Why it matters
The producer
Small Wonder is the label created after Overstory Group bought the Tamar Valley property formerly known as Goaty Hill in 2020. Its first wines arrived in 2022, using a mature vineyard as the base for a young Tasmanian project; the result is a range that moves between red-fruited Pinot Noir, textured Chardonnay and brisk aromatic whites rather than concentrating on one grape alone.
The estate’s recent shape came quickly. Overstory Group bought the former Goaty Hill site in 2020, released the first Small Wonder wines two years later, then added the Tamar block in 2023. In December 2024, the group added the Coal River Valley vineyard, a larger site planted from 2017 to 2019 and now being converted to organic farming. The result is not a rebranded old cellar alone, but a working estate with an established organic vineyard, a second valley and its own winery.
Place and vineyards
Where the wines begin
The home vineyard sits in the Tamar Valley at Kayena, where the original 1998 plantings now sit alongside a sheltered, north-east-facing 4.33-hectare block added in 2023. A second address in Coal River Valley expands the estate to an east-facing 24 hectares. Those two sites give Small Wonder both older vineyard material and younger plantings, while the labels keep the focus on familiar Tasmanian varieties and individual wine styles.
Small Wonder does not make geological claims for these vineyards. Its site work is more tangible: permanent ground cover runs through the Tamar Valley rows, and prunings return to the ground as mulch. At Coal River, a multi-species cover crop grows between rows on the east-facing slope. These are soil-management choices, keeping plant material in the vineyard as both sites move through the growing season.
In the cellar
Vineyards and cellar
Wayne Nunn has worked at the Tamar property since 2005, a continuity that spans its previous name and the Small Wonder era. In the cellar, the 2024 Landscape Pinot Noir had a short cold soak, then 14 days on skins before ten months of maturation. The sequence brings cherry and wild raspberry fruit into contact with skins long enough to build fine tannin and savoury spice.
For the 2024 Landscape Chardonnay, whole-bunch pressing and native fermentation are followed by regular lees stirring and ten months in predominantly used French barriques. Used oak keeps wood flavour from taking over, while lees work adds breadth and a creamy texture beneath citrus and saline notes. The purpose-built winery opened in January 2024, in time for the estate to process that vintage in its own facility.
Wines to know
The range in view
The Landscape wines show Small Wonder’s still-wine range through Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. The 2024 Pinot Noir is a red wine of cherry, strawberry, fresh herbs, nougat and spice, with oak sitting around its red fruit and fine tannin. It has a lighter-bodied Pinot shape, but the skin contact gives the palate grip rather than simple softness.
Landscape Chardonnay takes a different structural route: whole-bunch pressing, lees and mostly used French oak produce lemon, green apple, pear, herbs, browned butter and cardamom. It is dry, with citrus acidity carrying the texture through a saline finish. Riesling supplies the most aromatic white expression, with pear, green apple, white flowers, pineapple, lemon and very fresh acidity.
A useful way in
A bottle to begin with
Start with the 2024 Landscape Chardonnay. It is a dry Tasmanian Chardonnay made with whole-bunch pressing, native fermentation, regular lees stirring and ten months in predominantly used French barriques. Lemon, green apple and pear hold the front of the palate, while the lees add texture and the used oak brings browned-butter and spice detail without a heavy woody finish. Its citrus acidity and saline close make the cellar choices easy to taste.