Alternative varieties shine at Eastford Creek Vineyard

Wine grapes are grown in distinct, even radically different, climates, topographies, and soils. Local yeasts and microflora also affect the characteristics of the fruit and wine made from it, while other determinants are human: the viticulturalist and winemaker (vigneron).

These elements together form the concept of terroir, enabling wine drinkers to know with some predictability the wine style.

In parts of Europe, varietal grape-growing is confined to particular geographical areas, with legal assignations, so that the name of the commune, township or province stands in for the grape. You might see Beaujolais (Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée) on a wine label, but Beaujolais is the province and Gamay the grape, and they are interchangeable.

By contrast, it is common in Australia to grow multiple grape varieties in one geographical area, to mix grapes from different vineyards/estates, but also for different vineyards to share the same winemaker. Eastford Creek Vineyard’s (ECV) winemaker, Andrew Gaman, makes the wine for Meander Valley Vineyard too.

The most prominent information on an Australian wine bottle label is the wine company, location, and wine variety. It is rare to see the name of the winemaker and almost never the viticulturalist.

I often stop at ECV on Chapel Road, Sassafras, on my way home to Shearwater from the Deloraine Write-in Group, which meets on Fridays in the Empire Hotel’s Ladies Lounge. At around 3 pm, usually the ‘open’ banner is flying on ECV’s entrance gate. I have a glass of wine, with an outlook of rolling green vineyards.

We arrived to live in Tasmania in early 2021. ECV was established only three years earlier (2018). And within that time, I have watched the vineyards expand and the cellar door develop activities. ECV is one of a few Tasmanian wineries that grow alternative varieties.

ECV’s 2023 Gamay is, in colour, a lightish, transparent ruby red. Its aroma is like a drift of soil particles mixed with a light touch of peanuts and egg yolk. The equally light palate nevertheless lingers, and made me think of the word ‘town’ which is not a bad thing, different as it is to the negative implications of ‘city’.

The ECV 2023 Chardonnay is light-to-mid gold in colour and the aroma and lingering palate are all lemon. I experienced the change from big, buttery Chardonnays in Australia to light ones. But when I returned to the former, I regained an appreciation for oaked Chardonnays. Still, many wine drinkers have left big Chardonnays forever. ECV’s 2023 Chardonnay is lightly oaked.

I was fortunate once on one of my Friday stops at ECV to taste its ‘natural’ Chardonnay with the generous Gaman. I was astounded by it, given that I am a verified hater of natural wine. So I am very much looking forward to it coming by-the-glass or bottle purchasing.

I have also met young French women interning at ECV for studies in wine tourism. And in mid-March, when I suspected picking had commenced, in came a trio of Taiwanese pickers to refresh themselves with the sparkling Rosé made from that first seasonal pick of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay.

I thought I detected Chinese five-spice, cinnamon or nutmeg lightly backgrounding the fruity palate of peach and or perhaps apricot in Eastford Creek’s 2024 Pinot Gris. In colour, it is rustic, light-bronze golden with a pink tinge which I have found is always good in a Pinot Gris: think Zendaya’s dress at the Golden Globes 2025 but less copper/tangerine. It’s a dry Pinot Gris with a sophisticated and elegant palate.

ECV in Sassafras, just 35 km from Deloraine (home to the North Coast Post), is well within the idea of ‘local’ drinking.