Moorilla: A far from average winery

David Walsh, Owner of Moorilla, Domaine A and MONA

Conor van der Reest, Chief Winemaker

It all started with the dream of one of Tasmania’s pioneering winemakers, Claudio Alcorso, an Italian migrant and textile merchant who, back in 1958, planted the first grapevines at Moorilla with the daring ambition to cultivate fine wines in a cool climate. Then one of Tasmania’s first wineries, Moorilla has since found its way into the hands of David Walsh – the creator of the iconic Museum of Old and New Art (MONA) – and has become a leader in what is now one of the world’s finest cool-climate wine regions.

“I didn’t buy it for the wine”, says David, “I was more interested in the Roy Grounds house that is now the MONA entrance – I was seeking an art warehouse. I later found that in a big way I became enamoured with the wine-making lifestyle. Buying Moorilla was one of the best decisions I ever made, and I think that would be true even if MONA had not arisen there”.

Born and bred in Tasmania, a stone’s throw from the winery, David Walsh created a highly lucrative gambling system and with it, earned the money to purchase Moorilla in 1995. David later recruited a young up-and-coming Canadian winemaker, Conor van der Reest and put him at the helm of Moorilla with the sole direction to “just make stupendous wines”.

Conor cut his teeth in winemaking across varied international locations, including Ontario’s Niagara Peninsula, Languedoc and Champagne in France, and Australia’s prime wine country, cultivating a love for wines that mix new-world fruit with old-world complexity. When arriving at Moorilla, Conor redefined the winery with an ambitious cellaring program, an overhaul of the facilities and a focus on championing the location’s unique sense of place – it’s terroir.

Moorilla’s wines are born from two vineyards: the first is the Moorilla vineyard on Claudio’s original site next to the Derwent River, which it shares with MONA (fondly heralding Moorilla as “a winery with a museum attached”); the second is the St Matthias vineyard on the west bank of the Tamar River, 15 kilometres north of Launceston.

The two sites produce two distinct wine styles. Moorilla’s river breeze and soil diversity lends itself to a long ripening process, producing complex flavours, aromas and spices with hints of fruit and floral characters. The St Matthias vineyard produces more fruity flavours with racy mineral tones, while maintaining delicate notes.

Across both vineyards, Moorilla produces three exceptional offerings: the Cloth Label series, inspired by Conor’s time at Châteauneuf-du-Pape, features artisanal blends created to celebrate the 50th anniversary of winemaking at Moorilla. The Muse series honours old-world winemaking traditions, with complex wines perfect for cellaring. Finally, the Praxis series stands out as a modern expression of Tasmanian wine, with bold and fresh fruit flavours.

Adding to the growing Moorilla legacy, in 2018 David purchased the prestigious Domaine A wine estate – the oldest in the historic Coal River Valley in southern Tasmania – adopting custodianship of its celebrated winemaking traditions.

Together, David and Conor set out to challenge the wine industry and champion the “freedom to experiment, follow a hunch, and cause a stir”. This has resulted in a unique small-batch, high-quality output that is as much of a creative expression as the artworks on MONA’s walls.

Moorilla and Domaine A wines currently feature in our Exceptional Red, Wondrous White and Magnificent Mix boxes, while stocks last.

MONA in the forefront on the banks of the Derwent River, with the Moorilla Winery just behind it.