2021 Archives - Young Gun of Wine

Vasse Felix – Tom’s Vineyard, Margaret River

Planted in 1967, Tom’s Vineyard was the first commercial vineyard in Margaret River. Vasse Felix now farm over 330 hectares at four sites across the region, including a vineyard in Karridale mostly earmarked for sister sparkling wine label Idée Fixe, but it is the original Tom’s Vineyard parcel within their broader Home Vineyard in Wilyabrup on Caves Road that is reserved for their most prestigious bottlings, producing the Premier and Icon ranges, including the flagship red from the oldest vines – own-rooted cabernet sauvignon and malbec – named after the estate’s founder, Tom Cullity. Bart Molony manages the viticultural operations for Vasse Felix across all four of their sites with an eye towards pragmatic sustainability.

McHenry Hohnen – Hazel’s Vineyard, Margaret River

Hazel’s Vineyard is the home site for Margaret River’s McHenry Hohnen, with the fruit making wines all along their range, including classic regional expressions of chardonnay and cabernet, emerging grapes like tempranillo, a mineral Southern Rhône blend and their flagship cabernets, Rolling Stone. Planted over 20 years ago, the site has been managed according to organic then biodynamic principles, with certification coming in 2020. Simon Keall manages the McHenry Hohnen vineyards with a sustainable ethos, which includes solar generation, no external water for irrigation and onsite composting.

Deep Woods Estate, Margaret River

Since its establishment in 2005, Deep Woods Estate has become a phenomenal success story, with the wines achieving numerous accolades, including three Max Schubert Trophies and the 2016 Jimmy Watson. The success of the wines has also seen Chief Winemaker Julian Langworthy collect several Winemaker of the Year gongs, largely due to the cabernet-based wines and chardonnay. But that success has been underpinned by the viticultural work of John Fogarty that has transformed a vineyard that had previously focused on yield over quality to one that produces some of the highest quality and most distinctive fruit in the Margaret River region.

Stefano Lubiana Vineyard, Granton

It is over 30 years since Steve Lubiana set up shop in the Derwent Valley, only a short drive from Hobart, with the Stefano Lubiana Vineyard now occupying just over 28 hectares. Certified biodynamic for nearly a decade, it was Tasmania’s first to achieve accreditation, and was the island state’s only one until very recently. Pinot noir and chardonnay take centre stage, but there are also aromatic whites, syrah and small plots of malvasia and blaufränkisch planted. The wines veer from those classically styled, including several single block bottlings, to ones of a natural bent raised in amphora, while the original motivation for the move south – sparkling wine – sees six individual expressions, including a vintage that slumbers for a decade on lees.

Small Wonder Vineyard, Tamar Valley

Small Wonder is a new brand on a mature property in Tasmania’s Tamar Valley, specialising in pinot noir, chardonnay and aromatic whites. In 2020, Goaty Hill was sold to the Overstory group – which also has vineyards in Margaret River – by the founders after two decades on the property. Vineyard manager Wayne Nunn in consultation with Dylan Grigg has converted the site from 20 years of conventional practcies to certified organic viticulture, and together with group winemaker Andrew Trio, the team have undertaken concerted works to map and understand the micro terroirs of the site. Pinot noir, chardonnay, riesling, sauvignon blanc and pinot gris make up the varietal mix across 25 hectares of varied aspects and soil.

Pooley – Cooinda Vale, Coal River Valley

When it was first planted in 1985, Pooley Wines’ Cooinda Vale Vineyard in the Coal River Valley added less than a hectare to the state’s meagre 47 hectares of grapevines. Fast forward, and today Pooley contribute around 20 hectares across their two sites to the 2,000 plus planted on the Apple Isle, and a whole lot more to the reputation of the island state’s wine industry. The site, managed by Steve Ferguson, producers Pooley’s most revered single-site wines made from riesling, chardonnay and pinot noir.

Marion’s Vineyard, Tamar Valley

Marion’s Vineyard sits on the west bank of the Tamar, some 35 km north of Launceston. It’s a picturesque spot, with the vines arrayed on a healthy slope leading to a broad expanse river, a row of Tuscan cypress standing to attention in front of the stone winery in the middle of the vineyard. Marion and Mark Semmens bought the site in 1979 after a life-changing holiday, leaving their San Francisco home behind and planting vines a year later. Today, their daughter, Cynthea, runs the operation, with a decade of hard work leading to biodynamic certification being granted in 2022. The site predictably favours chardonnay and pinot noir, but it also has the capacity to mature later-ripening grapes, such as syrah and cabernets sauvignon and franc.

Ghost Rock, Cradle Coast

Ghost Rock Vineyard is the pioneering vineyard of Tasmania’s North West wine region, to the west of the Tamar. Sticking with the state’s strongest suits, pinot noir and chardonnay take the lead, with aromatic whites in pursuit. With over 25 hectares under vine, the Arnold family farm in a sustainable way, with an end goal of organic certification. All wines are made on site, from pan-estate and single block selections of the hero varieties to a skinsy white, pét-nat and chillable red in their Supernatural range.

Vasse Felix – Tom’s Vineyard, Margaret River Bart Molony