Meet Tasmania's stunning new wine tasting facility

One of Tasmania's most successful wine brands has unveiled a stunning new tasting room in the Coal River Valley - but you'll need to make an appointment if you want to eat and drink. 

Tolpuddle Vineyard will open its new Tasting Room outside Richmond - 25 minutes from Hobart - to the public next Friday (December 13). 

In addition to structured tastings featuring current release chardonnay and pinot noir alongside back vintages ($55), there will also be tasty treats on offer for those lucky enough to secure a time slot. 

Tolpuddle, which released its first wines in 2012, has been a global success story with its wines praised by international critics including Jancis Robinson and Tim Atkin and a swag of trophies from leading international wine shows. 

The Tolpuddle Vineyard Tasting Room will be managed by Pip Anderson (above), previously general manager of hospitality at MONA, and will be open from Friday to Monday, 11am-5pm with appointments available online.

To accompany the tasting flight, guests can also choose from a tight menu of small share plates with local ingredients featured where possible, such as Tongola Curdy Goats Cheese with Hazelbrae Hazelnuts and Kunzea honey. Caviar is a worthy exception, but the scallops are definitely local.. 

The Tasting Room will also be available for exclusive wine-focused events for 15-30 guests. 

Sam Bray, formerly of MONA and Manky Sally’s, has devised the menu - and the offerings are outstanding (I was lucky enough to attend a sneak preview). 

In addition to the wine flights, wines will be available by the glass ($25-30) and by the bottle.

The building, surrounded by vines planted by visionaries Bill Casimaty, Garry Crittenden and the late Tony Jordan at what was then Strathayr, was designed by Hobart-based Tanner Architects and constructed by local builder Cordwell Built. 

The Tasting Room has large floor-to-ceiling windows providing views over the vines. Salvaged timber from the West Coast of Tasmania features throughout and there is seating both inside and out.

Tolpuddle is owned and operated by two of the canniest operators in the Australian wine business, cousins Martin Shaw and Michael Hill-Smith AM MW (the founders of Shaw+Smith in the Adelaide Hills). 

In 2011, the pair visited Tasmania intending to buy nothing more than lunch. They tasted several wines but were impressed with the quality of wines made using grapes bought from Tolpuddle, which was planted in 1988. 

They made an offer for the vineyard - which was not for sale - and made their first wines the next year. 

“When we first bought the vineyard in 2011, we envisioned a day when we would build a Tasting Room in the midst of the vines to showcase our wines from this special site," Shaw said. 

"We love this vineyard and now have a tasting space so visitors can experience Tolpuddle Vineyard first-hand.”

Hill-Smith says the vineyard team led by Carlos Souris has put in a lot of work over the past 12 years, raising standards. 

"But we have been staggered by what a success it has been," he said. "It has been hugely rewarding the way the wines have been recognised around the world for their quality." 

See www.tolpuddlevineyard.com