Tom Bradshaw’s wine journey began in a relatively quotidian manner. “After loving drinking the stuff, I thought I’d have a go at making it,” he says. “So in 2015 I did a vintage at Houghton in the Swan Valley of Western Australia. After this, I decided to make a real go of it – so I started my studies at Charles Sturt University and moved down to Margaret River. Here I got a job in the cellar at Howard Park for the 2016 vintage and spent a year there, before joining the team at Deep Woods Estate.” Here he met up with Deep Woods Estate and Nocturne winemaker Julian Langworthy – “the biggest influence in my career so far, and I imagine he won’t be overtaken any time soon,” Bradshaw says – and leveraged Deep Woods’ connections to work a vintage in Burgundy at Maison Camille Giroud. In 2021 he started laying the groundwork for his own label, Thomas William Wines, which launched in 2024. As far as career arcs go, Bradshaw’s is no muss, no fuss.
“It wasn’t an epiphany as such, just an unrelenting thought of ‘why wait?’” Bradshaw says of the impetus to start his own label. “When I got into the industry, it was always the end goal of mine: to have a label of my own, making premium wines from this beautiful place we call home.” He reflects: “There is scarcely ever an opportunity to do something at the perfect time – sometimes you just have to take a leap of faith and have a crack at it.” It’s been a blessedly smooth path for Bradshaw since – with events that have initially appeared to be setbacks eventually revealing their silver linings: “Our first year of red production was meant to be 2021,” he says, “a year that turned out to be a great one to miss. Due to an undersupply in the vineyard we had contracted, we actually missed out on what was meant to be our first fruit – something I had mixed feelings about at the time. However, in hindsight, it was a great result.”
“There is scarcely ever an opportunity to do something at the perfect time – sometimes you just have to take a leap of faith and have a crack at it.”
Suitably enough for someone whose path to running a label has been a straight shot, Bradshaw’s approach in the cellar is right down the line, philosophically speaking. “Our wines are classic varieties, but from a modern approach in terms of style,” he says. “Simply, they are new-generation wines, crafted with time-honoured traditions. With the wines, we are not seeking to be different; we just want them to be the best they can be. Chasing quintessence, if you will – a perfect, ideal version of themselves.”
In order to chase that quintessence, he cleaves to techniques he’s intimately familiar with from previous roles. “I definitely have some tried and tested methods I see myself sticking to when it comes to making our wines,” he says. “Cabernet needs to be worked hard early in the ferment and softer as it goes on. Otherwise, it can tend to look a little dried out. When it comes to Chardonnay, air is the enemy. I use as much gas protection as I can during the entire process.” Despite his approach being fairly traditional – at least in the context of Margaret River wine – he’s not dogmatic about it. “My rule is to have no absolutes,” he adds. “If you don’t try different things you can’t get better.” The one constant? “Every single one of the wines I make has been serenaded,” he says, with the song he sings to them changing daily.
“With the wines, we are not seeking to be different; we just want them to be the best they can be. Chasing quintessence, if you will – a perfect, ideal version of themselves.”
Bradshaw’s even-keeled approach finds a mirror in Margaret River’s climate. The area, in his words, “is almost perfect for grape growing – its vintages are very consistent as opposed to other parts of the country and the world. We are really lucky over here.” His focus remains on the region’s two favourite varieties: “Cabernet and chardonnay really grow well … The warm days and cool nights, thanks to the sea breeze, allow for great even ripening. The gravel loams and limestone-influenced soils found along the region really lend themselves to making high quality and distinctive wines.”
It’s a region that suits Bradshaw down to the ground: “Growing up in Perth, Margaret River was a constant holiday hotspot,” he says. “I spent heaps of time with my now wife, Courtney, cruising down Caves Road falling in love with this place. Naturally, a love of cabernet and chardonnay came with the love of the region. It’s an amazing place to work and live.” He tries to express that love in his wines: “Margaret River is a place of amazing beauty, with the raw power of the ocean and the coastline being a part of that. The wines we make try to emulate that – beautiful wines packed with powerful fruit and bloody awesome acid.”
It might not make much of a narrative hook, but the real story of Thomas William Wines is in Bradshaw’s workmanlike, foursquare approach to his craft. “I love the feeling of seeing something go from a grape to the glass,” he says. “The satisfaction of holding a finished product and the joy when you open up a bottle of something you have made and sharing it with others. It certainly makes for a great talking point.”
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