Props for Pete's pinot noir

Peter Caldwell grew up on a sheep and wool farm in north-east Tasmania but he sure can make great wine.

As the winemaker at Dalrymple Vineyards he has reached a new high, producing one of two Hill-Smith Family Estates wines that took home Best In Show titles from the 2026 Decanter World Wine Awards, with the Dalrymple Vineyards Single Site Estate Pipers River Pinot Noir 2024.

Dalrymple Vineyards was the only Pinot Noir recognised from the Southern Hemisphere.

After leaving the family farm Peter studied pure science in Launceston and while on semester breaks at university he worked alongside a school friend doing vineyard labour at Heemskirk and Jansz - just up the road from his current employment.

He said back in the late 1980s and early 1990s winemaking was new in the state and early trailblazers were largely playing it by ear, so he was keen to get involved and apply his love of science to the emerging industry.

“I moved to South Australia to study winemaking and viticulture at Roseworthy College, which was the only institution of its kind in the Southern Hemisphere at the time,” he said.

“After that I explored and worked across mainland Australia, Europe and America and that global experience led me to a premium winemaking job in New Zealand at a time when Tasmania's wine sector was still too small to support commercial winemakers.”

“In those early days people drank heavy ports and big reds like cabernet, which did not suit Tasmania's cool climate.”

The market eventually shifted to embrace elegant, cool-climate styles, allowing grape growers to transition the local craft into viable commercial businesses.

Peter returned to Tasmania in 2008 to be closer to his parents, who lived in Bridport, taking a brief role with Joseph Chromy before landing a job at Dalrymple in 2010.

“I actually did some work at Dalrymple in my university days when the vines were first being planted by founders Bert and Anne Sunstrup, so I’ve really come full circle,” Peter said.

Armed with a background in viticulture and an intimate knowledge of the local climate, Peter arrived at the estate with a clear vision of where to take the brand.

While the Sunstrups had initial success with Sauvignon Blanc, Robert Hill-Smith chose to pull those vines out to focus purely on Pinot Noir and Chardonnay.

The estate now manages 17,500 hectares of vines split between two-thirds Pinot Noir and one-third Chardonnay plus regional vineyard Ponto in the Coal River Valley (formerly Frogmore Creek) and grower sites in Ouse and Swansea.

“We had a lot of issues with variable seasons, which frustrated the sales team because some years we had a lot of wine and other years far less, so the business expanded from Pipers Brook into the Coal River Valley gives the winery volume certainty year after year while allowing us to build a distinct range of single-vineyard wines,” Pete said.

“Pinot Noir shows highly distinctive characteristics depending on where it is grown, and consumers love tasting the regional differences across the four unique sites.

Dalrymple Vineyard is laid out over rolling hills with a modern, well appointed wine tasting room and wine making and storage facilities at its epicentre.

From a grassy platform complete with firepit the views towards Georgetown and Bridport are beautiful and the perfect place to sample the vintages.

With a concentration of vineyards and cellar doors in the area, tourist numbers are steadily increasing in the north-east and while tastings were until recently only by appointment, the gates are now open on Fridays and Saturdays for passers by.

“Many visitors feel awkward because they think they do not know enough about wine to appreciate it, but they leave the tasting room with a strong opinion about what they think is the best one - they’ve learned along the way without knowing all the jargon, what they like and where it comes from.

“Some people have a real affinity for certain characteristics.

“We’re not trying to make one wine a champion, we just offer some opinions and show them what they’re like from each area and they start to see the difference and a sense that they can visit Tasmania through tasting wine.”

Pete said that for a little vineyard in Tasmania to win Best in Show at an international competition was an incredible thrill because it means they’re matching it with the world's best.

He said it’s a source of great pride for the vineyard team.

Dalrymple also took out Decanter’s Best in Show award for its Chardonnay back in 2021.

The Decanter World Wine Awards sees more than 17,000 wines judged by highly qualified global experts, with only 50 chosen for the top Best in Show bracket.

Only five Pinot Noirs achieved this status in 2026, including three from Burgundy, France (the home of Pinot Noir), one from Oregon, US, and the wine from Dalrymple.

When travelling around the country and internationally to places like Hong Kong, Singapore and the US, Peter said that buyers are far more receptive to Tasmanian wines than when he first started out.

“Over the 15 years I’ve been here the vineyard has quadrupled in size and the industry has changed so much - we offer quality and something very unique.

“We’re no longer pretending our wines are something they’re not and striving to replicate other styles - we’re something else and we’re recognised on the world stage.

“It’s been a long journey but wine is a long journey.”