VALLEYFIELD – The Vineyard

VALLEYFIELD – The Vineyard. Est. 2013

“You can’t have a vineyard there!” Challenge met! It took us a while, but agricultural advances have meant we can include ourselves amongst the stunning quality vineyards developing in Tasmania. We are very happy with our cool climate Pinot Noir and are committed to the care and devotion required to produce premium vintages. It is no light claim that we hand select and ruthlessly cull for quality before picking - The quality of the grapes is our responsibility – from which our winemaker Alain Rousseau produces our beautiful wines. We are also excited in 2024 to now share our first delicious Pinot Gris and in 2025 will add our first Chardonnay. It is an exciting time to be amongst the vines in Tasmania as the rest of the World discovers the superb quality of wines we produce here in our island State.

Our first block of Pinot Noir is just under a hectare of D4V2, 114, 115, 667, 777 and Abel clones. Being a pioneer vineyard for the area, we were interested to see which clones would do well – and have not been disappointed in any of them. Premium Pinot Noir requires the complexity that a range of clones bring. Our first vintage was in 2016 – a tiny release from our young vines that sold out quickly. In 2017 we had a more substantial, yet still very small vintage, with this wine winning three gold medals at major wine shows, including Top Gold at the National Cool Climate Wine Show. Credit and thanks to our winemaker at the time, Glenn James.

Traditonally the D4V2 Pommard clone is noted for its generous fruit weight, tannin and structure. The 114 and 115 are both Dijon Pinot Fin clones, which are early ripening with medium to low yields and make aromatic wines which are well structured and fruity with suppleness, balance and which age well. The 667 and 777 are also Dijon Pinot Fin clones, selected for their addition of deep colour and tannin, rather than productivity. The Pinot Fin clones traditionally have beautifully perfumed high notes.

For our second block of one hectare of Pinot Noir planted in 2016, we have again planted D4V2 and added D2V6 and D5V12, which are Pinot Droit clones, producing a lighter style of wine. We have also added a substantial planting of more Abel clones. The first fruit from this block entered our vintage in 2019.
The Abel would be our favourite, producing the outstanding and famous Ata Rangi in New Zealand. But its fame goes way beyond our hemisphere. Its origins lie in the famous Grand Cru vineyard of Domaine de la Romanée-Conti in Burgundy. Romanée-Conti has been called “one of the greatest wines of the world and the most sought after, the most perfect and the most expensive of Burgundy. Described by the Archbishop of Paris in 1780 as “velvet and satin in bottles”. It has also been described by Roald Dahl as “equivalent to experiencing an orgasm at once in the mouth and in the nose.”

It arrived in New Zealand with a traveller who had taken the single vine cuttings illegally. They were confiscated by Malcolm Abel , Customs Officer at the time and later Winemaker. Recognising their significance, he sent them straight to the Viticulture research station of the day. He waited patiently for the first cuttings to become available and planted them at Ata Rangi. Today it is recognised as delivering wines of great texture and length, with substantial yet silky and fine tannins and flavours of dark cherry. It is a valuable addition to our Pinot Noir at “Valleyfield”.

We planted our next block at the end of 2020, this time to the white varieties of Pinot Gris and Chardonnay. Our first tiny vintage of Pinot Gris was bottled in 2024 and is available through our cellar door and online sales only. We look forward to our first Chardonnay in 2025.