ABOUT MARGARET RIVER

Viticulture Region of Margaret River Western Australia

Welcome to the world of Margaret River wines! Our seven wineries are located in this world-renowned viticulture region in Western Australia. These family-owned and operated wineries produce premium wines from premium vineyards. Margaret River is famous for its great Cabernet Sauvignon, Shiraz and Merlot, and for its outstanding Chardonnay, Semillon and Sauvignon Blanc blends.

Margaret River has a strong maritime climate, as might be expected in an area surrounded by the sea on three sides. It is bordered to the east by the Indian Ocean, to the South by the Southern Ocean, and to the North by Geographe Bay. It is located at 34 degrees South latitude, perfect for viticulture.

With its lowest mean annual temperature of 7.6°C (45.7°F), it has a marked Mediterranean climate. Prime features are mild to wet winters and warm to hot, dry summers. Less than 25 percent of its annual rain falls between October and April, (Spring and Summer in the Southern Hemisphere). The low diurnal and seasonal temperature variation means an unusually even accumulation of warmth annually. The maritime location and the mild temperature of the Leeuwin ocean current flowing along the coast ensure an absence of both frost and extreme temperatures in summer and winter. Summer humidity is relatively high, providing an excellent growing environment. In terms of warmth, the overall climate is similar to that of Pomerol and St. Emilion in a dry year, hence the quality of its Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and others.

The varied landscape is given character by the abundance of small creeks and gentle valleys, as well as the profusion of native trees, shrubs and flowers. In physical terms, this provides a degree of protection from winds blowing in from the ocean.

The principal soil type is that of the Leeuwin-Naturaliste ridge which extends 90 kms south from Cape Naturaliste to Cape Leeuwin. It is predominantly iron rich gravelly clay or gritty sandy loam that has formed in situ directly from the underlying granite and gneissic rock landmass, which is two billion years old. The soil is highly permeable when moist, but with low retention of water on slopes. This emphasizes the need for irrigation, which is widely practiced and well managed to provide optimum growing conditions in the vineyards.

Margaret River has become synonymous with fine and premium wines from Australia and throughout the world. The region’s 100+ wineries in the appellation have achieved this distinction through many years of consistently high quality vintages. Our five Margaret River wineries are all located in the northern part of the region, which many consider the optimum microclimate of the region.

Wills Domain 2007 Vintage : Thoughts on the Vintage
Margaret River - Western Australia
by Bruce Dukes, Winemaker

The 2007 growing season is a good example to explain our maritime climate. Growing conditions were close to ideal for vines, and many other crops. The latter half of the season was characterised by numerous days of 25 to 30 oC days, which are ideal for the vine to grow without stress. It was as if the whole biological system was in harmony, including the vines, the clovers and grasses in the mid-row and the vineyard workers. We were fortunate not to endure any climatic extremes, which seem to unbalance the system and make the wines a bit quirky.

The beautiful growing conditions corresponded to low disease and bird pressure from the silvereyes. We were fortunate that as the grapes began to ripen, the surrounding Marri trees blossomed. The silver eyes prefer to dine on the Marri blossoms, and leave the grapes alone.

The ideal photosynthesising conditions allowed the vines to develop full canopies early in the season, then, the vines switched from their vegetative growth phase to focus on getting the ripening job done. All of these factors have contributed to the earliest vintage, which I have experienced in Margaret River. It is also a vintage, which seems to have rewarded both white and red varieties. In my experience, it is rare to get a vintage like this where both players are happy, and with this level of quality.

Whites
The whites developed wonderful fruit perfumes and flavours, while managing to maintain magnificent levels of natural acidity. We normally harvest the Chardonnay first; however, this year was an exception, with the Semillon being picked at first light on Valentines Day. We harvest the Sauvignon blanc and the Chardonnay by the beginning of the third week in February. All of the fruit was flavoursome, the fermentations have been very aromatic, and the young wines are exciting; they are now being grown in the cellar.

Reds
The ideal growing season continued for our reds. The gentle and continual ripening in the Wills Domain vineyards allowed us to get very close to the vines and intune with their ripening patters, so that we were able to follow their maturity development, and hopefully pick them at optimal ripeness for their styles. The Shiraz harvest was on 1 March, followed by several harvests of our Cabernets, concluding on the 16th of March with the Old Vine Cabernet.

The Shiraz was de-stemmed only, before fermentation, so that we had a mix of fermentations in the grape juice and in the “in-tact” berry itself. The within berry fermentations seem to provide some spicy characters to the wine, which we hope works well with our style. A small percentage of Viognier was co-fermented with the Shiraz, adding a very subtle floral lift. The wine is now bedded down is some French oak barriques, at the beginning of its maturation process. At this early stage, the wine is a saturated black purple colour, with a strong core of red berry fruit flavours and succulent acidity.

The Cabernets were de-stemmed and then crushed very lightly, so that each berry was just split. Each berry is just split because the Cabernet skins are a bit thicker that the Shiraz skins, hence we need to get some of the juice out to allow the fermentation to begin. The Cabernet fermentations coloured quickly to purple red, and then began delivering cassis perfumes that filled the winery. These wines, in several separate vineyard and fermentation lots, have just finished their malo lactic fermentations and have had their first racking.

I am excited about the quality of the fruit, the fermentations and hope that these wines continue to grow gracefully over the next season or two in the cellar.

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