Devil's Corner: A Salty Symphony from Tasmania's Coolest Vineyards

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Have you ever tasted a wine from Tasmania? For most wine enthusiasts, the answer is likely no – making the Devil's Corner Tasmanian Chardonnay 2023 a delightful discovery worth seeking out. This gem from one of the world's southernmost and coolest wine regions offers something genuinely different from your typical Australian or California Chardonnay.

What makes this wine special starts with its terroir. Tasmania sits off Australia's southern coast, creating an ideal cool-climate environment where grapes ripen slowly, developing complex flavors while maintaining higher acidity and lower sugar levels. This translates to a moderate 12.5% alcohol content – reminiscent of how wines tasted decades ago before global warming pushed ripeness and alcohol levels higher worldwide. The result is a medium-bodied Chardonnay where flavor nuances shine through without being overshadowed by alcohol heat.

The Devil's Corner (named after a treacherous bend in Tasmania's Tamar River Valley) delivers a fascinating flavor profile dominated by an unexpected but pleasant saltiness that becomes more pronounced with each sip. Supporting notes of melon, coconut milk, pear, nectarine, orange zest, and soft spice create a harmonious and lengthy finish that punches well above its $16-17 price point. Produced by Brown Brothers (who also make the excellent Innocent Bystander line), this limited-production wine (approximately 2,200 cases) represents tremendous value for anyone looking to expand their wine horizons beyond the usual suspects.

Want to experience something truly different in your wine journey? Seek out Devil's Corner Tasmanian Chardonnay at your local wine shop. Its distinctive character, excellent balance, and surprising complexity make it both an educational experience and, more importantly, a thoroughly enjoyable glass of wine. Share your thoughts if you've tried Tasmanian wines or other cool-climate discoveries that have surprised your palate!

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:02):
Welcome.
It's Domain, dave.
Again, cheapwinebinercom.
As always, we've got a valueprice wine podcast.
We write up a review everythird day on the
CheapWineBinercom website andthen, when we're done writing,
we plug it in and here we are.

(00:22):
This one is from Tasmania.
When's the last time you had aTasmanian wine?
Well, if you haven't had oneyet, this is a good place to
start.
It's the Devil's CornerTasmanian Chardonnay 2023.
Tasmania is an Australian state.
It's an island off the southerncoast of Australia, south of

(00:47):
Melbourne.
If it helps you with anything,the Devil's Corner name doesn't
come from the Tasmanian devil orthe Looney Tunes character.
The two main growing regionsare the eastern coast of
Tasmania and the Tamar ValleyRiver Valley, and there is a

(01:08):
bend in the river valley that istreacherous and that's the
devil's corner and I'm gonnatake a sip.
This is one of the coolestgrowing regions in the world.

(01:32):
I mean it's up there with theGerman ones, which there's a lot
of cool weather growingRieslings up there, and this is
a really interesting tasting.
Now that I've kind of beensipping on it.
I got a saltiness to it and acreaminess to it.
Above all the other flavors,the saltiness is now kind of
pronounced.
I didn't get it first timethrough, but after I took a

(01:55):
break and went back to it it'slike whoa, I kind of like that
salty thing.
This is a wine I think I foundfor $16 or $17.
They don't make a lot of it.
I think there's only 2,200cases something like that, and
there's 12 bottles to a case.
So it doesn't go everywhere,but if you can find the Devil's

(02:18):
Corner and they have a full lineof wines, but in Chicago I only
have seen the Pinot Noir andthe Chardonnay.
I'm taking another sip.
I kind of like that salty thing.
So it's a cold weather one andthe alcohol is only 12.5, which

(02:43):
is the way wine used to be backwhen the world was less
temperate or wasn't heating up.
In California, 13.5, 14.5 allthe time, 12.5 is what it was,
maybe the 80s and 90s.
So this doesn't have.
It took longer to get ripe.
It didn't get as much sugar,and sugar is the alcohol.

(03:05):
So it's got that little bitnice.
It's got that backed offalcohol to it, which kind of
lets the flavors flow a littlebit more.
I've gotten used to higheralcohols in wine.
It doesn't bother me, but whenI have one that doesn't, it's
like oh, so that's what thelower alcohol does.
Take another sip.
This is my third sip.

(03:26):
It looks like I like this one.
Yeah, it's got that salty thinggoing.
It's got melon and coconut milkand pear and nectarine and a

(03:47):
little bit of orange zest andsoft spice Apple.
It's got full of flavor.
This is a medium-bodied wine.
It's not a large wine butthere's flavor to this thing and
the flavor's kind of run.
It's got some decent length toit.
The Brown Brothers are thewinery that um makes the devil's

(04:10):
corner and they also makeinnocent bystander and that's a
really good uh line of wines.
You ever see evidence shop andsee, uh, innocent bystanders in
the australian aisle.
You might want to give that atry sometime.
They make good wines.
I'm going for my fourth sip.
I like this one.
It's just different enough fromthe usual value-priced beer and

(04:40):
1617 isn't too value-priced,but it's just different enough
to catch your attention.
I mean it's well-made, it's gotgood length, good acidity,
balanced and some reallyinteresting nice flavors that
you don't get in the ones closerto $10 all the time.

(05:00):
Yeah, this is a Devil's Corner.
Tasmania Chardonnay 2023.
It's a tasty Chardonnay.
A little bit more than valueprice, I think.
But 1670 isn't crazy,especially for something
different, and ones, like I saidonce the last time you had a

(05:21):
Tasmanian wine there.
There's not that many newplaces.
Oh, there are some new placesin the world where wine comes
from.
You know Romania and Hungaryand all those places are out
there which I've been makingwine for a long time.
But here we go Tasmanian, butit's part of Australia.
Chardonnay is really good.

(05:42):
I like this wine.
I didn't know what to expect.
Sometimes in Australia, if youget some of the, you get the
western side of Australia.
I'm not as crazy about those, Ilike the southeastern, but this
wine is completely differentand completely good.
So, adios, that's Domain DaveCheapwinefindercom.
Devil's Corner, tasmanianChardonnay 2023.

(06:05):
If you can find it, pick one up.
It's fun to drink, it tastesgreat and Tasmanian Devil, thank
you.
So, adios, keep it cheap.
I'll talk to everybody in acouple days.
Bye-bye.