Tasmanian Pinot Noir by Region

Tasmania gets sold as one wine region. Cool climate, Pinot Noir, done.

Since 2015 we've made Pinot Noir from the Tamar Valley, the East Coast, the Channel, the Coal River Valley and the Tasman Peninsula. They don't behave the same. Here's what we've learned, one region at a time.

Tamar Valley

This is where Small Island started. Our first Pinot Noir, in 2015, came from Glengarry in the Tamar Valley. In 2016 and 2017 it became our Single Site North. Today Chartley Estate in the Tamar gives us Pinot Noir and the considerably less common Schönburger.

East Coast

Gala Estate gave us our Single Site East in 2016 and 2017. The Black Label in those years was a straight 50/50 blend of Glengarry and Gala Estate. North and East, back in the same bottle. Place matters, and sometimes blending places makes a better wine. Both are true.

The Channel

In 2017 a site at Tinderbox, on the Channel, went into our Single Site South alongside Coal River fruit.

Coal River Valley

North-east of Hobart. Marengo and Pembroke, a small, old vineyard planted largely to Pinot Noir, are our current Coal River sites. Riversdale Estate was one of the two behind our 2024. Our Coal River Pinot is the more structured of our regional wines, with broader shoulders than Saltwater.

Tasman Peninsula

Saltwater River has done most of the talking since 2018. Ian and Anne Hoyle own the vineyard. We buy the fruit, turn up regularly and offer increasingly confident opinions about when to pick. It's a marginal site. Cool years are hard work, but warm years give a long, slow ripening with cool nights, and the wines carry a saline edge. We printed the same GPS coordinate on the back label every year from 2018 to 2024: 43°01'08.7"S 147°43'05.2"E. Cascades Bay, a tiny waterfront vineyard at Koonya, is our newest Peninsula source. Read more about our Saltwater River Pinot Noir.

So which is the best Tasmanian Pinot Noir?

It depends on the site and the year more than anyone's label. Both our 2024 Saltwater River and Coal River Pinot Noirs made Young Gun of Wine's Tasmania's Best Pinot Noir list, picked by a panel tasting blind. The best way to find out is to taste a few side by side. Our Pinot Noir 6 Pack puts Black Label, Coal River and Saltwater River in one box.