In addition to spending $1.7 million to extend its winery, Andrew Pirie’s Pipers Brook is in the process of developing a 10ha vineyard largely planted to gewurztraminer, pinot gris and sauvignon blanc for a cost of $500,000. The new vineyard, which extends the company’s Strathlynn vineyards on the Tamar, is expected to help Pipers Brook meet its anticipated demand in the late 1990s for more cool-climate fruit from exotic varietals. Andrew Pirie says the new vineyard will take the company-owned area under vine to 77ha, crushing between 500 and 1,000 tonnes each year, depending on the vagaries of the northern Tasmanian climate. Andrew Pirie is also continuing his scrutiny of the various Pipers Brook sites as he matches specific ‘terroirs’ with varieties. The Summit Chardonnay is now onto its third release (1994), while Pirie is firmly convinced that the original 1974 plantings of riesling on Pipers Hill warrant similar status. I will keep you posted with news of future special releases.
