With a focus on producing luxury, Burgundy-style wines, Lowestoft represents the pinnacle of Tasmanian winemaking.
Under the expertise of Chief Winemaker Liam McElhinney, the Lowestoft wines have been awarded 16 Trophies and 42 Gold Medals in the four years since the wines were first released. These awards include the prestigious Jimmy Watson Trophy, all of the ‘Best Pinot Noir’ Trophies at four major Australian wine shows, as well as Lowestoft being crowned the country’s best Pinot Noir producer in the Halliday Wine Companion 2023.
Halliday Wine Companion 2025
"One thing that’s obvious is that Liam McElhinney is on a roll... In short, he’s a force for good; he’s making both Tasmanian wine and Australian wine more broadly a better place."
Sunday, October 24th
Lowestoft Estate's New Releases
Hosted by Liam McElhinney, Chief Winemaker
Lunch: 12–3pm | 13 wines and 4 courses | $155
Masterclass: 4–6pm | 13 wines & canapés | $85
Dinner: 6.30–9.30pm | 13 wines and 4 courses | $155
The Lowestoft Story
The Lowestoft homestead is one of Tasmania’s oldest, built between 1839 and 1850. This magnificent property is located on the banks of the picturesque Derwent River and overlooks the renowned Mona museum art gallery. The Lowestoft vineyard is a small densely planted (8,300 vines per hectare) 3-hectare vineyard with some of the oldest Pinot Noir vines in Tasmania. Originally planted in 1986, the grapes are some of the most sought after in Tasmania. The property is located 15 minutes northwest of Hobart in the Derwent Valley subregion. The rainfall is low at 400–500mm with the cool temperatures allowing a long even ripening of the outstanding fruit. Due to the small size of the Lowestoft vineyard, we are progressively sourcing the best parcels of fruit from select growers spread across different subregions, including the Huon Valley, Derwent Valley, Coal River Valley and Tamar Valley. Production of all wines takes place at Tasmanian Vintners, which is 100% owned by Fogarty Hall and ably led by chief winemaker Liam McElhinney.
Liam McElhinney |
Chief Winemaker
Liam is a New Zealand-born, cool climate winemaking expert with previous experience in wineries across some of New Zealand’s most premium wine regions, as well as working in France, Canada and the United States. His career began in Marlborough, NZ where he worked for a number of esteemed wineries such as The Ned, Saint Clair, Te Pa and Trinity. He has won numerous awards, including the 2023 winner of the prestigious Jimmy Watson Memorial Trophy for Best Young Red Wine and a Best in Show Trophy at the Decanter World Wine Awards. He was recently shortlisted for the Halliday Wine Companion's Winemaker of the Year 2025.
The Wine List
On Arrival
2016 Lowestoft Grand Reserve
95 points, Tyson Stelzer, The Wine Companion
60/40% pinot noir/chardonnay. A newcomer with a 3-digit price tag is a bold play and Lowestoft answers every reservation in its inaugural Grand Reserve. The fruit of a single, cool, coastal site on the Tasman Peninsula, this is an elegant and graceful cuvée of pale straw hue. At 6 years of age, primary, crunchy red apple and lemon fruit uphold impressive stamina, beautifully backed by the creamy texture and spicy, toasty allure of lees age. With plenty of endurance tucked into its folds, it will take a good few years in the cellar in its stride.
1st bracket
2024 Lowestoft Estate Chardonnay
96+ points, Dave Brookes, The Wine Companion
A grower-driven chardonnay; Coal River Valley with East Coast and Tasmanian Peninsula fruit. Light straw with ripe white peach, nectarine and citrus fruits veiled in soft spice, nougat, clover blossom, meadow flowers, vanillin oak, grapefruit pith, crushed stone and ozone. A stunning saline, briny mineral cadence drives the wine forward. The fruit is gorgeous and the flavours draw out nicely. A great release from a very strong vintage.
2025 Lowestoft La Meilleure Chardonnay [New Release]
The La Meilleure Chardonnay was produced to sit alongside our La Maison Pinot Noir, representing two icon wines. In 2020 Chief Winemaker Liam McElhinney was inspired to create an ultra-premium Chardonnay which purely reflected the coastal terroir of Tasmania, leading him to vineyards across the Coal Valley, Tasman Peninsula, East Coast and Tamar Valley.
2nd Bracket
2022 Lowestoft Estate Pinot Noir [New Release]
95 points, Dave Brookes, The Wine Companion
I remember a winemaker friend telling me to keep an eye on these guys a while back. In recent years, Lowestoft has become one of the high flyers on the Tassie wine scene. I owe that man a beer. This beautifully made wine is sourced from the Fogarty Group's vineyards in the state. Pure red cherry and berry fruits, spice laden, complex and composed, the 2022 release impresses with its seamless extended finish and length of flavour.
2020 Lowestoft Estate Pinot Noir
95 points, Dave Brookes, The Wine Companion
Hand-picked fruit from the Lower Derwent Valley; up to 25% whole bunches; gentle hand plunging and occasional pumpovers. Matured 10 months in 30% new, large-format French oak. Stunning Derwent Valley pinot noir of grace and beauty. Varietally exact red and black cherry fruits are the theme, amplified and never distracted by skilful, subtle work with whole bunches and French oak. Great potential. Purity, class and joy!
2019 Lowestoft Estate Pinot Noir
Gold Medal points, Judging Panel, Royal Adelaide Wine Show 2021
Medium-deep red with a tint of purple and stalky and burnt-vegetable aromas, the palate shows good concentration and weight, slightly disjointed at first, with a touch of astringency. There's a hint of char oak and subtle bunchy traces. A structured pinot. Very good, and should improve over the next year.
3rd bracket
2024 Lowestoft Jacoben Single-Vineyard Pinot Noir [New Release]
96 points, Dave Brookes, The Wine Companion
Sourced from a tiny 0.5ha vineyard on the east side of the lower Derwent River. Deep ruby with aromas of dark cherry and plum fruits with a sheen of wild strawberry and raspberry pip, veiled in exotic spice, dried meats, leaf litter, caraway, roasting game, crushed herbs, judicious nutty oak and citrus blossom and an expression of orange oil. More depth here yet not sacrificing tension and cut. Structured with fine, chalky tannins and a beautiful stony flair on the finish. A cracker from a superb vintage.
2022 Lowestoft Jacoben Single-Vineyard Pinot Noir
97 points, Judging Panel, Decanter World Wine Awards 2024
The second of this year’s outstanding 2022 Tasmanian Pinot Noirs comes from the Derwent Valley, just to the north of Hobart and in the rain shadow of Mount Wellington. The region can be drought-susceptible in warm summers, but in the wetter season of 2022 its site stood it in good stead. This is a darker wine that its pan-Tasmanian peer, but beautifully crafted: singing red fruits without any shadowing from oak, and with the intrinsic grace and charm of the Derwent Valley’s fruit well to the fore. On the palate, it is pure, bright and mouthfilling, packed with juicy raspberry; both tannins and acids are soft and sustaining. They nourish and ease the gorgeous fruit core through the palate to a gently subsiding finish. There’s just a touch of tarry complexity behind those fruits. Virtuoso work from a Pinot region of extraordinary promise.
2020 Lowestoft Jacoben Single-Vineyard Pinot Noir
94 points, Dave Brookes, The Wine Companion
From the Lower Derwent Valley; hand picked; up to 25% whole bunches; gentle hand plunging and occasional pumpovers. Matured 10 months in 25% new, large-format French oak. Crafted to an almost identical recipe to Lowestoft's estate pinot, this vineyard delivers a more linear, strict and structured take on the Lower Derwent. Well-focused black and red berry cherry/berry fruits are confidently supported by fine-grained tannins that promise great things in a decade.
4th Bracket
2024 Lowestoft La Maison Pinot Noir
97 points, Dave Brookes, The Wine Companion
Sourced from several individual slices of the Lowestoft vineyard; 50% whole bunch and matured for 10 months on French oak, 20% new. Mid-ruby with finely honed aromas of dark and red plum and cherries, wild strawberry and raspberry coulis with hints of fine, souk-like spice, crushed minerals, an expression of orange oil, citrus blossom, amaro, shiitake broth, charcuterie, judicious nutty oak, dried citrus rind and a wisp of undergrowth. Gorgeous fruit but man ... that savoury line is fantastic, all tension and stony purpose with melt-in-the-mouth crushed rock tannins and a super-long draw of flavour on the finish. A great release from a superb vintage.
2023 Lowestoft La Maison Pinot Noir
96 points, Dave Brookes, The Wine Companion
Made with 100% whole cluster, pressed directly to 500L French oak puncheons (15% new) for 13 months. There's a lot going on here – all of it good. Bright red cherry, red plum and raspberry pip tones with hints of cocoa powder, pomegranate, Chinese barbecue joint, amaro, souk-like spice, leaf litter, struck flint, XO sauce, shiitake broth and earth. Pure and spicy red fruits, fine, powdery tannins and a mineral-laden acidity that seems to pull the flavours forward on the palate, finishing long, savoury and true with everything plumb and tickety boo. Just lovely.
2021 Lowestoft Woodlands Single-Vineyard Pinot Noir
95 points, Dave Brookes, The Wine Companion
Pinot Noir sourced from the Woodlands vineyard in the Coal River Valley. Bright cherry fruit studded with spice, pomegranate, pressed flowers, cranberry, mountain herbs and subtle undergrowth at the core. There is a pleasing depth to the dark cherry and wild strawberry fruits with fine powdery tannins, a bright mineral-laden line and a composed, savoury swish of the tail on the exit.
2019 Norfolk Bay Single-Vineyard Pinot Noir
94 points, Ray Jordan, The West Australian 2022
Gorgeous aromatic perfumed opening on the nose. This comes from a single Tasmanian vineyard on the Tasman Peninsula. The nose shows spicy cherry and raspberry character with slightly limestone, chalky characters merging with captivating spices. Has such beautiful tannins which almost glow in the dark as they carry the palate effortlessly forward to a long finish. The use of large-format oak contributes to the balance and integration. Combines texture and precision (best drinking: Now to 2029).