Show pony

When Denis and Margaret Pooley planted 17 rows of vines on their property Cooinda Vale back in 1985, their plan was to make a little home-grown wine for family and friends. "Who'd have thought they'd create a little bit of history as well?" muses Matthew Pooley, grandson of the vineyard founders and nowadays brand ambassador at Pooley Wines.

"That half a hectare of Riesling and Pinot Noir marked the start of Tasmania's first three-generation family wine company. It takes a long time to build something of substance in this industry."

With recent cool and windy weather currently keeping a tight rein on spring growth, Pooley and his fellow family members had time to be quietly reflective this past week. With good reason. The 40-year-old Coal River Valley wine company is no longer a hobby horse. It's a show pony, having once again found its way into the winner's circle at the annual Royal Hobart Wine Show.

Judging took place last week – from the 10th to 13th November – with results being released just in time for the show's exhibitor and trade tasting on 14th November.

Pooley Wines not only won gold medals for its 2024 Pinot Noir and 2024 Syrah in the blend and varietal classes, it scored the only gold medal – and thus the trophy – in Class 42, Pinot Noir of Provenance. That's one of the event's most prestigious wine awards.

Show organisers required producers exhibiting wines in the class to enter three different vintages of Pinot Noir, all released under the same label. The three wines were then judged collectively for quality, longevity and consistency. One wine had to be the producer's current vintage. One had to be three years older than the current release, and the third wine had to be six years or older than the current vintage.

Pooley Wines entered its 2024, 2020 and 2016 Pinot Noir releases.

All trophy winners will be announced by show organisers – the Royal Agricultural Society of Tasmania – at the conclusion of its Fine Wine & Dine Awards Dinner on the 28th November.

Last week's results provided a great way for the Pooleys to finish off their company's 40th anniversary year.

"My late grandparents did an amazing job in setting up their little hobby vineyard," Pooley admits.

"Back in those very early days of the industry, there was little grape-growing experience or expertise here in Tasmania that they could draw upon to help establish their site at Cooinda Vale. Just a few years before they began planting, much of southern Tasmania – especially around Colebrook and Campania – had been subject to really severe drought conditions. Even today, there are still challenges in the valley regarding access to water for irrigation."

Pooley speaks with the voice of experience. His current position as brand manager – and manager of trade/wholesale sales – was preceded by more than 20 years' experience as vineyard manager.

On his watch, the company expanded beyond Cooinda Vale (now 18ha) to a new site at Richmond – today's 6ha Butcher's Hill vineyard. He helped plan and plant it in 2003.

Vineyard work wasn't something Pooley figured on as a young kid at school. On finishing his secondary education in Hobart, he headed off to study farm business management at Marcus Oldham College in Geelong, Victoria. The 23-year-old returned home in 1994 following Denis Pooley's death the year before.

"It was my grandfather's wish that the property should stay within the family after his death," Pooley explains.

"And with my dad John having full-time involvement in the automotive business, vineyard management fell on my shoulders. I was the next person in line."

Ready, willing and able, Pooley set about tending Cooinda Vale under the unerring gaze of his grandmother. Their close working relationship – despite differences in age and experience – was characterised by mutual respect and understanding. Margaret Pooley remained fully committed to their shared project until she drew her last breath in 2010. She was 93.

Barely two years later, the Royal Agricultural Society of Tasmania named Pooley Wines the 2012 Tasmanian Vineyard of the Year.

"Gran helped manage the vineyard at Cooinda Vale until she was well into her 90s," Pooley recalls.

"She would often wake up at midnight over summer and head out in her Volkswagen Beetle to turn the irrigation valves on and off. She was amazing."

Prior to the opening of Pooley's cellar door in Richmond in 2005, the octogenarian became well-known for autographing bottles of wine she sold at Cooinda Vale.

With two expanding vineyard sites subsequently requiring full-time care and supervision, Pooley was happy to pass on his management baton in February 2020 to Hannah McKay, and subsequently to Steve Ferguson in April 2023.

Ferguson was named Australian Viticulturist of the Year (2021) for the work he carried out during his time at the Hunter Valley's historic Mount Pleasant. Having played a key role in the estate being named 2017 Winery of the Year in the Halliday Wine Companion, Ferguson then had the good fortune of starting his new job just before Pooley Wines was named 2023 Winery of the Year by the same publication.

Meanwhile, out-going vineyard manager Hannah McKay was nominated for Viticulturist of the Year among those same 2023 Awards.

Of course, Pooley's impressive wine portfolio isn't the result of some weird kind of osmosis.

In announcing the family's coveted Halliday Wine Companion award, editor Tyson Stelzer noted: "The trajectory of ascension of their wines has been nothing short of breathtaking, with quality rising emphatically with every season, all the while doubling production, since Anna (Pooley) and husband Justin Bubb returned to Tasmania to establish the winemaking arm of the family estate in 2013."

Anyone seeking evidence to support Stelzer's claims should look no further than the impressive track record to date of the Margaret Pooley Tribute Riesling, which incidentally was not entered in this year's Hobart event.

Sourced from Cooinda Vale's oldest vines – and now made with the help of some skilful barrel work – the wine has been listed among the Halliday Wine Companion's top Australian Rieslings every vintage since 2017.

The world-class 2022 Margaret Pooley Tribute Riesling was named the Companion's Riesling of the Year in 2025.

These wonderful Margaret Pooley Tribute wines are no one-hit wonders. Consider the wine made in 2015. It not only won four trophies and half-a-dozen gold medals in its early (and brief) show career, it won gold at the 2024 Tasmanian Wine Show.

Indeed, the wine was included in the event's taste-off for Best Museum Wine, finally dipping its lid to the all-conquering 2006 House of Arras Grand Vintage.

Margaret would have been very chuffed about this week's news. Tea and shortbread biscuits on the house.