Coal River Valley

The Coal River Valley sits twenty minutes east of Hobart and is Tasmania’s warmest, driest wine region — a rain-shadow basin where Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, Pinot Noir and Chardonnay all ripen reliably. Cellar doors cluster tightly around Richmond, Cambridge and Campania, making it the state’s most walkable wine region and an easy half-day trip from the capital. Pooley, Frogmore Creek, Pressing Matters and Puddleduck lead the winery contingent, with Sawford, Lawrenny and Old Kempton drawing whisky drinkers into the same loop. The landscape is open, pastoral and lightly historic — convict-era Richmond Bridge, Coal River dolerite and merino paddocks — and lunch options at estate restaurants rival anything in Hobart. Start or finish at Coal Valley Farm in Cambridge for cellar-door tasting and produce together.