• Zoe Brut Rosé 2018 (mostly Pinot Noir, seccond fermentation in the bottle, aged 3-4 years on the lees): bruised apple, soft mousse
• Catherine Cuvée Exceptionelle (65% Chardonnay, 35% Pinot Noir, 20% neutral oak, second fermentation in the bottle, aged 3-4 years on the lees): green apple, brioche, soft mousse.
• Supernatural Illusion 2023 (blanc de blancs of Pinot Noir): color of white wine, but aroma of rosé, crisp.
• Estate Pinot Gris 2023: pear aroma.
• Psycho 2023 (mostly Gewurztraminer with some Pinot Gris and Riesling): roses, peaches, fresh, and fruity.
• Estate Riesling 2023 (7.5 grams of residual sugar): crisp, elegant.
• Estate Chardonnay 2022 (French oak barriques, 30% new): oak, stone fruit, balanced, nice gentle acidity, beautiful.
• Supernatural Pinot Noir 2023 (low sulfur): spicy, juicy, velvety tannins.
• Estate Pinot Noir 2022 (11 months in French oak, 30% new): restrained aroma, very good texture.
• Estate Pinot Meunier 2022: restrained aroma, velvety texture.
• Climat Pinot Noir 2022: did not like this wine.
• La Filles Pinot Noir 2022 (warmer vineyard): restrained aroma, structure. Needs time in the bottle.
• Bonadale Pinot Noir 2022 (cooler vineyard, picked with the same potential alcohol as La Filles): aroma of grass, soft tannins.

We finished our visit to Ghost Rock with a wonderful lunch. The wines were good, but the lunch was outstanding. It included:

• Salmon rillettes
• Oysters
• Tortillas with refried beans and chutney
• Burrata and citrus salad
• Slow-roasted lamb shoulder
• Crispy potatoes
• Whiting
• Roasted cauliflower
• Grilled asparagus
• Qual with lentils and rice

Our final tasting for this day was at House of Arras, which specializes in sparkling wines made with second fermentation in the bottle (same method as for Champagne). It was founded in 1995.

Grapes from all over Tasmania are used, sourced from multiple growers, and vinified and blended  at the winery in the North. The name refers to medieval tapestries, as the wines are weaved together from many parcels. Arras specializes in late disgorgement, which means a long time of aging the wines on the lees. The high natural acidity gives the wines longevity, so they can be disgorged up to 16 years after the harvest. They do trial disgorgements to figure out when a wine is ready to be disgorged and how much residual sugar needs to be added to balance out the acidity. The long time on the lees provides creaminess through autolyse of the yeast, so a few grams of sugar suffices to get a balanced result.

The grape varieties used are the same as in Champagne: Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Pinot Meunier.

Pinot Meunier gets its name from the ‘wool’ coating that the shoots have in spring.

We tasted four different sparkling wines:

• Brut Elite Rosé (1801, which means 1st cuvée from vintage 2018, mostly Pinot Noir): complex aroma with cherries, pleasant mousse
• Grand Vintage 2015 (65% Chardonnay, 35% Pinot Noir): mineral, high acidity but balanced
• Blanc de Blancs 2015 (Chardonnay): restrained aroma, high acidity but balanced
• EJ Carr Late Disgorged 2008: complex, developed, aroma keeps developing in the glass, very pleasant mousse and despite the low residual sugar the wine is very smooth.

We had dinner at the Blue Café, which was of course accompanied by Australian (mostly Tasmanian) wine.