Quiet Mutiny
Most kids grow up in Tasmania with a swing and a slide and a sandpit in the back garden. Not Greer Carland. She had four rows of Pinot Noir and 10 rows of Cabernet Sauvignon. Mum was a teacher and Dad was an industrial chemist, but that didn't stop them from being bitten by the wine bug.
By the time she'd hit high school, the aspiring young vigneron had been bitten too and could prune a vine as well as anyone.
What happened next is ancient history – university graduation (Adelaide) with a degree in oenology; vintage experiences in Chile, France, the US and Western Australia.
In 2004, Carland returned to her beloved Tasmania, taking on a key role at Winemaking Tasmania for the next 12 years alongside wine industry pioneer, Julian Alcorso. The contract winemaking business was one of the State's biggest, with scores of clients.
But after Carland had worked with literally thousands of wines over that period, the senior winemaker felt it was time to jump ship and chart her own career – at the helm of a small, independent wine company based in southern Tasmania.
In 2016, she took a gap year to focus on making her family's Laurel Bank wines. Next came preparations for her own wine label. Quiet Mutiny was launched the following year, with the help and encouragement of Carland's viticulturist husband and business partner, Paul Smart.
The label draws upon the audacious exploits of a former convict, Charlotte Badger. Often described as Australia's first female pirate, Badger is reputed to have convinced the crew of the Venus to mutiny when their captain disembarked at Port Dalrymple in June of 1806. The ship subsequently weighed anchor and sailed off to New Zealand.
Badger's story pops up frequently in Carland's marketing – as if to assure us that she is indeed an active participant in her own quiet mutiny against the life she previously led.
That noted, there's not a lot of rocking the boat. Quiet Mutiny produces traditional method sparkling wine and a discretely crafted selection of small batch table wines centred upon vintage Riesling, Pinot Noir, Syrah and Rosé (made from Pinot Meunier).
Fruit is sourced from trusted, well-managed sites in the Coal River Valley and Derwent Valley, including the Carland family's own Laurel Bank Vineyard. The latter now holds vines up to 40 years old and was named one of Australia's 'Ten Dark Horses' in the 2019 Halliday Wine Companion.
The vineyard's 25-year-old Riesling vines are the mainstay of Quiet Mutiny's Charlotte's Elusion.
Despite recent increases in production scale, winemaking continues to take place on the vineyard's Granton site.
Quiet Mutiny wines enjoy welcome media attention and wine show success. It's hardly surprising. The former family vineyard hand has gone on to prove she is a talented winemaker.
Carland was named a Young Gun of Wine Top 50 finalist three times (2019–2021) during Quiet Mutiny's foundation years. The next career milestone is surely just over the horizon.
Key principals:
Greer Carland: owner/operator
Paul Smart: owner/operator
Vineyard/cellar door address:
130 Black Snake Road, Granton, Tasmania 7030
Visits and tastings by appointment only
Telephone:
+61 (0) 410 552 317
Email:
greer@quietmutiny.wine
Website:
www.quietmutiny.wine
Tasmanian viticulture takes place within a diverse mix of soil types and microclimates.
Climate data* for sites in the Derwent Valley 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 Black Snake Road, Granton 1995-2024:
- Total annual average rainfall: 593mm
- Growing season average rainfall (Oct 1-Apr 30): 325mm
- Average autumn rainfall: 122mm
- Mean January temperature: 17.3°C
- Growing degree-days: 1025 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: 26
*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