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Geoffrey Dean continues his tour of Australia by picking his cricket-style Top 11 Tasmanian winemakers

In the same month that Tasmania's most famous son, Ricky Ponting,
probably the best Australian batsman after Don Bradman, played his
last game of international cricket, the temptation to pick an eleven
of top Tasmanian winemakers is too great to resist. Before paying
homage to this talented band of 'Tassie' brothers and sisters, the
quality of the island's fruit and terroir has first to be
acknowledged, for that is, of course, the key. But thanks to them,
Tasmania's huge potential as a world-class wine-producing entity is being realised.

First, a misapprehension needs to be put straight. Tasmania is cool
and wet, and can't ripen grapes like Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon,
right? Wrong. Tasmania is indeed a cool climate region, and a
pre-eminent one at that, having hosted the prestigious International
Cool Climate Symposium earlier this year, but it is far from wet.

Hobart is the second driest state capital in Australia after Adelaide,
and it has enough sunny microclimates to ripen both heat-loving red
varietals. Just ask Nick Glaetzer, whose Mon Pere Shiraz won the
coveted all-Australian Jimmy Watson trophy last year, and Peter
Althaus, whose outstanding Domaine A Cabernet is grown in a protected,
sun-kissed bowl in the Coal River Valley.

This strong opening pair give the batting order a challenging front
palate. Next comes the side's swashbuckler, Australia's lord of
sparkling wines, Ed Carr. He may have the best conditions in the New
World to produce bubbly - very cold nights that result in fabulous
acid retention and flavour - but his Arras range is the envy of plenty
of champenois. His exceptional late disgorged 2000 may be £125 but
it is worth it.

At number four, traditionally the spot for the team's best batsman,
Claudio Radenti, of Freycinet, on the dry east coast, gets the vote.
This modest, most charming of men piles up ranking points with the
consistency and brilliance of his wine, both sparkling and still.

His sparkling 2001 (60/40 Chardonnay/ Pinot Noir), which was aged on its
lees for 10 years, was best wine of the Hobart Show last month.
Claude, as his mates know him, never makes a moderate wine, his
Chardonnays and Pinots, showing beautiful balance with gorgeous fruit
and length. The 2010 Freycinet Pinot, in particular, is one to get
your hands on.

Another very fine player in Steve Lubiana adds weight to the middle
order/palate. Despite their Italian surnames, these two good friends
are as Aussie as they come. Steve and wife, Monique's Stefano Lubiana
winery, just north of Hobart, is about to become the first in Tasmania
to be certified biodynamic. The loving care that this most
knowledgeable of duos put into the production of their outstanding
range of wines marks them out as very special. A brand new cellar
door and restaurant with dramatic views over the Derwent will open
shortly and lure patrons with some of Tasmania's best Pinot,
Chardonnay, Riesling and lees-aged bubbly.

Needing an all-rounder to balance the side at number six, Tamar
Ridge's Tom Ravech has caught the selector's eye. Ravech has to
preside over 400 hectares under vine, or 25% of Tasmania's total
plantings, requiring total devotion to duty. Brown Brothers of
Victoria, have proved popular and committed owners since acquiring
Tamar Ridge in a £23m deal in August 2010. The range and quality of
the wines is very impressive.

Female winemaking flair is very much in evidence in Tasmania, with
Natalie Fryar, of Jansz, who only make bubbly, demanding pole
position. All of Jansz's peerless vintage sparklings are produced from
estate fruit, which she says flourishes thanks to great soil (deep
ferrous on weathered basalt), proximity to the Bass Strait and a bit
of altitude. Her 2008 rosé, made from whole-bunched pressed Pinot Noir  base wine has a long and mouthwatering finish.

At the other end of the island, in the Huon Valley, Gill Lipscomb produces lovely, savoury Pinot for Home Hill, whose 2005 vintage put South African and New
Zealand noses out of joint by scooping the annual Tri Nations award. A
phalanx of distinguished Tasmanian lady producers includes Kate Hill,
whose wines may soon be on sale in Harrods, Anna Pooley and Fran
Austin.

Just to give the Tassie all-star line-up some international flavour, a
Frenchman in Alain Rousseau of Frogmore Creek, and a Canadian in Conor
van der Reest, of Hobart winery, Moorilla, complete the eleven.

Frogmore Creek' excellent wines, which include an ice wine made from
Riesling, are available through Boutinot but can be drunk with what is
delectable cuisine at their winery restaurant north of Hobart. The
Mona museum is also a must-visit at Moorilla, which has abandoned its
bulk wine proclivities in favour of genuine quality. The first vintage
there dates back as far as 1962.

Finally, a manager and coach. Andrew Hood, the much respected elder
statesman of Tasmanian wine, must assume the former role, while Andrew
Pirie, veteran winemaking sage, is the obvious choice for the latter.
Like several others unmentioned her, both merit selection, but rather
like the Ryder Cup captain in golf, must watch their gifted charges
from the sidelines.

And any golf-loving wine tourists to Tasmania
should know that two of Australia's finest links courses in Barnboogle
and Lost Farm are a short drive from Jansz on the north coast.

* Geoffrey Dean is travelling across Australia visiting wineries as part of his second year of MW studies in between covering cricket for The Times.

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