SINAPIUS
Pipers Brook, TAS
Available NSW, ACT & QLD
Vaughn Dell and Linda Morice purchased the tiny 2-hectare Golders Vineyard in Pipers Brook in 2005 and re-named it, creating Sinapius. At the ripe old age of 24, Vaughn and Linda knew that their home state of Tasmania would provide Australia’s finest cool climate Pinot Noir and Chardonnay in the future. Originally planted over 20 years ago to the two Burgundian mainstays, they have added two new sections with updated clones of both varieties, plus a little Grüner Veltliner, Pinot Blanc, Pinot Gris and Gamay to play around with. Both sections are ultra-close planted at 7700 and 10250 vines/ha respectively. The aim here is low bunch weights and yields per vine like Burgundy, rather than tonnes per acre.
WINES
2024 Close Planted Grüner Veltliner
2023 Clem Blanc
2023 Close Planted Chardonnay
2024 Jean Morice Gamay Rosé
2023 & 2024 Esmé Rouge
2022 Vaughn’s Jardin Gamay
2023 Close Planted Pinot Noir
Only perfectly ripe fruit is harvested with great care taken in the vineyard right down to removing the ‘ears’ from Pinot Noir bunches to ensure even ripeness. Vaughn is a vigneron in the true sense doing all the work from pruning through to bottling, with the attention to detail of a fanatic. Production will not go much beyond 1000 dozen. Pipers Brook has a long reputation of outstanding Pinot Noir and the wines that Vaughn sensitively crafts are as akin to fine Burgundy as they are Tasmanian Pinot Noir. The Chardonnay is intensely aromatic and the Riesling has a level of complexity in its youth rarely seen in Australia.
Sadly, Vaughn passed away at the end of the 2020 vintage. Linda is now solely responsible for the vineyard and winery and continues to build on their important legacy. Under her stewardship Sinapius has cemented its place among the top tier of Tasmanian producers.