Did you get a chance to call into Sinapius at all?
Not yet, but as mentioned above I will get there.
I am spending a week near the Pipers Brook area after Christmas, so plan to have a look at the East Tamar sites while there.
I spent a week camping at Bridport (30km from Pipers River) so had a chance to visit some wineries on the eastern side of the Tamar.
I started at sinapius, a cellar door I have been looking forward to visiting to sample their wines. It is a small family run vineyard getting good reviews. They had 5 wines in their range when I visited and all were available for tasting at no charge. (I tried 4) Two Pinot Noir, two Chardonnay and a Clem Blanc, I had anticipated purchasing some PN but while I had no doubt both were quality examples they were not me. It was my first try of a Clem Blanc blend and the Guner Veltliner (30%), made it totally different to other whites I have tried - quite peppery. The CD was small but friendly and helpful with information on the area and distances / route to the wineries I was moving onto.
Next stop was Bay of Fires, a large well known winery with all three labels (Bay of Fires, Eddystone Point and Arras) all sold through DM. It is a large CD (with cafe opening for a few hours over lunch) Tasting was free and they had most of the large number of wines available to taste. I wanted to try the BoF sparkling NV Brut Cuvee and NV Rose, Riesling and Pinot Noir along with the Arras Blanc de Blanc (ended up also having the '07 Arras Vintage....) Nice place, nice wine and a good range of prices. I can get all of the wines I tasted cheaper from elsewhere with discount codes and cash back etc so didn't buy but I will keep my eye out for the BoF Riesling and NV Rose in the future.
I then back tracked to Delamere (it is next door to sinapus - entrances 75m apart) as I wanted some driving time between tastings (approximately 12-15 mins) I have not heard much about Delamere and had never tasted any of their wines. A 4th generation family owned winery. Tastings were free and all wines were available to try along with an Apple cider they brew with fruit from Spreyton - it was an English style and quite nice if you prefer a dry style. They currently have 4 sparkling's, 4 whites, 2 Rose and 3 Pinot Noir. I liked almost everything I tried with the exception of their French style Rose. They had two ranges, one made from their own fruit and the 'Naissante' label made from fruit grown in the Tamar Valley but closer to LST. My favourites were the '13 Delamere Cuvee, '15 Hurlo's Rose and their '13 Delamere Block 8 Pinot Noir - some of the last two had to come home
Many of the Delamere wines are under cork, the Hurlo's Rose I bought is under Stelvin but on asking about future vintages It was mentioned the '16 Hurlo's is under (natural) cork. The Rose is like nothing I have tasted. There were people eating at Delamere but I was too caught up in the Rose and Block eight to gather info.....
From Delamere I headed to Brook Eden, a family owned winery, mostly because I read about them having a fire a little while ago (posted somewhere in this thread at the time IIRC) and loosing all of their stock. I heard the CD was a caravan so I thought I should visit and buy something, it was about 20 minutes and I passed the two other winery's I planned on visiting. On arrival sure enough there was a slab where the old CD stood with a small caravan and a few outdoor settings. Tastings were free and very personal, the garden was the spittoon. They only had 6 of their range available for tasting, I liked their Riesling a little and did buy one, I wasn't a fan of any of their other wines, nothing wrong with them, just not a style I like. They are working on a bigger and better CD with plans approved- just waiting on builders.
Next stop was Pipers Brook Vineyard, about a 15 minute backtrack towards where I was camping. PBV is a big commercial setup with a cafe operating for a few hours over lunch, offering three labels - Ninth9Island, Pipers Brook Estate and Kreglinger Wine Estates (just Sparklings). All are readily available from DM etc so can be picked up using discount codes and cash backs etc. I had a 25% off entertainment book voucher I planned to use. I am very familiar with the Kreglinger range and have had a few Ninth9Island so was very keen to try the Pipers Brook PN. Tastings were $6 for any 3 from the Ninth9Island range, $7 for any 3 from the Pipers Brook Vineyard range, $10 for any 3 from the Kreglinger Wine Estates Sparkling range. The tasting fee is not charged if any wine is purchased. I went for three PBV wines, I guess I got a teaspoon of each. I paid my $7- and left - enough said.
Finally was the Jansz Tasmania Wine Room, I love Jansz sparkling's. Jansz is next door to PBV sharing an entrance, another big company and I would think most would be familiar with the label. Jansz is available at DM etc and only make Sparkling wine. Tastings were free and generous, they had most of their range available for tasting and I was happy to get to try their Blanc de Blanc as I now know I prefer the cheaper vintage offerings. I didn't but any wine but grabbed a branded sparkling stopper. Jansz don't have a cafe but do offer a cheese board.
That ended my little tour
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