Stargazer, in a very short space of time, has become one of the most exciting prospects in Tasmania.
Passion and true grit
Founder/owner/winemaker and grape grower, Samantha Connew, released her first Stargazer wines in 2012, after previously working with Wirra Wirra as chief winemaker. Initially her fruit was sourced from small parcels in the Coal River Valley and still is, but in 2016 Sam purchased an 11 hectare property, with 1 hectare of Riesling and Pinot Noir. She increased plantings to 3 hectares in 2017, more Pinot and Chardonnay. With a relentlessness born out of passion, true grit and early success, she has increased plantings in 2021, with additional Pinot Noir, Gamay, Pinot Blanc, Riesling, Pinot Gris and Gewurtztraminer. No doubt, there is more to come.
Jurassic fantastic
The vineyard is farmed sustainably. Every site, everywhere in the world is unique, but much of Tasmania is covered by brown dermosol soil over Jurassic dolerite. Free draining, but with excellent water holding capacity, fertility and high calcium content, it produces healthy crops of thick skinned grapes. Tannin management is the holy grail for Australian Pinot Noir, most being delightfully fruity, but without the requisite tannic power necessary for great Pinot. Tasmania, evidenced by producers such as Home Hill and Stargazer, are teasing not only longer, more refined tannins, but tannins of grip and presence that hold the palate and parade the fruit.
Controlled Virtuosity
The whites all possess high levels of natural acids, tension, chisel, texture and flesh. There is a Pinot Meunier/Pinot Noir blend called Rada and a straight Pinot Noir. The Rada (when available) is juicy, bright, red fruited with pastry notes, delicate tannin and bracing acidity. The pinot noir, compact, spicy and wildly complex. Full bodied, structured and very powerful, it’s wide in the mouth and texturally silky, before the tannins fully assert themselves with an authoritative grip.
Stargazer’s range is unbeatable. The prices are a steal, truly fine wines of this quality are and should be more expensive. Sam Connew’s winemaking is an exercise in controlled virtuosity, bringing nuance and delicacy threaded with breadth, richness, structure and thrust.
A blend of Pinot Gris, Riesling, Pinot Blanc and Gewurtztraminer. A nod to the blends of Alsace, a showcase of region, rather than of varietal. The Tupelo is to a degree an orange wine, and in that idiom it is the best in Australia. Simply beautiful. Intensely aromatic, with notes of honeysuckle, white flowers, potpourri, custard apple, blood orange, lime preserve, pawpaw and yellow peach. Terrific shape, tense, yet generous and ample. Textural, a jot of peach skin/chalky texture, a compote of yellow, citrus, green and red fruits. Wildly complex, slightly smokey, spicy and gin herbs. Layered, detailed and sensual.
Stargazer Single Vineyard Riesling 2022
A tense feinherb style that reminds me of the Saar and is a developing style in Tasmania. Intense, almost shockingly so, yet tip toe balanced by the tiny amount of residual sugar. White flowers, green mango, pink grapefruit, lemon and juicy lime. Compact and tight, yet with a wide plane of flavour. Yellow fruits, citrus and stone fruits are soaring, mouthwatering, flavour gliding to all points of the mouth. Tangy, silky, saline and mineral, the kiss of sweetness softens and carries the chiselled finish.
This is the first vintage where fruit from the Palisander is being used. Most of the blend is from the original source, a vineyard on the Upper Derwent Valley. Bright and bracing, yellow peach, white peach, grapefruit, citrus, white flowers, wood spice, pastry and cashew. Intense, very linear, driven, compact and generous. Anyone familiar with the higher vineyards of Pouilly Fuisse will love this. A thoroughly complete wine, all the elements vivid, balanced and integrated. This for me is the essence of the best Tasmanian Chardonnay.
From the Pallisander vineyard, only 0.5 of a hectare, planted in 2002. At twenty years the vineyard is mature and the wine is gaining richness year on year. Wildly complex, seductive, perfumed, brooding and sensual. The winemaking is entirely pragmatic, not ideologically dogmatic, teasing out the grandest qualities of the fruit. Red fruit compote; raspberry, plum, cherry, rhubarb, blueberry and blackberry. Flowers and five spice, smoke and mushroom compost. Again, that sense of completeness, so open, yet coiled, compact and bursting with energy. Long tannins, fine, and present, gripping, suggesting. This will be very long lived at least 15 years, if not longer.
