Domaine A

Our Coal River Valley winery makes big, Bordeaux-style reds and elegant, award-winning whites.

The story of Domaine A is one of waiting, and of quiet confidence in a grand experiment. In many ways, it mirrors the story of Tasmanian wine itself.

It begins with George and Priscilla Park planting what would become Stoney Vineyard—the first wine grapes in the now-renowned Coal River Valley—in 1973, about a decade after the first vintages from Claudio Alcorso’s trailblazing Moorilla vineyard had made it into bottles (more on Moorilla later).

The Parks’ close-planted noble varieties (and the valley’s long daylight hours) eventually caught the eye of Ruth and Peter Althaus, a couple of Swiss expats who were scouring the southern hemisphere for the perfect place to build their dream: a cool-climate answer to the great estates of Bordeaux and Europe.

Domaine A was born, and—in spite of the ‘accepted wisdom’ that Tasmania was too cold for big reds—patiently carved out a reputation as one of the best producers of Cabernet Sauvignon in the country, marked in particular by Peter’s willingness to keep back vintages for over a decade before release, and the legendary cellarability of the wines overall.

In 2018, with Peter looking to retire, he entrusted Domaine A to Tasmanian gambler David Walsh (who’d bought Moorilla in 1995) and his winemaker Conor van der Reest, whose ambitious cellaring program mirrored Peter’s passion and commitment to long-lived wines.

If you'd like to try the wines in their natural habitat, a trip to our cellar door in the Coal River Valley might be worth a shout. It was designed by Kirsha Kaechele, who—frustrated at being locked out of Europe during the COVID-19 pandemic—renovated the existing 'McMansion' into what she describes as 'a mini Gritti Palace', and what we describe as 'tastefully excessive'.