Denis and Margaret Pooley planted Pooley's first vines in 1985 — ten rows of Riesling and seven of Pinot Noir on a 16-hectare farm at Cooinda Vale, in southern Tasmania's Coal River Valley near Richmond. The decision was a long-fuse retirement project: Denis had founded the Hobart Beefsteak and Burgundy Club in 1954, two years after the couple emigrated from England, and the vineyard was the family's slow turn from amateur enthusiast to wine producer. The first commercial vintage was 1989.
Their son John and his wife Libby joined the operation through the 1990s, expanding the estate with the purchase of Belmont in Richmond and the planting of a second vineyard, Butcher's Hill, on Belmont's sheltered slopes. The third generation — siblings Matt Pooley as viticulturist and Anna Pooley as winemaker — now run the estate, making Pooley Tasmania's first three-generation wine family. The Coal River Valley terroir defines the wines: cool-climate continental, schist-based soils, low rainfall, and sustained ripening windows that suit Riesling, Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Gewürztraminer above other varieties.
The wine range tiers across three vineyards — Cooinda Vale (the original site), Butcher's Hill (Belmont site, more sheltered), and the bespoke Jack Denis and Margaret Pooley Tribute single-block expressions named for the founders. The Riesling line covers a standard Pooley Riesling, the single-vineyard Cooinda Vale and Butcher's Hill expressions, the Margaret Pooley Tribute, and a late-harvest Cane Cut. Pinot Noir parallels the same vineyard tiers; Syrah (including the JRD reserve), Chardonnay, Gewürztraminer and Pinot Grigio round out the white-and-red lineup.
