JODIE STEPHENS looks at Northern Tasmanian vineyards, cellar doors and the people behind them in the lead-up to Festivale, which will run from February 8 to 10.
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In Tasmania, even corporate wine producers appreciate the importance of one-on-one time with customers.
At Ninth Island Vineyard, owned by Kreglinger Wine Estates, the cellar door offers guests wine tastings, and staff are busily preparing for next month's Festivale.
Manager Adnan Crees-Morris said the Ninth Island brand, together with sister brand Pipers Brook, produced tens of thousands of cases of wine in Tasmania each year.
``The company has eight different sites which together comprise about 200 hectares, and between them we produce between 90,000 to 100,000 cases a year, all under the Pipers Brook and Ninth Island labels,'' Mr Crees-Morris said.
He said Ninth Island's Rosevears vineyard offered tastings and sales of Ninth Island, Kreglinger Vintage and Pipers Brook wines, with Ninth Island's pinot noir the biggest seller.
``The cellar door's important to us because it gives us an opportunity to talk to people about our wines,'' he said.
``You can't expect sellers at Dan Murphy's to know everything about all the wines they sell, but when people come here we can have some one-on-one time and offer them a tasting.''
The Ninth Island cellar door is at 95 Rosevears Drive, Rosevears. It is open daily from 10am to 5pm.
