Margaret River Cellar Doors - Sep 2018

[Michael McNally]

Day 1 – On the Way Down

Capel Vale
Ordered lunch and then tasted through the range to decide on what to drink with our meals. The Cellar Door/Restaurant was surprisingly quiet given the long weekend. There was only one other couple there when we arrived at 12.45.
Good range of wines and the Debut Sparkling was very good for $20. Yasmin chose that to have with her Vegetarian Plate. The Regional Series were a bit hit and miss, with the hits being the 2017 Mt Barker Riesling, 2017 Mt Barker Shiraz, and the 2017 Margaret River Cabernet. The 2016 Black Label Chardonnay was good, not great. They had the 2009 Margaret River Cabernet as a museum release to try next to the 2017. Very good gear, and I had a glass with my Cabernet Plate.
The food was excellent and there was plenty of it. Very knowledgeable and helpful staff. Nice aspect over the vineyard from the restaurant.
A great start to the trip.

Flametree
After a walk along the Busselton Pier went to Flametree. Extensive range. Not even the cellar door staff could get enthusiastic about the Embers Chardonnay. Blerrch. The standard Chardonnay was okay. The SRS Chardonnay on the other hand was very good gear, but needs time to settle down (2017) and is nudging it for price. The Frankland River Shiraz was really good and again there was a museum release – the 2010 to try alongside it. Excellent wine and I walked away with a bottle of that ($50). The SRS Cabernet was also really good, but not sure about $60. Bit disappointed in the SRS Syrah. Apparently it is de-stemmed, the stems are then partially sun-dried before being added back to the ferment? Anyway, not that interesting.
Nice cellar door setup with really friendly, knowledgeable staff. If you are looking for value, look elsewhere.

Day 2 – Just the One

Stella Bella
Sunday of a long weekend so the cellar door was flat out, but the staff found us a space. Tried through the Chardonnay and the Cabernet. The Suckfizzle and Luminosa wines were a $5 taste, which I was happy to do. Liked the 2016 Stella Bella Chardonnay and the Suckfizzle Chardonnay. The 2014 Cabernet was excellent (a good vintage I hear) and the Suckfizzle was again good. Nice staff and space – just too many people (which is why I chose to defer my Grand Tour until Tuesday).

Day 3 – Squeeze in a Couple

Leeuwin Estate
After a day mountain biking with a guide in Boranup Forest (highly recommended) we were dropped back at Margs at 3.45. I got in the car and drove back to Leeuwin. Beautiful setting and the cellar door was pretty quiet (unsurprising given the time of day). Tasted through the range including a number of the wines that had a tasting fee (Art Series Chardonnay and Cabernet). The staff member talked me through the wines and we went quite quickly (I was setting the pace). Great range of wines (unsurprising). I loved the Prelude Chardonnay (2016) and the Art Series Shiraz (2015). Of course the Art Series Chardonnay was amazing, but at $110 not in my league. I find the 2014 Prelude Cabernet has a distracting olive tapenade character – I recently had a bottle at home. She only charged me one of the $5 fees which was kind. Good stuff.

Voyager Estate
Totally blown away by this place. What an amazing setting. I would like to come back when I had time to explore the gardens and try the restaurant. Despite the time, you really had to take your time with the wines. They had sold out of the current vintage of Chardonnay (something that I was to discover is happening a lot in Margaret River) but had two back vintages on taste. The 2012 was really good, but a bit more developed compared to the brilliant 2011 (which I purchased). Of the reds, the Cabernet Merlot (2013) was obviously a standout, but I bought the 2014 Shiraz, which has plush fruit and tannin to die for. The back vintage Cabernet Merlot (2008) was brilliant, but too exxy for me. Also got to try the 2012 Tom Price which was excellent. Although there are tasting fees for all the wines, they are redeemable on purchase, and the wines, while expensive are seriously good.

Xanadu Estate
Arrived at 4.52 and had 8 minutes to taste the range. The cellar door staff helped me get through as many Chardonnay and Cabernet as I could in that time. The Chardonnays have a distinct elevated line of acid which I found distracting. I am sure they will age well, but I just couldn’t see past it. The Cabernets were all very good quality, but the wide range makes it difficult to keep track (or maybe it was me rushing). The staff member was very helpful, but I should have allowed more time to do credit to and contemplate the wines.

Day 4 – Grand Tour

Hay Shed Hill
I had planned to start the day at my northernmost target (Deep Woods) but that didn’t open until 11, so first stop was Hay Shed Hill. What a great start. No one else at the cellar door and an enthusiastic, knowledgeable staff member happy to talk wine. Gaurav took me through the entire range and the quality was extremely high across the range. The standard HSH Chardonnay was very good in the modern, linear style. The 2017 Block 6 Chardonnay ($34) was excellent and I knew I would be taking some. The ‘other’ varietals were an eye opener. I loved the 2016 Pinot Noir, Nebbiolo, Grenache and 2015 Malbec. The final two wines were the 2014 Block 2 Cabernet and the 2013 Kerrigan and Berry Cabernet, a blend of Mt Barker and Margaret Rive fruit. Both excellent wines. I don’t usually buy more than a bottle or two at a cellar door as I know I can get excited, but I happily put together a mixed dozen of the wines I liked and had them shipped home. A great start for the day!

Clairault/Streiker Wines
This wasn’t on my ‘must see’ list, but I saw the sign and turned off the highway on instinct. Lovely cellar door person (Jane?) took me through the wines. Tasted everything, starting with the Streiker bubbles. Good start! Thought the quality was again excellent across the entire range. The 2016 Estate Chardonnay was excellent, but pushing it for $45. The Streiker Chenin was interesting, and the Chardonnay was bigger and fuller than the Clairault, though still not sure about the price tag ($45). The 2014 Estate Cabernet and 2013 Streiker Cabernet were both next level and worth the asking price ($50). I wanted to take one, but kept changing my mind as to which I wanted so took them both and Jane helpfully pointed out that there was a three cabernet pack for $105 so I could get the regular Clairault Cab for $5. Top experience here. Beautiful spot too.

Deep Woods Estate
Halliday strikes again. Thanks to some high pointed reviews there were a number of gaps in the line up, with all three of the reserve wines sold out. Sigh. The new vintages of these will be released 1 November. Went through the other wines. Spectacular view from the Cellar Door. Good quality wines across the board. Couldn’t see the value in the Grand Selection wines at $130 a pop but pretty keen pricing lower down the pecking order. Didn’t purchase anything here.

Windows Estate
Quick stop. One of Gaurav from Hay Shed Hill’s recommendations. Small place, attractive cellar door. A smaller range which was appreciated. I liked the 2017 Estate Chardonnay and 2016 Basket Pressed Cab Franc Malbec Merlot. Quality wines and not overpriced. Didn’t buy anything.

Larry Cherubino
New cellar door setup. Quite weird with a large room with benches on 2 sides and an island bench. A huge range of wines with a tasting fee and a choice of different wines from the Apostrophe up to the Cherubino range. A confusing number of wines, and varieties. I focussed on Riesling, Chardonnay and Cabernet blends. The confusion was not helped by having a single person serving 5 pairs/groups, inputting orders into their iPad and signing people up to the wine club at the same time. I walked away with a ‘Beautiful South’ Cabernet Blend. High quality across the board and really would have appreciated a more focussed process. Larry was in and out of the cellar door, setting up a sound system, but I didn’t try to engage with him as he was busy.

Moss Wood
My only appointment for the day was at 2pm at Moss Wood. What a great cellar door experience. You have to book in advance and pay $60 for the tour, which is redeemable from your purchases. I met Cathy at the office. I was the only person on the tour. Tastings from bottle and barrel. We did the two vintages of Chardonnay in barrel (the 2018 and 2017). The 2016 is sold out so I couldn’t taste it, but the 2017 is due for release soon. We did three barrel samples for Cabernet from the Ribbon Vale and the flagship cabernets. All excellent. The information that Cathy provided was detailed and the whole behind the scenes feel of the tasting was a boon for a wine tragic like me. I paid an extra $10 and took two of the Amy’s vineyard (excellent) home. Highly recommend this cellar door experience.

Woodlands
Picturesque little cellar door with a lovely aspect. The whole Woodlands range was on tasting which was a pleasant surprise. The knowledgeable staff member gave some family history as we went through the wines. The standard 2017 Chardonnay was nice in an old school way and the 2017 ‘Chloe’ was gorgeous, with length and power. Not cheap at $110. The reds were excellent across the board. Standouts were the standard 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot, 2016 ‘Margaret’ and the 2015 ‘Russell’. Excellent tasting.

Pierro
Another quick tasting at a busy cellar door with little chance to engage about the wines. The 2017 Chardonnay was excellent as to be expected, but I found the LTCf Cabernet Merlot better than the Reserve (both 2014s). Wasn’t wowed by this place, but maybe more a factor of mid-afternoon fatigue rather than anything else.

Cullen
There was a wedding reception under way at the Cullen Cellar door, and while the tasting staff were helpful, and attentive, it wasn’t really conducive to taking your time and chatting about the wines. Must admit I failed to be blown away by the wines here, apart from the Kevin John Chardonnay which was brilliant, full and lengthy. Of the reds, the 2017 Wilyabrup Cabernet Merlot was probably the pick of the bunch.

Grace Farm
Gaurav from Hay Shed Hill had recommended this, but hadn’t mentioned it was by appointment only. As it happened, I turned up as the winemaker was about to take another group of three people through the wines. They were happy for me to join the group so we tasted through the wines. The 2016 and 2017 Semillon Sauvignon Blancs were both high quality. The 2016 Chardonnay was excellent. The 2015 Cabernet was really high quality and QPR wise one of the wines of the day at $30. The 2014 Reserve was next level and still reasonably priced at $50. A smaller producer to watch out for. Sitting on the veranda with Jono going through the wines was a pleasure. Book ahead.

McHenry Hohnen
Last stop for the day. More relaxed and informative than Cullen or Pierro, the staff member talked through all of the wines as we tried them. The 2017 entry level Chardonnay was very good as was the Laterite Hills. Tasted three more side by side – Hazel’s Vineyard, Calgardup Brook Vineyard and Burnside Vineyard (all 2016). Three distinct wines with the Hazel’s nutty and fuller and long, the Calgardup elegant and fine and long, and the Burnside more mineral and a chalky texture. Fascinating. Of the reds, I really liked the Hazel’s vineyard BDX (bought a bottle to take home) and both the 2014 Hazel’s Vineyard Cab and 2014 Rolling Stone bordeaux blend were excellent.

11 wineries in a day is probably (okay definitely) too many, but who knows when I’ll get back to Margaret River?

Day 5 – A Couple for the Road
We went down to Cape Leeuwin Lighthouse and Hamelin Bay for the day on our last day. On the way back we stopped at:

Redgate Wines
Old school cellar door in the touristy knickknack kind of way. The wines were pretty solid but not exciting. Reasonably priced, the 2016 Chardonnay was good, but the pick of the wines were the 2015 Cabernet and 2016 Shiraz. Both were very good, but possibly a little overpriced in the high 30s.

Cape Mentelle
Cape Mentelle was literally 2km from our accommodation and I left it until last. A beautiful cellar door amongst the vines and a museum with the history of the place, adjacent to the tasting room, that you could tour at your leisure. Interestingly, their most expensive white is a Semillon. You could have picked it as a Chardonnay with its fruit profile and body. The 2016 Chardonnay was ‘just fabulous’ (my tasting note). Of the reds I really enjoyed the Wallcliffe wines – 2015 Merlot/Petit Verdot, the 2014 Cabernet/Cab Franc and the 2012 Cab/Merlot/Cab Franc were all excellent. I bought a bottle of the Cab/Cab Franc to take home. I was surprised by the Shiraz – the 2016 Estate was ‘juicy, balanced and complex’ and the 2015 Single Vineyard was ‘wow, power, balance, length’. The flagship 2015 Cabernet was ‘full of black fruit, plush tannin, savoury and intense, but still approachable’. It was a bonus to do the tasting with a young charming Chilean who was happy to talk about the wines at length. She was even happy to do so in Spanish!

Summary – Thank You, Come Again (with apologies to Apu)
Margaret River was a fantastic getaway. Plenty of scenery, activities, and high quality food and drink. The standard of the wines was exceptional across the board. Prices are on the high end at some places but there is value to be had, and most of the wineries appear to sell out year in year out which says they are doing something right. I still left plenty of wineries to visit next time and would go back to plenty of the ones I tried. I’ll be back.

Cheers

Michael

[Ian S]

Hi Michael
It's been a long time since we've visited MR, so thanks for this post.

I agree on the Cullen, the reds never wowed me as they were reputed to do (and I did want to love them), but the Chardonnay absolutely did.

Woodlands can be pricey for what was the reserve du cave range (now all personalised?), but they were all very smart and interesting wines. The Margaret was a real bargain, and sounds like that remains the case.

Voyager is indeed that rather odd combination, of an absolute favourite for general visitors / coach tours, yet quality seemed to holding up very well. Tasting fees definitely the right thing to do in that scenario.

Regards
Ian

[Rocky]

Michael

Thanks for the MR trip report, very much enjoyed it and I think you captured it well. Living in Perth I regularly do short trips throughout the region and I guess I have got use to the ‘high’ prices, however as you mentioned there are many reasonable price points for decent wines.

[Rednick]

Very Jealous Michael,

Hoping to do MR next year so really appreciate the notes and a few Cellar Doors I hadn't heard of.

Must be time for an off line soon - cheers, Nick

[Redback]

Hi Michael,

Thanks for the write-up. I am looking to make my first visit to MR in May so your list makes for a good starting point. I have never tried any wines from Grace Farm, but I will have to arrange a visit.

[Dragzworthy]

Just got back from Margaret River back to Singapore very late last night. Great trip but unfortunately I don't have the same ability or discipline to take the detailed notes that Michael has in his original post. I visited the following winemakers: Cape Mentelle, Voyager Estate, Woodlands, Evans & Tate, Xanadu and Pierro - I would like to have done more but I was hamstring with a 3yr old toddler and a pregnant wife.

Contrary to my typical wine preference, I was far more enamored with the quality of the Chardonnay served to me in comparison to the Cabernet and blends - and that's something I'm quite happy about as I feel as though it's re-opened the world of Chardonnay to me. I now look forward to the weekend whereupon I'll be in a position to crack open a bottle or two - whereas in the past that would have been something red. Unlike Michael, my clear favourite wine of the trip was Pierro's flagship Chardonnay - good quality fruits (stone fruits and melon), butter and cream. Although it's not cheap, I picked some up for storage back in Australia (delivery) and will get some more here for more immediate consumption in Singapore. Very complex and I suspect will compete on a blind tasting with French Burgundy at double/triple the price. I also enjoyed the Firegully range.

At the cheaper end of the range, I enjoyed the Evans & Tate Karridale Chardonnay which, although clearly a new world/age style Chardonnay (heaps of tropical fruit), was very enjoyable - starts almost with a riesling slight sweetness (or perhaps Moscato) and finishes bone dry. I suspect I'd grow tiresome of it but it was a nice 'fun drink' for a hot day (which it was).

It was also particularly interesting to try the range at Voyager - particularly the difference between Block 5 and Block 6 where they demonstrate the different strains of Chardonnay grape they are using (both are blended in the flagship 'Chardonnay'). I preferred the GinGin Block 5 strain though both were very enjoyable.

Very keen to go back and hit some of the lesser known wineries!

[via collins]

Ha! So relatable: "Arrived at 4.52 and had 8 minutes to taste the range."

Really excellent summary Michael, much appreciated.