West Coast

Tasmania’s West Coast is wilderness country — Queenstown’s bare copper mountains, the Franklin and Gordon river systems, Strahan on Macquarie Harbour, and the rainforest hinterland of Tarkine. Cellar doors are sparse here: the climate, soils and remoteness don’t suit commercial wine production, and even distilling has been slow to reach the region. What the West Coast does offer drink-travellers is context — the Gordon River cruise, the West Coast Wilderness Railway and the sheer scale of the landscape reset the scale of what ‘regional’ looks like. A few dedicated venues in Strahan and Queenstown serve local beers and spirits brought in from Hobart and the North West, and the drive through from Derwent Bridge or Devonport passes plenty of options en route. Visit for the landscape; bring a bottle for the cabin.