WA Wine Review 2027

Margaret River

Semillon

There is a remarkable purity and brightness in this semillon from a season that seemed particularly well suited to the variety. It's a delicate, almost understated wine, yet with a little air the flavour intensity steadily builds. The nose reveals classic citrus blossom, lemon and subtle floral aromas. The palate introduces a fine oyster shell minerality that beautifully complements the...

Mount Barker

Cabernet Blend

A blend of cabernet sauvignon and cabernet franc from the outstanding 2023 vintage, this wine captures the elegance and refinement that defined the year. Aromas of blackcurrant, dark plum and violets are lifted by a fragrant floral note. The palate is seamlessly integrated, with fine tannins and finely judged oak supporting concentrated fruit through to a sustained, graceful finish. A...

Mount Barker

Shiraz

Although 2024 was a warm year across much of Western Australia, the cooler Great Southern performed exceptionally well. This is a classic cool-climate style, showing plum, cherry and violet aromas with subtle dusty, smoky notes. The medium-bodied palate bursts with flavour, combining tightly integrated fruit and oak with fine-grained tannins. Soft and supple, yet with a core of structure that...

Mount Barker

Pinot Noir

The 2025 vintage produced many beautifully fragrant and elegant wines, and this is an excellent example. Violet, cherry and strawberry aromas immediately identify the variety, while a faint mushroom complexity adds interest. The palate has lovely pinot fleshiness, balanced by vibrant acidity and well-integrated oak. It finishes dry, savoury and beautifully composed.

Mount Barker

Chardonnay

The chardonnays from 3 Drops are consistently approachable, yet beneath the immediate appeal lies impressive complexity. Grapefruit and melon aromas merge with subtle smoky oak on the nose. The medium-bodied palate delivers excellent flavour intensity, with creamy oak and vibrant fruit combining seamlessly in a stylish and engaging wine.

Mount Barker

Sauvignon Blanc

Crunchy, vibrant and refreshing, this is a zingy, pure expression of sauvignon blanc from the Great Southern. Lifted aromas of tropical fruit, gooseberry and citrus lead into a finely controlled palate with excellent flavour intensity. Bright fruit is held together by crisp, precise acidity, making for a thoroughly enjoyable savvy.

Mount Barker

Riesling

One of the most consistent rieslings produced in the Great Southern. This was a very good vintage for riesling, and this wine captures it beautifully. Aromas of bath salts, lemon powder and a subtle spicy lift lead into a palate of exceptional balance and delicacy. Distinctive spicy lemon flavours extend with precision and a fine linear focus. Another excellent wine...

Margaret River

Cabernet Sauvignon

There is real class and polish here. It’s such an elegantly refined expression of Margaret River. Effortless is a word that comes to mind when describing the power yet stylishness of the palate. Dark fruits on the nose with a blackcurrant and ripe plum character merging with a mass of dark chocolate and edgy balancing black olive. A trace of...

Margaret River

Cabernet Sauvignon

A wine which honours Dr John Gladstones, one of the greatest and most important people in the WA wine industry. A most elegant expression of this wine, which seems to indicate an approach to introduce more elegance and control. Minerally and slightly leafy blackcurrant on the nose with other notes of dark chocolate and light plum. The palate sings a...

Frankland River

Cabernet Blend

A softer and more generous version of this wine, but still with that remarkable polished elegance that smacks of great fruit, an excellent season and skillful winemaking. Spicy floral notes on the nose with a little mineral ore character. The grainy palate provides texture to the excellent fruit. Elegant and stylish. Super stuff.

Frankland River

Shiraz

This is a thoroughly delightful expression of a modern shiraz from a great region. Thomas Yule was a colourful member of the original syndicate which purchased Houghton 1836. Highly perfumed aromas of red berry, light spicy plum and a little ironstone complexity. It’s bright and vibrant from the first take on the nose through to that exquisitely balanced palate. Fabulous...

Frankland River

Cabernet Sauvignon

While there are stylistic similarities with the previous vintage, this is a prettier and if anything, more delicate expression. Yet, there is ample engine room power here. It’s so bright and alive with energy from the first take on the nose through to the perfectly balanced and weighted medium bodied palate. Love the powdery tannins and super-fine-grained oak use. “Jack”...

Margaret River

Shiraz

There are loads of concentrated fruit characters on the nose, and you're immediately struck with a raspberry plummy mix, a little cedar, and some light dusting of white pepper. The palate is generous and plush. Yet it presents with a velvety smooth suppleness thanks to its fine tannin and gentle oak infusion. It's a most stylish and poised example of...

Margaret River

Cabernet Sauvignon

This is a lovely wine and certainly delivers great value. The dominant cabernet has been supported with a little petit verdot, cab franc, and malbec. And the oak was kept to about 15% new. It all heightens the varietal aromatics of floral, black currant, with some subtle plummy influences and a light edge of bay leaf. The palate is quite...

Margaret River

Shiraz

This is a real crowd-pleaser. It's sumptuous and lush, which you would expect from this warm vintage, and loaded with bright red fruits, showing a slightly raspberry nuance working with the more traditional plummy, spicy, and slightly peppery characters. It's soft, plump, and round. With the oak influence understated and the tannins quite fine and supple. It's designed as an...

Margaret River

Chardonnay

This is a most elegant and refined medium-bodied chardonnay. The aromas show a slightly waxy lambswool-like character with a hint of lightly roasted cashew and cut lime. And then there's that smoky gunflint-like character which adds another dimension. Palate is rich and textured but at the same time finely balanced and controlled. It's a most impressive chardonnay from a vintage...

Margaret River

Chardonnay

The milder season in 2025 has contributed to this quite elegantly and refined chardonnay. On the nose, there's a slightly oyster shell minerality with some subtle toasty oak influence. The palate introduces a richer textural feel with some creamy lemon curd, creme brulee nuances. And that subtle struck match complexity. It was fermented using a combination of inoculated and wild...

Margaret River

Chardonnay

This comes from two blocks off the Driftwood Vineyard. It typifies the vintage in many ways, with its fine elegance and precision. The whole bunch pressing adds a bit more weight and structure, with natural fermentation adding further complexity. There's a light lemon curd, savory combination on the palate, with a little stone fruit. But it's held quite tight and...

Margaret River

Chardonnay

This has become one of the benchmark chardonnays in Margaret River. And this early warm vintage has produced another exceptional wine. It goes through complete wild yeast fermentation, followed by barrel fermentation in a third new French puncheons, with maturation over 10 months. There was no malolactic fermentation or lees stirring, so it retains a lively acid energy. The palate...

Margaret River

Red Blend

The dominant component of this blend is cabernet at 90%, with smaller contributions from merlot and cab franc providing important aromatics and suppleness through the mid-palate. It's a stylish expression of these varieties, medium-bodied and displaying impeccable, seamless balance. This was an outstanding season in Margaret River, with the longer, cooler conditions promoting a combination of red and blackberry fruit,...

Margaret River

Shiraz

As you would expect from this warm year, there's plenty of grunt and power in the shiraz, and yet it shows remarkable softness and plushness, no doubt a result of the old dry-grown, low-yielding vines. It spends 18 months in a mix of American and French oak, and I think that American component is quite important. Aromas of dark fruits,...

Margaret River

Sauvignon Blanc

This has consistently been one of the best releases from Woody Nook. It was barrel fermented with wild yeast in a mix of new and second-use puncheons with regular lees stirring. It takes the sauvignon blanc into a heady new zone, delivering texture, complexity and intense flavour held with control and precision through to a long finish. There's a slightly...

Margaret River

Chardonnay

There's a marvellous precision about many of the wines from the '25 vintage, and this one captures that. It's from handpicked estate-grown fruit, which went through barrel fermentation in new French oak with regular monthly lees stirring over eight months. That new oak is quite surprising because it certainly doesn't show to excess. It's balanced, seamlessly woven, with a fine...

Margaret River

Chenin Blanc

Initially on the nose, it shows a degree of delicacy, but once you get into it, it reveals a whole lot more. It's sourced from the original 1982 planting of the Gallica Vineyard. So these vines are getting nice and old and delivering some great fruit. Floral citrus notes with almost a touch of hay and pear. The clean, crisp...

Margaret River

Cabernet Sauvignon

These old dry-grown vines are producing some excellent fruit. And the balance they achieve is an important part of the wine, especially in years that were so hot, like 2024. The result is a cabernet that's structured with a firm core but with an elegance and refinement that captures those vines so well. There's a leafy blackcurrant, a slightly bay...

Margaret River

Red Blend

I was fascinated to see what Peterkin would do with this blend of Portuguese varieties — touriga nacional, tinta cão, and sousão, from the 2023 vintage. To say I was not disappointed is an understatement. It is a brilliant wine loaded with rich, vibrant fruit, displaying slightly spicy plummy notes and dark chocolate richness. There’s energy and life coursing through...

Margaret River

Chardonnay

This provides a distinct point of difference from the Wildberry Springs and Southern Seas chardonnays. It’s a wine of incredible power and concentration, yet there is finesse and subtlety. In this case, only barriques were used and the wine underwent 100% malolactic fermentation. The aim was to hardly touch the wine as it went through the process, and it captures...

Margaret River

Chardonnay

This 30-year-old vineyard, smack bang in the middle of Willyabrup, has always produced some of my favourite Margaret River chardonnays. After hand-picking, whole bunch pressing, and capturing the free-run juice, it was fermented in a mix of quartz amphora of different shapes and sizes and barriques. It all adds up to a wine with tremendous energy, a degree of tension,...

Margaret River

Chardonnay

Peterkin has gone to Karridale, well to the south of Margaret River, to source fruit essential for creating a wine of brightness, tension, and clean natural acidity. After hand picking and whole bunch pressing, the free-run juice was fermented in a mix of new barriques and amphora. The result is a wine that displays delicacy, yet with deeply intense flavours...

Margaret River

Pinot Noir

This is Peterkin’s first crack at making pinot noir, following the inspiration of working a vintage in Burgundy. I have to say, it’s a mighty good first-up effort. Mind you, his father, Mike, has been dabbling in pinot for many years with vines that are now 45 years old. It follows a reasonably typical approach, with some whole bunch fermentation...

Margaret River

Pinot Noir

Quite simply one of the finest rosés produced in WA from this vintage. It’s an incredibly complex wine that reflects clever and astute winemaking. It’s a blend of 90% pinot noir with the remainder chardonnay, made using a combination of yeasts, some barrel fermentation, and fermentation in clay and oak. It’s a wine loaded with character and poise, displaying beautiful...

Margaret River

Chardonnay

A wine that's perfectly suited for current drinking. Oodles of engaging floral citrus aromas with a slightly nutty, melon character. A palate that is flavoursome with a balance of bright fruit and oak, which is not excessive. Thoroughly enjoyable wine for drinking over the short term.

Margaret River

Chenin Blanc

Chenin blanc makes quite a beautiful sparkling wine, and this one is the perfect example. The aromas show a strongly citrus aptly toasty character, while the palate, which has a natural acidity, has been complemented and developed with the use of time on lees in the bottle. It's added richness and texture and balances that precise acidity. Clean, crisp, and...

Margaret River

Cabernet Sauvignon

Captures this beautiful cooler vintage exceptionally well. It’s remarkable how a little extra time in bottle has brought this wine together so perfectly. Aromas of leafy blackcurrant and dark plum lead into a palate that is seamless and velvety smooth, yet with the structure and textural feel that sets it apart. The 10% petit verdot has played an important role...

Margaret River

Cabernet Blend

Cabernet sauvignon and merlot make up the bulk of the blend, but smaller components of petit verdot, cabernet franc, and malbec play important roles in completing the seamlessness and smooth integration that marks this wine. It is a wine of seamless elegance and real refinement, with opulent, fleshy fruit showing richness and presence. Already displaying complexity, but with the potential...

Margaret River

Cabernet Blend

2022 in Margaret River produced some very good wines, and this beautiful, refined, and elegant example of what is largely a cabernet sauvignon merlot blend is quite exceptional. The F represents the inclusion of cabernet franc, which provides some wonderfully expressive aromatics and perfumes, while the palate is precisely and seamlessly woven, with the structure and fruit plushness to handle...

Margaret River

Chardonnay

At the time of release a couple of years ago, I thought this was an exceptional wine. Time has not changed my opinion. It captures the intensity yet delicacy that marked the 2023 vintage in Margaret River, producing a wine of remarkable finesse and poise. There is just the faintest hint that it is moving into a subtle new zone,...

Margaret River

White Blend

Perhaps the quintessential example of the sauvignon blanc semillon blend from Margaret River, but of course it is augmented with about 23% chardonnay, hence LTC — light touch of chardonnay. While the sauvignon blanc and semillon certainly provide the lift, aromatics, and flavour intensity, it is the chardonnay that gives the wine its strength of character, structure, and depth. This...

Margaret River

Chardonnay

This is a remarkably classy chardonnay that captures the elegance and brightness of the vintage. It was barrel fermented, with about 15% new French oak, using wild yeasts before spending nine months on lees without undergoing malolactic fermentation. The result is a pure, bright and precise wine showing minerally aromas of cut lime and grapefruit. The palate is spicy and...

Margaret River

Cabernet Sauvignon

Plenty of punch and intensity in this cabernet sauvignon-dominant blend, given extra complexity by small additions of malbec and petit verdot. Around 20% new oak has been used, an impressive inclusion at this price. Black currant and plum aromas are supported by lightly toasty oak. The palate is generous with ripe blackcurrant fruit, while the firmer tannins, typical of the...