Thirty years ago, Steve Flamsteed and Brad Rogers were two Queensland mates at Roseworthy Wine School, sharing beers and a love of music, dreaming about the vineyard they’d one day own together. Fast forward to today, and that dream has become Decades Wines - one of the most exciting Australian wine projects we’ve seen in years.
Why the Coal River Valley? For Steve and Brad, it had to be Tasmania: cool-climate Pinot Noir country, where the long growing seasons, intense sunlight, and unique soils could produce world class Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. The vineyard they found is small but remarkable. Black cracking clay over limestone gives the vines stability and helps produce fruit with an unmistakable blue-fruited character - wild blueberries, mulberries, even a touch of campari in cooler years.
Steve and Brad have long loved the Pinots from their neighbours, names like Stargazer, Tolpuddle, and Pooley and now they have their own entrant into that upper stratosphere of Tasmanian Pinot Noir.
Steve, one of Australia’s most accomplished winemakers and the mind behind Giant Steps’ benchmark Pinots for almost 20 years, has brought all his experience to bear here. His focus has always been on letting the vineyard shine, and that philosophy is at the heart of Decades. The wine was hand-picked, fermented with a mix of whole bunches and de-stemmed fruit, and aged in seasoned French oak to preserve its purity. The result is delicious, perfumed, and impossibly elegant - a true expression of this exceptional site.
With only 350 cartons made, the Decades Pinot Noir promises to be one of the most exciting new developments in Tasmanian wine. We're happy to share our small allocations with you while stocks last.