Best New Winery: Decades

By The Tasting Team

18 Aug, 2026

Decades, from Tasmania's Coal River Valley, is the 2027 Best New Winery.

2027 Best New Winery

Decades – Coal River Valley, Tasmania

With just two wines in the range and two vintages out in the wild, Decades has scaled inconceivable heights and claimed rank as one of Tasmania’s most anticipated annual releases.

It’s been a meteoric rise, but the hype is well deserved for the quality, industry experience, friendship and skill of its co-founders – winemaking royalty turned consultant-to-the-stars Steve Flamsteed (the 2027 Halliday Winemaker of the Year) and master brewer and Stone & Wood co-founder Brad Rogers.

After discovering a shared love of punk music and pinot noir, the two kids from Queensland bonded quickly when they met at Roseworthy College back in ’91. Even though Brad’s heart was in beer, they talked about one day owning a vineyard together.

Steve Flamsteed and Brad Rogers, Decades

We’d known each other for three decades. The vineyard was decades old. And the song, it’s one of those songs that just drags you in.

When Brad sold Stone & Wood to Lion in ’21, they began looking in earnest. Within a year, they’d found the perfect site in Tea Tree in the Coal River Valley, not far from the Tolpuddle and Stargazer vineyards.

They named it after the Joy Division song. “Then we started thinking about all the other little synergies,” Steve says. “We’d known each other for three decades. The vineyard was decades old. And the song, it’s one of those songs that just drags you in.”

Steve Flamsteed and Brad Rogers, Decades

Less than three hectares of the 25ha property they bought in ’22 was under vine, which they’ve since expanded to around 10ha, most of which is pinot noir, with a little bit of chardonnay. It needn’t be a surprise that the wines, which all achieved 96 points in their debut submission, are seriously good.

This is a producer you must seek out. We reference the lyrical talent of Joy Division’s Ian Curtis, ‘Here are the young men’.

Decades is the Best New Winery for the 2027 Halliday Wine Companion.

Words by Katrina Butler and Anna Webster