Australia · Tasmania

Small Wonder

A Tasmanian producer pairing a certified-organic Tamar Valley vineyard with a newer Coal River Valley site for Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Riesling.

The producer

Small Wonder grew from a Tamar Valley vineyard planted in 1998, bought by Overstory Group in 2020 and relaunched with its first wines in 2022. The 20-hectare Tamar site is certified organic, while a 24-hectare, east-facing Coal River Valley vineyard is moving through organic conversion; together they supply cool-climate fruit for red-fruited Pinot Noir, dry Chardonnay and aromatic Riesling.

The 2024 Landscape Chardonnay shows the cellar’s hands-on approach: whole-bunch pressing, native fermentation, lees stirring and mostly used French barriques bring lemon, green apple and pear into a dry, textured palate with saline lift. Its companion Pinot Noir uses a short cold soak and 14 days on skins, so cherry and wild raspberry fruit finish with fine tannin, herbs and spice rather than simple sweetness.

Known for

Cool-climate Tasmanian Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Riesling from organic-focused Tamar Valley and Coal River Valley vineyards.

Notable facts

The story

A winery ready for harvest

In January 2024, Small Wonder opened its purpose-built winery at the Tamar Valley estate. The timing put the facility in place for the 2024 harvest, allowing the team to process fruit at the property. That vintage produced the Landscape Chardonnay through whole-bunch pressing, native fermentation, regular lees stirring and ten months in predominantly used French barriques. Its Landscape Pinot Noir followed a different path: a short cold soak, 14 days on skins and ten months of maturation. The winery opened two years after the first Small Wonder releases and before the Coal River Valley vineyard joined the estate in December 2024.

From the atlas

Small Wonder

At A Glance

Small Wonder works from Kayena in Tasmania’s Tamar Valley, farming a 20-hectare vineyard planted in 1998 and a 24-hectare Coal River Valley site planted between 2017 and 2019. The Tamar vineyard is certified organic under ACO 13305, while Coal River is in organic conversion, bringing established vines and a newer east-facing slope into the same Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Riesling-focused range.

The Producer

Small Wonder is the label created after Overstory Group bought the Tamar Valley property formerly known as Goaty Hill in 2020. Its first wines arrived in 2022, using a mature vineyard as the base for a young Tasmanian project; the result is a range that moves between red-fruited Pinot Noir, textured Chardonnay and brisk aromatic whites rather than concentrating on one grape alone.

Place

The home vineyard sits in the Tamar Valley at Kayena, where the original 1998 plantings now sit alongside a sheltered, north-east-facing 4.33-hectare block added in 2023. A second address in Coal River Valley expands the estate to an east-facing 24 hectares. Those two sites give Small Wonder both older vineyard material and younger plantings, while the labels keep the focus on familiar Tasmanian varieties and individual wine styles.

Soil And Site

Small Wonder does not make geological claims for these vineyards. Its site work is more tangible: permanent ground cover runs through the Tamar Valley rows, and prunings return to the ground as mulch. At Coal River, a multi-species cover crop grows between rows on the east-facing slope. These are soil-management choices, keeping plant material in the vineyard as both sites move through the growing season.

Story

The estate’s recent shape came quickly. Overstory Group bought the former Goaty Hill site in 2020, released the first Small Wonder wines two years later, then added the Tamar block in 2023. In December 2024, the group added the Coal River Valley vineyard, a larger site planted from 2017 to 2019 and now being converted to organic farming. The result is not a rebranded old cellar alone, but a working estate with an established organic vineyard, a second valley and its own winery.

Vineyards And Cellar

Wayne Nunn has worked at the Tamar property since 2005, a continuity that spans its previous name and the Small Wonder era. In the cellar, the 2024 Landscape Pinot Noir had a short cold soak, then 14 days on skins before ten months of maturation. The sequence brings cherry and wild raspberry fruit into contact with skins long enough to build fine tannin and savoury spice.

For the 2024 Landscape Chardonnay, whole-bunch pressing and native fermentation are followed by regular lees stirring and ten months in predominantly used French barriques. Used oak keeps wood flavour from taking over, while lees work adds breadth and a creamy texture beneath citrus and saline notes. The purpose-built winery opened in January 2024, in time for the estate to process that vintage in its own facility.

Wines

The Landscape wines show Small Wonder’s still-wine range through Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. The 2024 Pinot Noir is a red wine of cherry, strawberry, fresh herbs, nougat and spice, with oak sitting around its red fruit and fine tannin. It has a lighter-bodied Pinot shape, but the skin contact gives the palate grip rather than simple softness.

Landscape Chardonnay takes a different structural route: whole-bunch pressing, lees and mostly used French oak produce lemon, green apple, pear, herbs, browned butter and cardamom. It is dry, with citrus acidity carrying the texture through a saline finish. Riesling supplies the most aromatic white expression, with pear, green apple, white flowers, pineapple, lemon and very fresh acidity.

In The Glass

Across the three wines, Small Wonder’s flavours move from floral citrus to red fruit without losing dry, brisk shape. Riesling starts with white flowers, pear and green apple, then finishes with lemon and mineral notes. Chardonnay begins with green apple and citrus, broadens through lees-derived butter and pear, and closes dry with saline lift. Pinot Noir brings cherry and strawberry first, then herbs, spice and nougat; its fine tannin leaves a light but persistent savoury grip.

A Bottle To Understand It

Start with the 2024 Landscape Chardonnay. It is a dry Tasmanian Chardonnay made with whole-bunch pressing, native fermentation, regular lees stirring and ten months in predominantly used French barriques. Lemon, green apple and pear hold the front of the palate, while the lees add texture and the used oak brings browned-butter and spice detail without a heavy woody finish. Its citrus acidity and saline close make the cellar choices easy to taste.

Anecdote

In January 2024, Small Wonder opened its purpose-built winery at the Tamar Valley estate. The timing mattered immediately: the facility was ready to process the 2024 vintage, allowing the team to make that harvest at the property rather than elsewhere. The same year’s Landscape Chardonnay went through whole-bunch pressing, native fermentation, regular lees stirring and ten months in predominantly used French barriques; the Landscape Pinot Noir had a short cold soak, 14 days on skins and ten months of maturation. The new winery opened after the first Small Wonder releases in 2022 and before the Coal River Valley vineyard joined the estate in December 2024.

Final Word

Small Wonder joins a certified-organic Tamar Valley vineyard, a newer Coal River Valley slope and a cellar built for the 2024 harvest. In the glass, that work is most plainly expressed through citrus and saline Chardonnay, aromatic Riesling and red-fruited Pinot Noir with fine tannin.

Sources

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