It's new: SISU

Tasmania's Southern Wine Trail is fast becoming a magnet for wine-loving visitors. It's little wonder. New vineyard plantings continue to appear in ever-increasing numbers in this part of the State. More important for visitors is that the industry can now offer a greater range of cellar door destinations. 

Five of the 25 locations shown on the 2026 Southern Wine Trail have been added since the 2024 edition was published two years ago: Haddow + Dineen; Henskens Rankin; Bird in Hand; Caledon Estate; Tolpuddle Vineyard.

The past week has seen a sixth new visitor destination established with the opening of the SISU Wines cellar door at Campania on Friday 12 December. The site is home to a 25ha vineyard and a state-of-the-art, 300-tonne winery that processed its first vintage in 2025.

The cellar door development is a bold move, SISU vigneron and company director Jake Sheedy admits.

"We're about 5km north of Campania and getting tourism ventures established this far north of Richmond has been a bit of an issue in the past," he says.

"Hopefully we'll be able to overcome that. I think this will be a really good development for the upper Coal River Valley."

Fingers crossed. Recent research indicates having a cellar door tasting room is one of the most important assets a vineyard can have. Visitors often continue to buy wines they tasted at cellar door years after their initial experiences there. Other visitors sample wines at cellar door, then buy from sources closer to home.

But selling wine is only part of a cellar door's function, Sheedy says. It's also one of the best educative and PR tools a company can have, with strong brand messaging being swallowed along with wines from its product range.

"This was just a sheep farm when my wife Mary and I found the property in early 2021," he explains.

"It had been really well looked after by the previous owners. It was just beautiful. From day one, we've always kept that in mind. Visitors will notice as soon as they arrive here that we didn't even drop any of the big gum trees during our vineyard developments.

"One of our blocks goes around this great big leaning fella, which was probably a bit silly at the time because it will fall at some point in the future. But it's awesome. Inspirational. " 

Indeed, that big old eucalypt is the very embodiment of 'sisu,' the Finnish word that gives the property and the wine business its name.

It has no literal English translation, Sheedy explains. But it includes concepts of 'grit,' 'inner strength' and 'resilience in the face of adversity.'

Sheedy's grandfather Arvo was Finnish. 

"We chose SISU as a tribute to the strength of this place, the resilience of those who tend it, and a legacy that runs deeper than words," Sheedy adds.

The former Mudgee winemaker still can't believe his good fortune – and that of his Sydney-based, Dutch business partner.

Sheedy spent more than a year looking for his ideal vineyard site. Tasmania was on his radar from the project's inception. His previous vintage experiences included working alongside Peter Caldwell at Dalrymple Vineyard in 2011.

When Sheedy discovered that the former Valley View property was available for purchase in 2021, it was at the height of COVID-19 pandemic in Australia. With his business partner subject to lockdown and unable to travel to Tasmania to see the property, Sheedy was compelled to act decisively before it was snapped up by another buyer. He rang his business partner from the hill that now overlooks the vineyard.

"I said, 'Mate, this is just perfect,'" he recalls.

"'The soil is perfect. The aspect is perfect. It's incredible. I swear you drop a nail in this dirt and you'll grow a (expletive) hammer.'"

Four hectares of vineyard development began in late 2021. A further 21ha were added in subsequent years with the first Chardonnay, Riesling and Pinot Noir being harvested from the 95ha property in 2024.

The mix of varieties is eclectic. Along with the usual valley suspects of Chardonnay, Pinot Gris, Riesling and Pinot Noir, there are plantings of Gewürztraminer, Viognier, Gamay, Nebbiolo and Shiraz.

Management practices are low-impact and certified by Sustainable Winegrowing Australia.

Blocks of vines are distinguished by three soil structures: black dolerite, red vertosols, and a small section of well-draining sandy loam, located at the vineyard's lowest point.

Around 70 percent of plantings have been established on rootstocks.

"I'm a big believer in rootstocks," Sheedy says.

"I hope we're never going to see phylloxera coming into the State, but there's more than phylloxera at stake here. We've been looking at environmental factors like salinity and low rainfall and so on. Rootstocks probably cost us $3 more per vine than rootlings, but if they can reduce our irrigation needs here by 30 percent then it won't take long to make that up that difference – especially when we're potentially gonna be paying a fortune for water over the next few years."

It was Valley View's ready access to irrigation water from the nearby Craigbourne Dam – constructed in the mid-80s – that contributed to its long-term success as a grazing property. Sheedy is looking forward to being able to access new irrigation water from the $300m Great South East Irrigation Scheme.

The scheme is being delivered by Tasmanian Irrigation and is expected to be operational by mid-2030. The 30,000ML of water it will provide will ehance both water quality and surety of supply.

Sheedy says water is not only being used for vineyard irrigation, it's an essential part of farm management. SISU provides a home to some 230 grazing ewes that require quality pasture and silage.

"In conjunction with Landcare Tasmania, we've already planted 1300 trees on some of the steeper parts of the site so that otherwise bare land can become re-wilded habitat," he adds.

"The plan eventually is to get 10 percent of the property revegetated, just for bird habitat. In the new year, we hope to open the gates to vineyard and farm tours so that visitors take a closer look around, including meeting the girls who keep the vines – and the wines – thriving."

Sheedy and his wife Mary can be justifiably proud of their efforts to date in developing such an intrinsically appealing cellar door setting. 

The facility itself showcases natural local timbers and sandstone cut from a valley quarry. Its interior is easy on the eye – relaxed, casual and welcoming – with the Sheedy design brief having been met and exceeded by Sydney-based designer, Stephanie Elzinga (Selzi Design).

But it comes as something of a surprise to hear a winemaker admit their new cellar door isn't all about the wines. There'll be few visitors who will disagree as they sit back and drink in the views to the vines and the hillsides beyond.

"I still can't believe how incredibly lucky we were in being able to buy this place," Sheedy says.

"The Coal River Valley is one of the best places in the world to make wine, and the scenery here is just beautiful. We're really fortunate in being able to live on the property and we're conscious of just how special this place is from the moment we wake up each day. The sunrises and sunsets here are amazing.

"This farm wasn't called Valley View for nothing."

Last page update: December 2025