 |
Winery Video Tours
Amberley Estate
http://www.amberleyestate.com.au/
Amberley Estate was founded in 1985 with the first vintage release occurring in 1990.
The site for Amberley was chosen after an exhaustive search within the region for a property containing all of the critical ingredients of: sheltered eastern facing slopes, deep free draining gravely loam soils, good water supply. The natural beauty of the estate is a bonus.
Their founding mission was that of producing great wine using the best possible methods. They have now moved one step further from this to an ambitious long term brand mission:
"To be the leader in crafting high quality wines from unique varieties, not commonly found in the Margaret River region".
Cape Mentelle
http://www.capementelle.com.au/
One of the most remote wine regions in the world in the south west corner of Australia, its natural beauty with spectacular coastlines captivates visitors.
Here the maritime influence of the Indian Ocean ensures even temperatures, providing excellent vintage conditions.
Cape Mentelle pioneered many of the region's renowned wine styles and today is a benchmark for the quality of the region's wines. Accolades including consecutive wins of Australia's most prestigious wine trophy with the iconic Cabernet Sauvignon in 1983 and 1984, helped put Margaret River on the international wine map.
Building on the winery's tradition of pioneering spirit and uncompromising commitment to excellence an innovative young team is taking up the challenge to be "Simply the Best"!
Deep Woods Estate
http://www.deepwoods.com.au/
The vineyard was acquired during 2005 by Peter Fogarty, who also owns Millbrook and the famous Lake's Folly. It's situated high on the Yallingup Ridge and is one of the highest vineyards in the region. A comprehensive vineyard redevelopment program has improved fruit quality. Excellent recent releases of both reds and whites. Latest addition is a barrel fermented Sauvignon Blanc.
Evans & Tate
The Perth Royal Wine Show is WA's leading wine competition. Established more than 40 years ago, the competition is credited with putting WA on the map as a producer of quality wines.
This year the competition attracted 2400 entries from WA, interstate and New Zealand. A team of judges led by Dr Tony Jordan of Domaine Chandon Australia assessed wines from almost 400 wineries.
Evans and Tate was the most successful WA exhibitor at the 2008 Perth Royal Wine Show. The group's Margaret River Merlot 2007 Vintage won the best merlot of the Show and its Reserve Shiraz 2005 Vintage was named best WA dry red table wine.
Higher Plane
http://www.higherplanewines.com.au/
Higher Plane is a family owned vineyard which was established in 1996 with the vision to create handcrafted, precise wines, a genuine expression of their origin.
The vineyard is in the pristine southern Forest Grove sub-region of Margaret River where the influence of the Southern Ocean is the greatest. Undulating hills and valleys with north and south facing slopes, and spring fed watercourses create an ideal environment for site-specific planting of the noble grape varieties.
The property has ideal exposure and gravely duplex soils (and adjoins the Devil's Lair vineyard). The varieties planted were carefully selected clones and closely planted to produce low yields and increase fruit intensity, with defined varietal expression. Close planting helps to achieve more even ripening, especially in area with cooler temperatures and less sunlight hours due to cloud cover.
Howard Park
http://www.howardparkwines.com.au/
Howard Park Wines was established in 1986 and was one of the original pioneers of the Great Southern region. The founding owner of Howard Park, John Wade ventured west to Western Australia’s South West with one belief: “I don’t know any other region where you can produce both Riesling and Cabernet Sauvignon as premium wines”. This founding belief began the journey of Howard Park.
Now over 20 years on, Howard Park remains a family owned winery under the guidance of Jeff and Amy Burch. With a philosophy to produce wines of distinct regional character with an uncompromising commitment to quality Howard Park has forged an international reputation for their wines and an expanded range including single vineyard and multi regional wines from Margaret River and the Great Southern.
Taking a look at the history that is Howard Park’s provides an insight into the pioneering spirit of a leading Western Australia family winery.
Juniper Estate
http://www.juniperestate.com.au/
Juniper Estate is one of the original Margaret River vineyards nestled in the picturesque Wilyabrup valley. The Juniper family originally owned the land where Juniper Estate is now hence the name. Established in 1973, when there were only five producers in the region, it is one of the pioneer vineyards and is dry-grown to this day.
Two ranges of wines are produced – Estate wines from Juniper’s own vines, and Crossing wines, where fruit is used from a couple of local growers to supplement their own production.
It’s pretty much a hands on operation – the vines are hand pruned and hand picked and the wine hand made. The fruits are processed in small batches and treated separately, evaluated and blended in the barrel hall – a truly boutique operation. The wines are consistently of the highest order with Shiraz and Semillon in particular outstanding.
The Juniper Crossing range is great value.
Laurance
http://www.laurancewines.com.au/
This new producer on Caves Road has made quite a statement since arriving on the scene a few years ago, from the outset choosing to do things differently — from wine styles to packaging to the label names. Since its opening in September 2006 Laurance Cellar has become one of the region’s most popular with spectacular rose garden and Australian sculptures. Voted one of Australia’s best 10 cellar doors. Gold medal at Decanter awards of '07 Cabernet points to a strong future.
Leeuwin Estate
http://www.leeuwinestate.com.au/
Since its inception in 1974, Leeuwin Estate’s mission has been to produce wines that rank with the best in the world through the pursuit of excellence. Today Leeuwin has been recognised through the receipt of numerous awards for its wines, restaurant, architecture, environment, arts endeavours, and as a leader in wine tourism.
On three occasions Leeuwin has been included in the prestigious category of "International Winery of the Year" by US "Wine & Spirits" magazine and included in the prestigious French publication, "100 Vins De Legende", as one of the world's great wine legends. Australia’s largest wine auction house, Langtons, includes Leeuwin’s Chardonnay in the top ‘exceptional’ category, whilst Leeuwin has been included in Wine Spectator’s category of Classic wines of the World.
McHenry Hohnen Vintners
http://www.mchv.com.au/
McHenry Hohnen Vintners is a family owned wine producer sourcing grapes from four vineyards owned within the families of David Hohnen and his brother-in-law Murray McHenry.
Winemaking is handled by David, his daughter Freya and her partner, Ryan Walsh. The McH philosophy embraces minimal intervention winemaking, where each wine is a focussed expression of its variety, its growing season and its individual site.
Within the four vineyards, eighteen varieties are cultivated. These reflect the region's heritage with the Bordeaux varieties Semillon, Sauvignon Blanc, Malbec, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Petit Verdot.
Sandalford
http://www.sandalford.com/
Sandalford has well and truly leapt into the big league of premium producers in WA having now completely transformed itself to a Margaret River wine operation. Both the Estate Reserve and the new Margaret River Range are entirely sourced from Margaret River fruit. The team of owner Peter Prendiville and winemaker Paul Boulden have taken the wines in an exciting new direction. Superb wines at all price points.
Founded in 1840, Sandalford is one of Western Australia's oldest and largest privately owned wineries. Located at the original property on the banks of the Swan River, Sandalford Estate is just 25 minutes drive from the city.
Sandalfords award-winning wines reflect contemporary wine making and include a Premium Collection and the popular Element Range. Recent modernisation increased Sandalford's capacity to almost one million litres in French and American Oak barrels and 600 square metres of underground storage. These state-of-the-art facilities permit custom requests of maturation stock.
Saracen Estates
http://www.saracenestates.com.au/
Saracen Estates is located on Caves Road and with involvement of the Duckstein Brewery it offers fine wine and premium quality craft beer together with excellent food.
The striking buildings are constructed from local timber and stone and contain a state-of-the-art craft brewery, cellar sales area, restaurant, beer garden and children's playground.
The aim is to produce high quality top end wines and with the guidance of Bob Cartwright they are well on the way.
Thompson Estate
http://www.thompsonestate.com/
Jane and Peter Thompson purchased the Thompson Estate property in 1994 and the first plantings of Chardonnay and Pinot were in 1997 followed by the Cabernet plantings in 1998.
Peter is a Perth based heart specialist who sees no conflict between being a wine producer and his medical specialty. In fact the heart health benefits of wine are widely accepted and there is a long tradition of medical involvement in wine making.
Many of the pioneers of the Australian wine industry were doctors and the first vineyard in Margaret River was planted by heart specialist Dr Tom Cullity. The medical wine connection in Margaret River is particularly strong. Moss Wood vineyard was planted by Peter’s longtime friend and medical school colleague, Dr Bill Pannell.
Thompson Estate employs the best winemakers in the district to make their wine using different winemakers for different varieties. This has allowed Thompson Estate to excel in all varieties. Their Chardonnay is close to the best the region has to offer as is their Cabernet. Perhaps where they score 'Best of the Best' for the district is in their Pinot Noir.
Vasse Felix
http://www.vassefelix.com.au/
Planted in 1967 Vasse Felix is the oldest vineyard in the Margaret River wine region of Western Australia. Long growing seasons ancient soils and cooling sea breezes from the Southern and Indian Oceans provide the Vasse Felix vineyards with ideal viticultural conditions to craft consistent elegant and complex wines with pronounced varietal character and aroma.
Family owned and operated by the Holmes a Court family, Vasse Felix is one of the most highly visited wine destinations in Australia. A unique underground cellar a spectacular restaurant overlooking the original 1967 plantings and an exquisite art gallery makes Vasse Felix one of the great family owned drawcards of the Margaret River Region
Voyager Estate
http://www.voyagerestate.com.au/
Our oldest vines date back to 1978 just over 10 years after vines they were first planted in the area. When current owner Michael Wright took over the property in 1991 he set out to expand it and develop a visitor destination that would be a showcase for the region. He also set out to ensure that above all else the quality of wine being made at Voyager Estate would always be the best that nature expertise and pure hard work could provide.
We leave it for wine lovers and our visitors to judge for themselves.
Watershed
http://www.watershedwines.com.au/
Watershed located 4.8 km south of the Margaret River town site on the Bussell Highway has come a long way since it released its first four wines in September 2002. Today Watershed produces 15 wine styles over three distinct ranges and approximately 100,000 cases annually from its state of the art award winning wine production facility. From the initial vineyard planting in 2001 of 78 hectares Watershed now has 187 hectares under vine spread over 4 vineyard sites in the Margaret River wine region. Watershed has a magnificent cellar door 200 seat restaurant & café all with panoramic views of the vineyard and dam. The restaurant and café are family friendly with a fully enclosed covered childrens playground and menus that offer affordable choices.
Wills Domain
http://www.willsdomain.com.au/one/index.asp
If there are more committed and passionate individuals in the wine industry than Darren Haunold, then I have yet to make their acquaintance.
Haunold chose this site based on the maritime influence of the nearby Indian Ocean and Geographe Bay, aiming for wines with elegance and finesse, while maintaining strong varietal definition.
Excellent range of wines and a great restaurant.
Woodside Valley Estate
http://www.woodsidevalleyestate.com.au/
The Woodside vineyard is on Abbey Farm Road not far from Yallingup where owner Peter Woods spent many weekends surfing in the early 1960s. The early wines from Woodside indicate a potential to make a real statement for both reds and whites from this northern area. The quality and level of sophistication in both the reds and whites are already quite apparent.
Xanadu
http://www.xanaduwines.com/
Situated only five minutes from the town centre of Margaret River and an equal distance from the magnificent south west coast, Xanadu is a true pioneer of the region with a long history of producing wines with distinct character.
Xanadu was established by John Lagan, an Irishman, who arrived in Margaret River in 1968 and was inspired by the pioneering spirit of the region. At the time, the potential of Margaret River as one of the world's finest wine-producing regions was only just being considered. John established one of the region's earlier vineyards planting his first vines in 1977. Enjoying a strong family focus since its inception almost 30 years ago, the company was listed on the ASX in April 2001, but returned to family ownership in August 2005 when the assets were purchased by the Rathbone Family.
The Rathbone family remain focused on producing premium wines that reflect the true characteristics of the Margaret River region.
Winery of the Year 2007 WA Tourism Awards