Founded by the Goelet family on the site of a former dairy farm in northeast Tasmania, Clover Hill was established in 1986 after an exhaustive search for an ideal site for the sole purpose of producing world class sparkling wine to rival that of the Champagne region. The site, with its rich soil, natural sloping amphitheatre and maritime climate, was deemed to be the perfect location to produce superb Methode Traditionnelle sparkling wine, rivaling the great Champagne Houses of France. The 66 hectare Pipers River property near Lebrina overlooks Bass Straight and capitalises on its natural assets. The rich land, which was a mosaic of undulating hills and golden clover, is now also lined with picturesque vines dotted with a smattering of golden clover.
The initial varietal planting was Chardonnay, and this fruit was used to produce the inaugural 1991 Clover Hill Blanc de Blancs. Following its success, the rest of the vineyard was planted out with the traditional varieties of Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier. Today, with the vineyard continually producing exceptional fruit, the vast site search has certainly yielded returns. Since its debut vintage in 1991, Clover Hill has gained a reputation for its uncompromising quality, its elegance and finesse, and its distinguished Tasmanian style. The wines are crafted from the vineyard with care and attention in order to produce some of the most awarded and well-regarded sparkling wines.
Clover Hill's commitment to excellence has been recognised with numerous accolades received from its inaugural vintage in 1991 to today. Accolades include being inducted into the Australian Sparkling Hall of Honour, winning Winestate's Australasian Sparkling Wine of the Year being awarded Tasmanian Vineyard of the Year, twice.
Known as Methode Traditionnelle or Methode Champenoise, the process of crafting elegant sparkling wines in the traditional manner is a highly specialised field, placing Clover Hill in an elite group as one of the few sparkling houses in Australia to exclusively utilise this method.
Holding true to its vision to compete with the wines of Champagne, Clover Hill's inaugural 1991 Blanc de Blancs was produced using this method, and continues to do so with every wine produced today. Widely regarded as the most premium method for producing sparkling wine, Clover Hill takes the finest elements of the Methode Traditionnelle tradition and melds them with the unique flavours and textures produced in the vineyard by using the creativity and insight of a highly skilled winemaking team. Clover Hill was humbled when its Clover Hill Vintage Brut was proudly served during Princess Mary and Prince Frederick's wedding celebration. Clover Hill was then further honoured with another royal appointment when it was selected as one of the four iconic Australian wines served to Queen Elizabeth II and The Duke of Edinburgh during their 2011 Australian visit.
Clover Hill is acknowledged as one of Australia's finest sparkling producers. With the cool climate and growing conditions of Tasmania being remarkably similar to that of the famous Champagne region of France, Clover Hill has been able to produce sparkling wines of uncompromising quality, elegance and finesse.
