grapegrowing
Tasmania cheers for 60 pioneering years
Picturesque riverbank setting of Museum of Old and New Art (MONA). Photo: Image credit: MONA/Jesse Hunniford
From its early humble beginnings, Moorilla is today regarded as a ‘jewel in Tasmania’s wine crown’. It’s been six decades since the first wines were produced from the site overlooking the Derwent River. That milestone was recently celebrated, as Mark Smith writes.
I
f you hadn’t heard of Tasmania’s David Walsh before January 2011, the opening of his Museum of Old and New Art (MONA) at Berriedale on the outskirts of Hobart is bound to have grabbed your attention. The professional gambler and art collector received countless plaudits for the way in which he changed how Australians looked at art and indeed Tasmania itself. The curation of his vast collection of antiquities, books and contemporary artworks was — and remains — innovative and unconventional. Decades earlier, the 9ha site overlooking the River Derwent witnessed an act of creative expression that was similarly innovative and unconventional — the foot stomping of six cases of homegrown winegrapes.
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Grapegrower & Winemaker
Italian immigrant Claudio Alcorso and his three-year-old daughter Caroline had bared their feet to make a little wine for family and friends. It turns out their tiny batch of 1962 vintage Riesling also made
As a child, I walked past many times. Had I entered, I would have encountered Claudio’s earliest vintages. When the family company foundered, I bought Moorilla on a whim in 1995. David Walsh www.winetitles.com.au
history. Today, Alcorso and his beloved Moorilla are regarded as Tasmanian wine pioneers. Back in mid-April, Walsh marked 60 years of Moorilla winemaking with a day of celebration on the busy property, 10km north of Hobart. Before COVID-19, MONA had been welcoming 360,000¹visitors annually. (Tasmania’s population is 519,000²). Guests come to experience Australia’s largest private museum. Many enjoy on-site food, wine, entertainment and luxury accommodation. Moorilla’s 2ha vineyard is home to a modern winery that deals with the practicalities of processing fruit for still and sparkling wine production. July 2022 – Issue 702
