Bellebonne
Often dubbed Australia's sparkling wine queen, South Australian-born Natalie Fryar put all of her winemaking chips on the table in 2015 to launch her solo career. It's seen Bellebonne become one of the most admired and respected sparkling wine brands in the country.
Fryar spent 14 years as Jansz Tasmania winemaker and brand ambassador before taking on her current challenge. It meant selling almost all her worldly goods and chattels – a house included – in order to finance her purchase of select parcels of super premium Tasmanian Chardonnay, Pinot Meunier and Pinot Noir.
The fruit was harvested from hand-tended vines grown on ultra-cool sites in the Pipers River region of north-east Tasmania. The best available anywhere in Australia. Surely she could make her gamble pay off?
A decade later, Bellebonne – 'beautiful and good' – not only remains Fryar's passion project, it remains true to its fundamental principles. Small scale. Big ambition. Showcasing Tasmania's finest fruit without owning so much as a single vine.
Already renowned for making sparkling wines with exceptional detail, precision, and purity, Fryar wowed critics as the tiny quantities of Bellebonne bubbles from her inaugural vintage trickled out onto the market.
Within two vintages, Fryar had created the 2017 Bellebonne Blanc de Blancs. Lauded as Sparkling White of the Year in the 2024 Halliday Wine Companion. Indeed, it also made Tyson Stelzer's 2024 Top Australian Wines, and was acclaimed his Sparkling White of the Year.
International Wine and Spirit Communicator of the Year in 2015, Stelzer is the author and publisher of incisive books and annual reports on the state of the nation's sparkling wines – as well as wines from Champagne. Stelzer's 'best of the best' Australian sparkling wine producers are acknowledged via his coveted seven-star ratings.
Only two companies to date have achieved that rare distinction. Bellebonne and the House of Arras.
Both create distinctive and memorable wines using cool-climate wine grapes, sourced exclusively from Tasmania.
According to Fryar, her wines are not made in Tasmania. They are wines made by Tasmania.
The Bellebonne portfolio focus is on ultra-premium, mostly vintage wines. Often with considerable lees-ageing, too. These include Vintage Cuvée (typically a blend of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir), Vintage Rosé (100% Pinot Noir), and Blanc de Blancs (100% Chardonnay).
More affordable, consumer-ready wines also appear in Fryar's 'Bis' Non-Vintage Range: NV Blanc (Chardonnay and Pinot Noir) and NV Rosé (Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier).
'Bis' is French for 'the space in-between.'
In December 2023, Fryar took another huge gamble by opening up to the public. Bellebonne's cellar door is located at Evenfall in the Tamar Valley.
The freshly renovated tasting room and restaurant space overlooking Legana has become Bellebonne's permanent home. Here, current releases are showcased alongside those of Evenfall and Wellington & Wolfe, the small-batch label first created by Fryar's husband Hugh McCullough back in 2017.
Fryar has worked intimately with cool-grown fruit from Tasmanian vineyards since 2001. Long enough to know she's betting on a sure thing.
Key details:
Natalie Fryar: owner/winemaker
Vineyard/cellar door address:
2 Upper McEwans Rd, Legana TAS 7277
Telephone:
+61 (3) 6724 3726
Email:
- Bellebonne: BellebonneWine@gmail.com
- Evenfall cellar door: info@evenfallwinery.com
Website:
www.bellebonne.wine
Tasmanian viticulture takes place within a diverse mix of soil types and microclimates.
Growing conditions in the Tamar Valley fall under the moderating influence of the river itself. Consider: Eversley Vines (MJT 17.7°C; 1065 GDD) and Evenfall (MJT 18.4°C; 1230 GDD). Coolest vs warmest sites.
Vineyard sites on the Australian mainland are far warmer than those in Tasmania.
South Australia's Piccadilly Valley* (MJT 20.4°C; 1730 GDD) and Macedon Ranges* (MJT 19.9°C; 1365 GDD) in Victoria are regarded as the coolest GIs in their respective states.
Climate data* for Pipers Brook Road, 1995-2024:
- Total annual average rainfall: 797mm
- Growing season average rainfall (Oct 1-Apr 30): 370mm
- Average autumn rainfall: 185mm
- Mean January temperature: 18.1°C
- Growing degree-days: 1213 GDD
- Average no of hot days (35°C or more) per year: 0
- Average no of cold days (minimum 4°C or less) Sept 1-April 30: 9
*Source: My Climate View, utilising past data from the Bureau of Meteorology and the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts. Funded by the Australian Government.
Last page update: January 2026