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 a solo career that has seen Bellebonne become one of the most admired and respected sparkling wine brands in the country.
Fryar spent 14 years as the winemaker and Jansz Tasmania brand ambassador before taking on the challenge. Making her bid meant selling almost all of her worldly goods and chattels – a house included – in order to finance the purchase of select parcels of super premium Tasmanian Chardonnay, Pinot Meunier and Pinot Noir.
The fruit was from hand-tended vines grown on ultra-cool sites in the Pipers River region of north-east Tasmania. The best available anywhere in Australia. How could she not win?
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 into the market.
Two vintages later, Fryar created the 2017 Bellebonne Blanc de Blancs that would be lauded as Sparkling White of the Year in the 2024 Halliday Wine Companion and in Tyson Stelzer's 2024 list of Top Australian Wines and Sparkling White of the Year.
Named 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 those from Champagne. His 'best of the best' Australian sparkling wine producers are awarded coveted seven-star ratings. Only two companies to date have achieved that rare distinction – Bellebonne and 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. Each Bellebonne product proudly states on their packaging: Wine made by Tasmania.
The portfolio continues to focus on high-quality, mostly vintage wines with considerable lees-ageing. These include Vintage Cuvée (typically a blend of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir), Vintage Rosé (100% Pinot Noir), Blanc de Blancs (100% Chardonnay).
More affordable and consumer-ready wines also appear in the '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 in opening to the public Bellebonne's cellar door at Evenfall in the Tamar Valley.
The freshly renovated tasting room and restaurant space near Legana is Bellebonne's permanent home. Here, current releases are showcased alongside those of Evenfall and Wellington & Wolfe, the small batch label created by Fryar's husband Hugh McCullough in 2017.
Fryar has worked intimately with cool-grown fruit from Tasmanian vineyards since 2001. Long enough to know when she's betting on a sure thing.
Key principals:
Natalie Fryar: owner/winemaker
Vineyard/cellar door address:
2 Upper McEwans Rd, Legana TAS 7277
Telephone:
+61 (3) 6724 3726
Email:
info@evenfallwinery.com
Website:
www.bellebonne.wine
Tasmanian viticulture takes place within a diverse mix of soil types and microclimates.
Climate data* for sites in the North East highlight the wide diversity of growing conditions here. Consider: Apogee (MJT 17.2°C; 975 GDD) and Delamere Vineyards (MJT 18.0°C; 1170 GDD).
South Australia's Piccadilly Valley* (MJT 20.4°C; 1730 GDD) and Victoria's Macedon Ranges* (MJT 19.9°C; 1365 GDD) 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: December 2025