Tasmania

Tasmania is tiny in volume, about 1% of Australia’s wine, but it has the climate the mainland lacks for Pinot Noir and sparkling wine, and demand for its grapes has outrun supply for years. Agents put a high-quality established vineyard north of A$200,000 a hectare, against about A$85,000 in the Barossa, and the big mainland companies have been buying in.

Economics in brief

Tasmanian grapes fetch the highest average prices of any Australian region, often more than A$3,000 a tonne, because the state’s sparkling and Pinot Noir sell at a premium and there is not enough of either. Established vineyards with a cellar door command the top prices; bare land in the Tamar Valley has been quoted at A$29,000–74,000 a hectare. The constraints are a short season, frost, and the cost of getting anything on or off an island.