Northern Tassie takes centre stage for national trade visit this October
This October, ten mainland wine trade professionals will swap the usual day job for Tassie’s vineyard rows, winding northern roads and a few very good reasons to miss their flight home.
Wine Tasmania’s National Wine Trade Visit is heading to the island’s north from Sunday 11 to Tuesday 13 October 2026, offering selected buyers, sommeliers, retailers and hospitality professionals a two-day immersion into Tasmania’s wine, people and place.
Based in northern Tasmania but featuring wines from across the island, guests will meet growers and makers behind the bottles, tasting a wide range of wine varieties and styles, and gaining a closer look at the conditions, decisions and occasional weather-related chaos which shape the island’s cool climate wines.
From sparkling wine with serious credentials to exceptional Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Riesling and a growing collection of emerging varieties, the visit will showcase the breadth of Tasmania’s wine - with plenty of stories, local produce and hospitality along the way.
Wine Tasmania CEO Sheralee Davies said the visitation program gives mainland wine trade the opportunity to personally experience and understand the diversity of Tasmanian wine and its viticultural landscape.
“The best way to discover and appreciate a wine is by visiting the vineyard in which it was grown, kicking the dirt, feeling the (often brisk and always refreshing) air, chatting about the season and talking directly with the people who grew the grapes and made the wine,” Ms Davies said.
“Tasmania’s wine is shaped by its microclimates, landscapes, ever-changing seasons and its hardworking, good-humoured growers and makers. This visit brings all of that together and gives guests an in-depth and deeper understanding of what makes the island’s wines so distinctive and diverse.”
Tasmania produces just 0.9 per cent of Australia’s wine but contributes around five per cent of its farmgate value – small in volume, rather loud in reputation. Many of the island’s wines are produced in limited quantities, making strong relationships between wine producers and key wine trade buyers particularly important.
“We’re looking for people who are genuinely curious about Tasmanian wine and excited to take what they learn back to their customers, venues and networks,” Ms Davies said.
The October program follows Wine Tasmania’s southern-based National Wine Trade Visit held in May and forms part of its ongoing work to connect Tasmania’s wine producers with influential wine trade professionals across Australia.
With only 10 places available, applications are open to mainland-based wine buyers, sommeliers, retailers, distributors and hospitality professionals who directly influence wine purchasing decisions.
This program is supported by the Tasmanian Government.
Applications are now open. Apply here.
Media Contact
Sophie Crenigan-Edwards, Marketing Officer at Wine Tasmania, sophie@winetasmania.net.au