Tasmania

Tasmania's wine regions are spread across the island: the Tamar Valley is 45 minutes north of Launceston, the Coal River and Derwent valleys are 20 to 40 minutes from Hobart, and the East Coast runs 200km between Bicheno and Orford. Fly into Hobart or Launceston and build a circuit; the distances are manageable and the scenery between cellar doors is half the experience. Allow at least three days to do the island's wine culture justice.

Harvest is late: April through May, sometimes into June, the last major harvest in Australia and a window most interstate visitors don't know about. Spring and early summer (October to December) show the island at its most lush, with mountains still snow-capped behind the vines. January and February are peak visitor months but the days are very long, the weather reliable, and MONA's cultural calendar in Hobart running at full pace.

Sparkling wine is the island's most celebrated export: cool climate, high natural acidity, and an obsessive approach to méthode traditionnelle have produced examples that hold their own in international blind tastings. Pinot Noir is the prestige still wine: fragrant, structured, and radically different in expression between the island's north and south. The food culture around Hobart has become one of Australia's most serious; MONA anchors an arts-and-gastronomy scene that makes Tasmania feel like no other wine destination in the country.