There are possibly a dozen wineries nearby to Bridport, (well within a 50km distance) however not all of them are open to the public. I think the reasons for that are varied, but possibly some are well-known enough to not need to bother with the cellar-door thing. Having said that, Mick and I had planned to visit three wineries today, and we were successful. Out of the three, only two had been selected before we left Bridport this morning. The other one was a surprise fill-in for one we could not find.

Again, all experiences were very different.

First stop was Clover Hill Vineyard.

It was a very impressive building, and as per usual, Mick was sick of waiting for me to catch up. But there are always photos to be taken!!

Once inside, things got better. The large glass sliding door opened up to a restaurant-style space, with glass windows opening up the view outside over sloping ground, covered in clover, out towards Bridport on the horizon.

The wine tasting was $15 for 6 wines, regardless of whether you made a purchase or not. But I’d have to say, it was definitely worth $15.

Mick was served by a young man who was also serving other groups at the same time. To make things easier, there was a laminated sheet with tasting notes, which we have had many, many times before. But, this one was different.

Beneath each image of the wine to be tasted was information about the production techniques and tasting notes.

As with most vineyards, there was a ‘club’ option. Clover Hill offers 20% discount on 6 bottles of wine twice per year, plus free postage.

We actually left empty handed from here (which was good, as we only have a few days left) , but we did join the ‘club’. And to say thank you, they gave us two free bottles of sparkling which will be delivered in a few weeks with our first six pack.

The sext stop was the replacement one – Brook Eden. It had not appeared on any of the maps Mick had been using to guide us around Tasmania. So, was a surprise.

We were the only visitors here, and were served by the owner of the vineyard and the wine grower (but not the wine maker). Here Mick tasted some very different wines; seven wines for $5.

There were a number of certificates on the wall indicating wines here had won some impressive competitions. For example, the 2013 Nero (Pinot Noir) – won a gold medal in Lyon in 2021, and gaining 95 Halliday points in 2017.

Of course, Mick chose a bottle of that.

We then headed to Pipers Brook as I’d read there was a cafe there where we could have lunch.

We chose to do a self-guided tasting (of 4 wines for $15) here with lunch.

The wines we tasted here were very nice, and except for the last Pinot Noir on the right, were very reasonably priced.

Lunch was excellent. This was the first time we’d been served up a chocolate brownie as part of a charcuterie board for two.

We hope to visit at least two more wineries tomorrow. But with it being Monday, many of the cellar doors will not be open.

It’s a hard job, but someone has to do it.