Pooley
WKR Vineyard Pinot Noir 2023
Single-vineyard Coal Valley Pinot. 96 Halliday. State benchmark.
$87.00
Pooley · Bubb + Pooley · Domaine A
Tasmania, by the latitude.
Australia's coolest, southernmost wine state. Six sub-regions, two reference grapes (Pinot Noir and Chardonnay), and the country's best sparkling — all on cool, slow-ripening, ocean-cooled vineyards.
Sub-regionsBrowse by origin
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Two grapes
Pinot Noir, or Chardonnay.
Grape
Pinot Noir
Tasmania's state grape. Pooley's WKR is the reference single-vineyard Pinot; Bubb+Pooley Cherry Tree Hill the east-coast variant; Domaine A's Stoney Vineyard the oldest planting.
Grape
Chardonnay & sparkling
Chardonnay (Clarence House, Pooley) and methode traditionelle sparkling (Apsley Gorge, Moorilla). Tasmania's gift to Australian wine.
The wineries
Producer shortlist.
P
Australia · Tasmania · since 1985
Pooley
Anna Pooley (winemaking) and her brother Matt (viticulture) are the third generation running the estate. Pooley Wines was founded in 1985 when Denis and Margaret Pooley planted Riesling and Pinot Noir on their 16-hectare farm at Cooinda Vale, near Richmond in southern Tasmania's Coal River Valley; first vintage was 1989. Son John and his wife Libby expanded the operation with the Belmont property and the Butcher's Hill vineyard.
Shop producerD
Australia · Tasmania · since 1973
Domaine A
Stoney Vineyard is the oldest vineyard in the Coal River Valley — first planted in 1973 by George and Priscilla Park. Swiss former-IBM-executive Peter Althaus and his wife Ruth acquired the property in 1989 and developed it into Domaine A, with the Cabernet Sauvignon-led Stoney Vineyard becoming a fixture on the Langtons Classification. David Walsh of Moorilla acquired the estate in 2018.
Shop producerM
Australia · Tasmania · since 1958
Moorilla
Some of Tasmania's first vinifera vines went into the ground on a Derwent River peninsula north of Hobart in 1958, planted by Claudio Alcorso. David Walsh acquired the estate in 1995 and opened the Museum of Old and New Art on the same site in 2011. The estate is Moorilla.
Shop producerA
Australia · Tasmania
Apsley Gorge
Pinot Noir and Chardonnay on the east-coast viticultural sub-region — drier and warmer than the southern Coal River and Derwent valleys. Apsley Gorge is a small Tasmanian east-coast estate at Bicheno, on the maritime side of the island.
Shop producerC
Australia · Southern Tasmania · since 1998
Clarence House Estate
Cardiologist David Kilpatrick planted Clarence House Estate in 1998 around the 1830-built Georgian Clarence House homestead at Clarence Plains, Mt Rumney in southern Tasmania. The vineyard expanded from 6 hectares to about 16 — Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Blanc, Tempranillo, Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon. The wines are made by Anna Pooley and Justin Bubb (the Bubb + Pooley team) at the Pooley cellar in nearby Cambridge.
Shop producerB
Australia · South Australia
Brackenwood
Cool-climate Riesling, Barbera and Pinot Noir at altitude. Brackenwood is an Adelaide Hills estate in South Australia, working with cool-climate varieties on a small scale.
Shop producerCaravan's pours
Caravan pick
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Allocated
Maeve's pick
Cellar
If you're writing onewine case this winter.
Six bottles that cover the range — gateway, sipper, cellar, presentation piece. Real prices, real producers.
Pooley
Cooinda Vale Pinot Noir 2023
Second Coal Valley parcel — older clones, brighter style, perfumed.
$89.00
Bubb + Pooley
Cherry Tree Hill Pinot Noir
East-coast collaboration, brighter Pinot from Bicheno. Cool maritime style.
$78View
Domaine A
Stoney Vineyard Pinot Noir 2023
Tasmania's oldest Pinot vineyard. Structured, age-worthy, allocated.
$38.00
Moorilla
Estate Muse Pinot Noir 2019
Berriedale (Hobart) biodynamic — the MONA family estate. Lifted, savoury.
$57.00
Clarence House Estate
Chardonnay 2024
Coal Valley Mt Rumney estate. Reference Tasmanian Chardonnay.
$36.00
Vintage chart · Tasmania
Tasmania vintages, at a glance.
Tasmania's cool maritime climate makes its vintages diverge from mainland Australia. Coal River Valley (Pooley, Bubb+Pooley territory) has its own micro-rhythm — dry rain-shadow east of Hobart. Pinot Noir ages 15+ years here, unlike most Australian reds.
Year
Conditions
Drinking notePinot NoirChardonnay
2024
Cool slow even ripening. Anna Pooley calls it textbook.
Just released. Drink from 2027 onwards.
2023
Cool, classical, restrained. Halliday 96 for Pooley WKR.
Drink from 2028. Cellar 12+ yrs for WKR.
2022
Warmer vintage, generous crop. Charming open style.
Drinking well now; cellar to 2032.
2021
Very cool challenging vintage, lower yields.
Cellar — needs 6+ yrs. Best growers shine.
2020
Cool elegant year, structured.
Drinking now to 2030 for Pinot. Whites at peak.
2019
Warm ripe year, generous.
Drinking now. Pinot peaked, Chardonnay still excellent.
2018
Warm hot summer. Power, ripe tannin.
Drinking now to 2028. Concentrated style.
2017
Cool challenging vintage. Marginal ripeness.
Drink soon. Lighter style.
2016
Excellent vintage. Cool restrained ripeness.
At peak now. Library window for cellar players.
2015
Warm ripe vintage.
Drink soon for fresh styles; cellar pieces still good.
Caravan tastes the vintage before we write the note. Indicators reflect the Tasmania vintages generally; individual climats, villages, and vineyards diverge.
How to shop Tasmania
Three moves.
Pooley is the reference
Three-generation Coal Valley estate. WKR Vineyard Pinot is the state benchmark; Cooinda Vale the second voice.
Buy by sub-region
Coal Valley (Pooley, Clarence House) for power. Pipers River (sparkling base) for elegance. East Coast (Apsley Gorge, Bubb+Pooley) for brightness. Huon Valley for marginal cool-climate Pinot.
Tasmanian Pinot ages
Unlike most Australian reds, Coal Valley Pinot holds 15+ years. Pooley's library releases prove it.