News
Christmas newsletter 2011
Christmas newsletter 2012
Christmas newsletter 2013
Christmas newsletter 2014
Christmas newsletter 2015
Christmas newsletter 2016
2008 Tasting notes
2009 Tasting notes
2011 Tasting notes
2012 Tasting notes
2013 Tasting notes
2014 Tasting notes
Note our last vintage was 2016. The liquor license was surrendered in 2024. We still have stock for people interested in the style we produced or for events. Any sales will need to be through an entity with a liquor license. Previous pricing visible at hpinot.com/shop . Happy to discuss wine industry issues, tastings or other business prospects.
linkedin.com/in/duncan-farquhar to update on my movements since 2016.
In 2025, we (the Farquhar family) are all happily in Launceston, Tasmania. Multiple factors led us to stop this business.
- The vineyard was designed to be small. Dad had a stroke in 2003 and sold the farm in 2005. My lease continued without me owning the land underneath. My career took me interstate. We were in Wagga Wagga and a long way from hands-on operations.
- Getting talented part-time staff in a region a long way from other vineyards is challenging. Many thanks to Megan, Mark and Josh for their efforts. It does take an intellectual effort to understand the vines, a physical effort to complete operations on time and commitment to bring wine to market.
- As a small vineyard it was able to cease without devastating financial consequences. The district did not rally to expand viticulture as cattle enterprises (beef and dairy) were doing very well and these take a different set of skills and gear. We do now know viticulture is possible at Winnaleah.
- Dave Calvert, our winemaker and confidant, passed away. Dave was fun, allowing me to discuss and make winemaking decisions from afar. We sometimes sang together. Time passes. There is a time for all things. But a fondness for the Calvert connection was not to be replaced.
- Wines are good, expressive, with a fine linear tannin backbone. Made well with good oak. Cropping levels were on the low side. One year we had splitting, and Banks Straight moisture with easterlies could bring disease challenges. We mostly dealt well with issues of compromised fruit, in the winery. These are different challenges from those of dry regions.
- We drink a lot less than we used to. Wine now wrecks my sleep, and we find wine hard to fit into a flourishing family life. We may live longer with less wine. Other pressing issues like climate change and biodiversity loss occupy my mind and professional attention. You can’t do everything in life.
- We learnt a lot about clones. Special thanks to Megan for keeping records. I am yet to write this up. The clones were all AVIA (Australian Vine Improvement Association) A-grade source block traceable. Doug Cox from Springfield nursery sourced cuttings to establish many vineyards, as Megan pruned. This (Tasmanian Vine Improvement Association) effort added genetic discipline to the Tasmanian industry. The global, clonal trial, big data cooperation project remains for someone else to take a lead on. The design of Harrisons was to be a backbone of developing predicted values of clonal performance parameters for all other participating vineyards through statistics like Residual Maximum Liklihood Analysis. Some published bits of mine are available here.
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Duncan-Farquhar
Some lessons can be learnt from this project. These are clear, but most are not hard and fast. Best discussed on a balcony with a wine.