The Cast

Olenna – the Sentinel

Chickens – the Eggsterminators

Pigs – the Bacon

The Plot

Cape Bernier is a family owned and operated property dedicated to the production of fine food and wine. Andrew & Jenny, both explorers at heart, relocated from Sydney with their children Oscar & Aneira to Cape Bernier in search of a life full of adventure and discovery.

The Setting

Cape Bernier is located in the old pioneer settlement of Bream Creek, overlooking stunning Marion Bay on the southeastern coast of Tasmania. Andrew, who was raised in Tasmania and is an avid outdoor adventurer, and Jenny, a born and bred Texan and world expeditioner, both have strong ties to the land and sea. Cape Bernier’s coastal location combined with its pioneer history, made it the perfect place to settle and integrate our experiences, travels, adventures.

The Scene

Like these early explorers and pioneer settlers Cape Bernier is dedicated to combining the best of old world winemaking and viticulture with new world innovation.

Andrew applies his expertise gained from working at the forefront of developing technology to masterfully craft the highest quality grapes and produce. Jenny whose background lies in conservation and management of natural resources brings wholistic management practices to achieve sustainable and ethical production.

Our approach is based on the basic principles of our ancestors and also on forging new frontiers to improve quality and production. We have established real-time climate and soil monitoring in the vineyard to facilitate implementation of the best land management strategies available. We use the most sustainable practices available and largely depend on our animal friends, Olenna the irish setter, the chickens, ducks and heritage breed pigs to help fertilise, control pests and keep our soils healthy and nutritious.

The Wine

Located on the slopes of an ancient volcanic range and tempered by sea breezes, Cape Bernier’s maritime climate and rich soils provide the ideal growing conditions for cool climate varietals and fine quality produce.  The vineyard was established in 1998 and plantings include 2ha of Pinot Noir (including three Dijon clones), another 1.4ha of Chardonnay and 0.6ha of Pinot Gris on a north-easterly aspect. Annual production is variable depending on climate and ranges from 1500-1900 dozen bottles of wine.  A site is currently being prepared to plant a further 1ha of Pinot Gris in 2016.

Our long, slow ripening period in cool, dry, sunny conditions produces wine with intense fruit flavours and high natural acids.  Consequently, our Chardonnay displays citrus and stone fruit, Pinot Gris apple, pear and honey, while our Pinot Noir is elegant, perfumed and spicy with berry, dark plum and savoury spice characters. Our sparkling wines are dominated by fresh fruit characters, crisp acidity and smooth creamy bubbles – heavenly!

Our approach to wine-making is similar to our approach to land management – that of minimalist intervention. We believe that growing the best quality grapes will produce the best quality wines. Our traditional range of wines includes Sparkling wine made using the méthode traditionelle, Pinot Gris, Chardonnay, Pinot Rosé, and Pinot Noir. Vintage 2016 has been a grand millésime!! –and we will be adding some new wines to our range including an estate wild ferment Pinot Noir and really getting back to basics with a Pinot Noir fermented in clay amphora – just like the first wine producers did 6,000 years ago!

Our life at Cape Bernier is an exciting culinary adventure dominated by viticulture & wine making as well as charcuterie & bbq.  Together, the Sinclair family aim to capture the wonder of the age of exploration and discovery in our wines and produce to bring you the true spirit of adventure. We hope that you can join us at one of our fine-wine and estate grown bbq events at the vineyard or in our travels.