Western Australia Archives - Young Gun of Wine

Yuri Berns

Yuri Berns is the senior winemaker at Sittella Wines in the Swan Valley – a family estate founded by his parents Simon and Maaike in 1993 – where he has been building a sparkling wine program of genuine ambition alongside a range of still wines sourced from the Swan Valley, Margaret River and Pemberton. The flagship Grand Vintage ‘Marie Christien Lugten’ – a Pemberton pinot noir and chardonnay traditional-method sparkling wine aged for a minimum of 36 months in bottle – has become the label’s prestige statement, while a new estate-planted albariño block in the Swan Valley signals where Berns believes the region’s future lies. A fifth-generation Western Australian with a Champagne obsession and a long-term commitment to soil health and climate adaptation, Berns is quietly making one of the most considered cases for the Swan Valley as a fine wine region.

Tim Fearon

Tim Fearon came to wine the long way around – through ecology, earth sciences and years working in the conservation of native habitats. His prior life was spent reading landscapes, understanding soils, and tracking the relationships between land and living things. When wine eventually grabbed him, it grabbed him through exactly those lenses. The revelation, as he describes it, was realising that the physical world – soil type, slope, aspect, rainfall, solar radiation – could be captured and expressed in a glass. That idea has never left him, and it sits at the centre of everything Fearon makes. Launched from the 2023 vintage and based in Western Australia’s Ferguson Valley, the label focuses on alternative varieties that Fearon believes are perfectly suited to the Geographe region: fiano, grenache, tempranillo and mourvèdre among them, made with minimal intervention and a scientist’s attention to detail. Geographe is still finding its voice as a wine region, and Fearon is among those writing the sentences.

2018 Marri Wood Park Sparkling Chenin Blanc

From this outstanding biodynamic vineyard in Margaret River comes a sparkling wine from an unusual variety, offering a striking contrast of intensely bright, fresh fruit and toasty brioche notes.

Tom Bradshaw

Everyone loves a wine story. Wine marketers are always looking for the narrative hook that can convince the average punter to pick up a bottle and take it home, or to order a glass at a bar – whether that’s a story of new and interesting varieties, sustainable viticulture, renegade winemaking, or triumph over adversity. But stories don’t actually make wine – people do. Tom Bradshaw doesn’t provide a narrative hook for his wine – his winemaking philosophy is straightforward and no-nonsense, he uses mainstream grape varieties, and operates out of a region (Margaret River) best known for its even-keeled climate and consistently high quality. With a tight lineup of high-quality, classically styled wines – a cabernet sauvignon, a chardonnay, a syrah-based blend and a sangiovese-based rosé – Thomas William Wines isn’t out to reinvent the wheel.

Skigh McManus

Skigh McManus’s eponymous label, Skigh Wine, comes from a simple premise – make wine you’d like to drink. For this Margaret River stalwart, that means vibrant, deft wines with good fruit and balanced acidity, made with a minimum of intervention in the cellar. McManus a broad array of wines across three product lines – the old-world inspired Skigh range, the fresh and fruit-forward Coda range, and the more experimental and lo-fi Strange Brew range – from Margaret River, Great Southern, and Geographe fruit, with the aim of bringing people together.

Callum Garland

Callum Garland’s winemaking voyage, deeply rooted in his family’s Italian lineage, reaches a pivotal juncture with Fervor Wines, a label that marries tradition with a pioneering spirit. The first Fervor wines have been crafted in Victoria from Italian grape varieties, where Callum, leveraging his winemaking experiences from around the globe, embarked on a venture that’s a testament to his heritage and his passion for the craft. With the next step to be seen in a return to his West Australian roots.

Rhys and Emma Parker

In Margaret River, Rhys and Emma Parker have cultivated a distinctive approach to winemaking with Vallée du Venom, intertwining regional heritage with a flair for the contemporary. Their collection, adorned with labels that have an electro-punk aesthetic, boasts a dozen wines that combine Margaret River classics with avant-garde offerings like pet nats, chenin blanc, and chilled reds. This eclectic range, all sourced from local vineyards, reflects the Parkers’ innovative spirit. Central to their operation is the development of their ‘Urban Micro Winery’ in the northern Margaret River town of Dunsborough, and their Cellar Door ten minutes away at Yallingup Galleries.

2022 Lenton Brae Pinot Blanc

Although fledgling in this country, this makes a strong case for planting more pinot blanc, with apple, pear and citrus notes on the nose and a palate that shows generosity, freshness and a charmingly chewy complexity.

Yuri Berns Sittella Wines