Joe and Lou Holyman have been making wine in Tassie’s Tamar Valley for the last two decades. From their beautiful patch of dirt on the banks of the Tamar River, they grow grapes and make wines for their two labels, Stoney Rise and Holyman.
The Stoney Rise label was launched in 2000 when the couple were living in Robe, South Australia. Joe was born and raised on the island (in a winemaking and grape growing family, no less) but left to study in Adelaide. They moved back in 2004 after buying and renovating an old vineyard that had been planted in 1986; construction of their winery began four years later.
Stoney Rise is all about easy drinking, fruit-forward, food-friendly styles of wine. “I grew up in a house where wine wasn’t a beverage, it was something that goes with food, so we make a lot of food wines,” Joe says.
As well as pinot noir, which accounts for almost 80 per cent of plantings, the Holymans grow chardonnay, trousseau, grüner veltliner and savagnin. Stoney Rise wines are made with fruit from some of the estate’s younger vines, supplemented with a small amount from growers in the region when the vintage demands it. The premium Holyman range – which includes two pinot noirs and a chardonnay – is made from individual parcels of fruit from their property’s oldest vines, some clocking up close to 40 years in age.
While not certified organic, Joe and Lou farm their vineyards sustainably, with minimal sprays and no herbicides, and some biodynamic preparations to build soil health. In the winery, Joe takes a hands-off approach, preferring to let the fruit and the seasons sing.
“The seasons bring their differences every year; we concentrate on representing a season rather than trying to make a style,” Joe says.
The full range of wines is on tasting at their Tamar Valley cellar door (alongside glasses from some of Joe and Lou’s favourite producers, including Dr Loosen, Joh Jos Prüm, Burn Cottage and Moreau-Naudet).
Read Dave Brookes’ reviews of the latest releases below.
