Visiting Tasmania’s Capital? These Are the Top 5 Wine Bars for Local Drops
The tiny island of lutruwita/Tasmania, off the southern coast of mainland Australia, is world-renowned for its cool-climate wines. Technically, the state is recognized as a singular region, however locals know there’s more to it than that.
In the north, the Tamar Valley producers such as Josef Chromy and Arras make sparkling wines that rival the best of Champagne. Along the east coast, small family-owned wineries produce exceptional riesling alongside wildcards like Milton Vineyard’s off-dry pinot gris, or Spring Vale’s spicy gewürztraminer. And down south, the Coal River and Derwent valleys are home to ethereal pinot noir and, in increasing numbers, single varietal syrah from boutique labels such as Quiet Mutiny and Glaetzer-Dixon.
While driving across the state visiting all of Tasmania’s cellar doors (plus cideries, breweries and distilleries!) is a cracking good time, it’s not really something you can do in a weekend. Instead, head to nipaluna/Hobart for your fix. This laid-back, waterside capital city is bursting with pubs and wine bars that just love to show off the local wares. Here are five of the best to get your adventure started.
Tom McHugo's photo credit Eden Meure
Locals love this gastropub for its sustainable approach — you won’t find salmon on the menu because the owners don’t deem it ethical enough. This philosophy extends to the wine list, which showcases up-and-coming Tasmanian producers at reasonable prices. You might find a natty sauvignon blanc/riesling co-ferment from Luna, a tiny label from the Tamar Valley that focuses on single site expressions, or a Hughes & Hughes syrah. A second label to Mewstone Wines, Hughes & Hughes captures exceptional varietal expression from Coal River, Derwent and Tamar Valley fruit. Tom McHugo’s also serves up the best parmy in town – that’s slang for “chicken parmigiana,” an Aussie classic involving a crumbed chicken breast topped with marinara sauce and cheese by which all pubs are measured.
The crew behind laneway wine bar La Sardina Loca (aka, the crazy sardine) know how to party. If you’re visiting Hobart during any of its many festival seasons, you’re sure to find happy revelers dancing in its open-air courtyard until the wee hours of the morning. Before 10pm, the venue presents as a cosy wine bar with a Mediterranean-inspired menu. Try the whipped anchovy with tomato, chilli oil and fresh ciabatta or the flat iron steak, Worcestershire butter and grilled gem lettuce. La Sardina’s pre-dinner drink game is strong, with four kinds of spritz alongside negronis, sours and sangrias spiked with local spirits. On the wine front, the team colab with uber-local producers for house wines — right now there’s a pet nat from Small Island Wines (they’re based in Cambridge, about 30 minutes’ drive away). On top of all that, they’re also one of the few Hobart wine bars open on a Monday.
This pocket-sized wine bar seats 20 patrons on a good day, so if you’re not there when they open the doors at 4pm be prepared to queue. What started as an overflow area for hip Hobart eatery Templo has become a destination on its own thanks to manager Alister Robertson’s excellent taste in vinyl and uncanny knack for knowing what you need to drink. There’s no kitchen, just five or six small plates assembled across two hot plates and a toaster. A list of 50+ wines — neatly handwritten on a blackboard above the bar — balances the local and international with a lean towards natural and sustainable. Given that Hobart’s wine industry is about as small as this venue, Robertson pulls in some very limited editions for this list, so make sure to ask him what’s hot. The house rosé, made for Sonny by Two Tonne Tasmania, has evolved into a reductive, spritzy savoury wine that’s great with spicy pasta.
With its lambswool chair coverings, plush grey leather bar stools and marble-topped bar, this waterfront-adjacent wine bar is Hobart’s coolest watering hole. Head chef Gabriela Macedo’s menu embraces Tasmania’s long held status as the gateway to Antarctica. Think native angasi oysters, a changing roster of handmade pasta, pristine seafood from the Southern Ocean and locally made salumi. Owners Louise Radman and Nav Singh also make Süd Polaire Gin and Domaine Simha wines, and the wine bar serves as an unofficial cellar door for both. Singh released his first Tasmanian shiraz (the Ravi Syrah) this year, too. If you’re lucky, you might even catch it by the glass.
Peppina Sims photo credit Remi Chauvin
Peppina’s hands-on culinary director Massimo Mele was born in Hobart and raised in Naples, a cross cultural upbringing that’s reflected in both the menu and the wine list at this hot new Italian eatery. Through relationships with local producers, Mele has cultivated a network of suppliers that nets him some seriously wild ingredients, from mushrooms grown in an old railway tunnel to carbon-neutral curd from the happiest goats on the island. Sommelier Michael Fischer oversees the 16-page wine list that’s about 50/50 Australian Italian, with Coal River pinot grigio holding its own against the best of Fruili, that’s rounded out with a killer selection of locally made amari.