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Meadowbank

2025 Pinot Noir and Chardonnay
Meadowbank

When Gerald Ellis planted vines on his Derwent Valley sheep farm in 1976, the cynics said southern Tasmania was too wild, too cold, too far from anywhere that mattered. Nearly five decades on, Meadowbank has long since answered that verdict, and then some. Tasmania's cool-climate credentials are now some of the most coveted in Australian wine, and the Ellis family, farming this fortuitous stretch of sand and sandstone about an hour north of Hobart, sit firmly at the front of that conversation. They even have the ultimate peer endorsement of a Jimmy Watson memorial trophy on the mantle to show for it!

  

Vintage 2025 was notable in its moderate temperature for Meadowbank — a condition that is beginning to feel characteristic of this site. And, despite increased yields across much of Tasmania, Meadwobank bucked that trend, producing a balanced crop of exceptional fruit. The results are everything you'd expect from this address: chiselled, focused, and alive with cool-climate tension. Two bottles that reward a proper glass and a bit of patience — or none at all.

The Wines

Meadowbank Pinot Noir 2025

Meadowbank Pinot Noir 2025

Meadowbank's lithe, detailed Pinot is drawn from a north-facing parcel of vines planted by Gerald Ellis in 1987 (which winemaker Peter Dredge thinks is probably a combination of clones MV6 and D5V12). The slopes descend over Meadowbank's typical loose sand and sandstone over dark brown coffee rock (sand cemented by iron oxides and organic matter), and these vines benefit from lovely exposure and airflow.

The fruit for the 2025 Pinot was hand-harvested over two weeks. The wine fermented on skins for two weeks before being pressed, finishing fermentation in a mix of old and new French oak barriques. It then matured in oak for nine months before bottling without fining.

Meadowbank Pinot Noir 2025
Meadowbank Chardonnay 2025

Meadowbank Chardonnay 2025

The fruit for Meadowbank's Chardonnay comes from the property’s oldest vines, which are P58 clones now well into their 30s. Peter Dredge describes the vineyard as a "beautiful little spot" with loose sand and sandstone overlaying dark brown coffee rock rich in iron oxides. The fruit was picked over two passes — top and bottom of the block at slightly different ripeness levels — ensuring sufficient acidity to balance the ripe-leaning nature of the clone. The fruit was pressed as bunches to French barriques (10% new) for natural fermentation, with MLF arrested partway through, before nine months' maturation on lees.

In the classic Meadowbank mould, it's focused and chiselled with a rocky palate layered with citrus, white flowers and crunchy stone fruits. Signature cool-climate acidity pulls everything together, leading to a tapered, pulpy finish teeming with slaty drive.

Meadowbank Chardonnay 2025

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