Chatto Wines
The perfect match of grape variety and vineyard site is the viticultural equivalent of a marriage made in heaven. Few winemakers take the principle more seriously than those producing Pinot Noir. It took Jim and Daisy Chatto more than six years to find a site that ticked every box on their shopping list.
That place is Glaziers Bay in the Huon Valley.
Chatto fell in love with Tasmanian Pinot Noir not long after moving to the Tamar Valley to become winemaker at Rosevears Estate in 1998. He stayed just two years before heading off on his long and rewarding career in the Hunter Valley, but memories of that affair stayed with him.
Isle Vineyard began in 2007, with the close planting (5000 vines/ha) of 8 carefully chosen clones of Pinot Noir. Warm and well-drained but in a very cool part of the State, the site suited Chatto's over-arching principle of being 'on the very edge of viticultural possibility.'
Its gently sloping north-facing slope is underpinned by ancient sandstones, mudstones, and river sediments, predisposing the vineyard to producing modest yields of finely structured fruit and elegant wines.
Chatto's debut Pinot Noir in 2012 received rapturous critical acclaim. Successive releases have appeared with more definitive labels as the couple's network of industry connections enabled the brand to increase its tenuous toehold in the wine market. That noted, the ethereal single vineyard Chatto Isle remains the company flagship.
Chatto may well have been a Young Gun of Wine finalist (2007) and Gourmet Traveller WINE's Winemaker of the Year (2019), but few industry insiders doubt the 2020 and 2024 Isle wines are among his greatest achievements.
Key principals:
Jim Chatto, owner/winemaker
Daisy Chatto, owner/manager
Paul Lipscombe, vineyard manager
Vineyard/cellar door address:
68 Dillons Hill Road, Glaziers Bay, Tasmania 7109
No open to the public
Telephone:
+61 (3) 6114 2050
Email:
info@chattowines.com
Website:
www.chattowines.com
Tasmanian viticulture takes place within a diverse mix of soil types and microclimates.
Climate data* for sites in the Huon Valley/D'Entrecasteaux Channel highlight the wide diversity of growing conditions here. Consider: Bruny Island Premium Wines (MJT 15.4°C; 747 GDD) and Tinderbox Vineyard (MJT 17.3°C; 1088 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 Dillons Hill Road 1995-2024:
- Total annual average rainfall: 834mm
- Growing season average rainfall (Oct 1-Apr 30): 418mm
- Average autumn rainfall: 179mm
- Mean January temperature: 16.7°C
- Growing degree-days: 935 GDD
- Average no of hot days (35°C or more) per year: 1
- Average no of cold days (minimum 4°C or less) Sept 1-April 30: 23
*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: October 2025