Several vineyards in this area are closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. It being Tuesday today, a few of the wineries I had selected to visit were soon scratched off the list. We did however successfully visit three wineries in quite close proximity to our accommodation.

Each of the wineries we visited today was either a small / boutique vineyard, had something quirky about it, or was very surprising in the quality of their wines.

Or all three!

The first winery we visited was Swinging Gate Vineyard. Its cellar door and surrounding buildings are constructed of recycled materials. The vineyard owner’s dog and secret weapon, Nellie, came out to greet Mick. The owner was doing some running repairs to an ancient bus he uses during busy periods. We have certainly noticed that the smaller vineyard owners are required to be able to do just about any job on their wineries, including being very welcoming to customers like us.

Another thing we have noticed is that many wineries need to diversify by adding value through selling local produce, serving platters for lunches or providing accommodation. Here the accommodation was set in the grape wines. And it was very unusual. Known as Domescapes, they come complete with ensuites.

But there is more. The Swinging Gate also offers a day spa.

However, we were there for the wines.

Mick was tasting, as I am the driver, and he was most impressed with pretty much everything he tasted, except for two of the wines that were made in the Pétillant Naturel (small bubbles) style.

Pétillant-Naturel (natural sparkling) is a catch-all term for practically any sparkling wine made in the méthode ancestrale, meaning the wine is bottled before primary fermentation is finished, without the addition of secondary yeasts or sugars. So, pet nat wine is a low sugar wine.

Mick tried the Pét Nat Frontignac, which was very cloudy and yellowish in colour, and the Pét Nat Pinot Noir, was ruby red in colour. Both were cloudy, smelt very yeasty and contained sediment.

The wines he did select were their Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Sémillon and a 2019 Pinot Noir that he said was very tasty with peppery notes, and that I’d love it.

He really wanted to buy a bottle of the Italian-style Amorone, which was made from dried fruits and smelt a lot like Christmas. He insisted I have a sip. It was a very strong wine, but while not as strong as a fortified wine, it tasted a little bit like a port to me. At $115 a bottle, I thought we could do without it.

The next stop was a very small vineyard.

We had tasted the Iron Pot Bay Pinot Grigio on our boat tour a few days earlier. But as Mick said, it would be unlikely that anyone would buy wine following that tasting. That is not to take away from the wines we were given to taste, it was more about the plastic thimble like glasses we had, and the very quick presentation given by a lovely young girl who we thought would have preferred to be anywhere else at the time.

There was a sign on the door from ‘Julieanne’ telling us to call her mobile and she would come up from the vineyard where she was working. We were just considering our options when she pulled up in her car, having spotted us arriving.

Julieanne was such a nice person who told us about her nine years as owner of the Iron Pot Bay Vineyard. She said she knew nothing about growing and making wine until she bought the place, saying her only previous experience was from ‘drinking’ wine, which she said had been no help at all.

But Julieanne is obviously doing something right, as her 2018 Blanc de Noir (made from Pinot Noir) won the Gold Medal for the best single vintage sparkling wine in the Tasmania Wine Show a few weeks ago. And as she said, there are some amazing sparkling wines in Tasmania. Mick of course bought a bottle of that. But he also liked her Pinot Noir and her Sauvignon Blanc Sémillon. So we left with 3 bottles in total.

By now, we were looking for something to eat, and had our hopes set on a platter at Marions Vineyard (we’d read about this place in one of the many brochures we’ve been collecting since our arrival).

We followed the signs up a very rugged road to a steep area set aside for parking, and were relieved to see a few other cars. Always a good sign the place was open. This vineyard was very quirky with something interesting to observe everywhere you looked.

We were pretty sure Marion herself served us. The big surprise here was the red wine. Mick enjoyed the Cabernet Franc while I chose a glass (and later bought a bottle) of her Cabernet Sauvignon. Which I rate as the best red I’ve had so far in Tassie. (I am still acquiring a taste for Pinot Noir).

We enjoyed a very nice platter over looking the Tamar River.

Tomorrow we plan on driving further north towards some of the beach areas, and Mick is really hoping to try some local seafood.