Pooley

Written By Campbell Mattinson
Pooley in Tasmania's Coal River Valley is a Mattinson Ten Star Winery.

Pooley is a Mattinson 10-Star Winery.
Only the best of Australia’s best wineries are ranked as a Mattinson 10-Star Winery.

Anna Pooley has been a star of Australian winemaking since, effectively, she started working at Treasury Wine Estates just over twenty years ago. What she has achieved however at her family estate in the Coal River Valley of Tasmania since 2013 has added many extra layers of lustre. Anna Pooley, and her partner Justin Bubb, the Pooley family at large and the estate they farm are now firmly established as rolled gold gems of Australian wine. Never was an award more apt than when the Pooley winery was named the Halliday Wine Companion Winery of the Year in 2023. There’s both a force and an inherent quietness to the wines of Pooley. Across Chardonnay and Pinot Noir in particular, the wines are stoic, regal, upstanding and true. These wines age, and impress, and hold firm in equal measure. In Pooley, you can trust. This trust has built steadily since the establishment of the estate in 1985 but the 2023 and 2024 releases – born of Anna’s now extensive experience – are prime evidence of an Australian wine estate in full flight.

Pooley’s wine reputation is built around two outstanding vineyards: Cooinda Vale (just north of Campania, established in 1985), and Butcher’s Hill (at Richmond, established in 2003). Both these vineyards are run sustainably, using biological farming techniques.

Campbell Mattinson

This article was written by Campbell Mattinson, founder of The Winefront and mattinson, and former chief editor of Halliday.

When you pick up a wine book and see thousands of top-scoring wines, it’s hard to know which wine to choose. Mattinson guides you through this maze, giving you an honest view of the best Australian wines, the best wine stories, the best wine producers, the best value wines and simply, the best tasting wines. Importantly, Mattinson will tell you about the top-rated wines and also about the underrated wines. In short, Mattinson knows Australian wines inside and out.

Mattinson has been a photo-journalist since 1987. For the past 25 years he’s been a voice that you can trust when you’re looking for the best wines. He’s the only Australian to have won the Australian Wine Communicator of the Year Award more than once. He’s a past winner of a Louis Roederer International Wine Media Award, and is the author of the award-winning book The Wine Hunter. He’s not afraid to put a score beside a wine. But what he’d rather do, is tell you the wine’s story.

https://www.campbellmattinson.com
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