There’s a quiet resilience humming through the vines at Yarrabee. “The vineyard has had an interesting history,” says Tim Penniment. “It started as a simple commercial planting during the Managed Investment Scheme period, and it passed through a few sets of hands before we acquired it after a complete [hailstorm] wipeout in 2015.” Penniment is helping rewrite that story through a mix of practical regeneration and experimental curiosity. “Since then, the focus has been on converting old spur cordons back to cane pruning and improving some pretty lacking soil nutrition and organic material,” he says.
Restoring this 72-hectare vineyard is no small project. It’s planted to a broad mix of whites and reds – from riesling, chardonnay and sauvignon blanc to cabernet franc, shiraz, merlot and grenache – all on own roots, with no grafting over having been performed on the site. The vineyard now stretches across vines planted in 1997, 2019 and 2023, with an average vine age of 27 years. But it’s not age that defines Yarrabee – it’s what’s happening underfoot. “We’re quite proud of starting the program where we turn the winery waste into compost,” says Penniment. “When we took over the vineyard, the soil was tired – there was just nothing in it. The compost’s made a real difference.” The results? “We’ve seen a consistent increase of 0.5 to 1% in organic carbon per year since 2017,” Penniment says. “We sample every two years, and it’s really shifted the vineyard. We’re using less water per hectare now, and the vines are coping better with stress, particularly in hot or erratic vintages like 2020, 2023 and 2024.”
A site that might have once been considered too exposed – perched at 250 metres above sea level and flanked by the karri forests of Manjimup and the Stirling Ranges – is proving its edge. The diurnal swings are dramatic, routinely nudging 20°C, which provides a ripening window that retains freshness without sacrificing ripeness and depth. “It gives us that rare balance,” says Penniment. “Acid vibrancy alongside real phenolic ripeness – especially in shiraz and riesling.” Night harvesting at Yarrabee often begins with the mercury hovering around 12°C. Considered leaf plucking on the east side of rows used to ventilate the canopy and let in the morning sun while still preserving shade for the heat of the day.
Penniment’s practical approach is matched with precision tools: soil moisture probes monitor irrigation needs, and satellite imagery is now being used to track growth and refine water scheduling. Some of the most useful lessons, though, are born of rigorous trials. “We’ve experimented, particularly with shiraz, in separating sections of the five blocks that ripen most similarly,” Penniment says. “That means multiple picks from the same block, which is more labour-intensive, but the wine quality has improved significantly.”
It’s a site of microcosms – soil mosaics, aspect diversity, and row orientations that run both north–south and east–west to give breadth in the blending options. Winemakers have responded in kind. Yarrabee fruit finds its way into a spread of top-flight wines, including Three Elms’ Mt Frankland Shiraz, Byron & Harold’s ‘The Partners’ trio, and a suite of releases from Alkoomi and Lange Estate.
And while the vineyard’s newfound success tells one side of the story, Yarrabee’s culture tells another. Vineyard staff live on site; tourists can stay, too. Guinea fowl roam the grounds to manage pests. The winery’s lees and marc are composted back into the vineyard, while Yarrabee also supplies the local airstrip’s water tanks – essential for regional firefighting efforts. Penniment’s care for the winery staff shines through, even in moments of duress.
“It was a new vineyard hand’s first week,” Penniment recalls. “DJ was helping me pull the weighted suction line out of the dam, and as we got close, it was just too heavy to drag. So I jumped in thinking the two of us could do it together,” Penniment laughs. “That’s when DJ casually told me he couldn’t swim. Neither could Garry, our other vineyard operator. So I was there, diving under freezing water trying to bounce a 60-kilo weight up the dam wall while they stood warm and dry watching.” It’s now a job interview question: “Can you swim?”
Climate change casts its long shadow, of course. Frost is the biggest annual threat, followed closely by water availability. The team has begun raising cordon heights to limit frost damage, and there’s cautious talk of future grafting, despite the current commitment to own-rooted vines. “We’ve resisted drought-tolerant rootstocks so far, but I believe that will become inevitable,” says Penniment. “For now, we’re replacing water-sensitive varieties like merlot and planting more grenache, which has shown great promise here.”
The shift is personal as much as practical. Tim lives on the vineyard with his family, surrounded by vines he knows intimately. “The vineyard is also my home,” he says. “Allowing our family to grow and play in amongst the vines, knowing that it is safe and healthy to do so with our management philosophy, is quite rewarding.” Yarrabee isn’t just a comeback story – it’s a blueprint for renewal, built on compost, curiosity, and the odd awkward dam dive.
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