East Coast vintage vineyard

THE East Coast’s oldest vineyard,  historic Craigie Knowe, is for sale.

Hobart dentist John Austwick first planted grapes at the 19ha property at Cranbrook in 1979.

He retired and sold the property in 2009, but subsequent owners struggled to maintain the vineyard, and it sat unattended for two vintages before the Travers family bought it in 2013.

Craigie Knowe has since expanded to include a restaurant, opened in 2022, and now regularly hosts national touring acts.

On average, the vineyard – planted to pinot noir, Bordeaux varieties, and riesling –  produces 25 to 30 tonnes of grapes annually,.

The sale of the vineyard also includes about $1.3 million worth of finished and part-finished wine stock at cost, along with a purpose-built wine storage facility with capacity for about 300 pallets.

Andrew Dean from AWN Property said that, ideally, whoever buys the property would expand on the work Mr Austwick and the Travers family had done.

“This is pretty rare because there are not many vineyards that come up on the market that have the multi-layer businesses attached to it,” Mr Dean said.

“It’s not just the vineyard and online sales point, but you’ve got the cellar door, the restaurant, campground access, live bands that come and play, and the space to cater up to 1000 people for weddings and functions.

“It has the space for guests to arrive by helicopter, which some already take advantage of.”

Mr Dean said the homestead on the Craigie Knowe was also a drawcard.

“It was built about 1836, and it is strongly rumoured that one of the doors from the house might have come out on the First Fleet.

“You’ve got the beautiful sandstone, and underneath the house is an old cellar.”

The vineyard is underpinned by a 100-megalitre water right, an additional 15-megalitre irrigation scheme allocation, and about 40 megalitres of on-site dam storage, alongside drip irrigation and frost protection.

“It has really strong water security attached to it, especially with the dry conditions on the east coast,” Mr Dean said.“That gives confidence for a buyer.”