The Coombend property is deeply interwoven both with the early history of Tasmania’s East Coast and that of the other wineries in the area.  The story starts with William Lyne and his family who migrated from their native Gloucestershire in 1826 to settle a 1500 acre land grant near Swansea which they named Apsley.

 
After a period spent residing at Milton, William’s youngest son, Henry, subsequently established the property to the south of Apsley, which he named Coomb End after the family’s English home.  Not only are these names commemorated by Apsley Gorge, Milton and Coombend vineyard’s, but the Spring Vale property at Cranbrook, also now a vineyard, has been in the hands of the Lyne family descendants since 1875.

 
More recently, the older section of the vineyard to the west of the Tasman highway was established in 1985 by John Fenn Smith who, working closely with our neighbours Freycinet Vineyard, planted 6.5 hectares of vines, plus 2000 olive trees, on his 2600-hectare sheep station.  The extensive vineyards on the eastern, lagoon-side of the highway were added in 2005 when Tamar Ridge Estates purchased the property.

The homestead includes the original shearing shed which is still in use, along with several cottages, the eldest of which was built in 1840 and later used as a staging post for the east coast mail run.  It is this building which is depicted on the Coombend label to illustrate the property’s heritage.