It's a vineyard with a difference.
Just 100 metres from one of Hobart's busiest highways, gardeners at Tasmania's Government House have swapped their normal tools for clippers for the first grape harvest at the grounds.
Head gardener at Government House Ben Essex was excited at the prospect of overseeing the historic vintage after taking over the job recently.
"I've only been here just over a month and I can't believe the first big job is to make sure the grape harvest goes smoothly," he said.
"We are expecting to pick around five bins of riesling grapes today which then will be processed by Winemaking Tasmania at Cambridge," Mr Essex said.
The idea to plant a vineyard on Government House grounds was conceived by former Governor Peter Underwood and implemented by the present Governor of Tasmania Kate Warner.
The vineyard is the only one of its type in Australia.
The grounds containing the vineyard are close to the busy highway that takes traffic on and off the Tasman Bridge over the Derwent River.
Mick Hetherington, a long-serving garden staff member at Government House helped plan the vineyard and plant the vines, along with the installation of the irrigation system.
"I'm so proud of the way the vineyard has developed," Mr Hetherington said.
"And the grapes look lovely, like golden orbs of beauty."
Governor Kate Warner visited the vineyard to see how the grape picking was going and was happy with the start of the vintage.
"It's going brilliantly I think and they're really pleased with the production and yield from our first year," Governor Warner said.
"Once the wine is made we will use it for functions in Government House and we may sell some in the future."
"We're still deciding what to put on the label, which is still a matter of debate and something we are considering."
