Our wine.

After coming off one of the more extended vintages in 2023, vintage 2024 brought us the opposite! 2024 has certainly been the earliest and quickest vintage we have been a part of. Fruit was around two to four weeks earlier than a ‘classic vintage’ for most varietals due to an unusually warm November and the increasing temperatures and lack of rain through the Summer. Margaret River would normally see on average 94 days being the time from flowing to harvest, however this year on top of the earlier start, the grape maturity was around 10 days less which compounded how early vintage started (and finished)!

The early start wasn’t a great concern for us as it has timed in with a spectacular Marri blossom which is kept the bird pressure down. In general, harvested fruit had epic concentration with slightly higher sugar levels, but strangely so with great natural acid levels as well keeping it fresh and vibrant. Although record breaking in a number of areas, 2024 was still another great vintage, but with a slightly different story, and those vintage conditions that give us vintage variation is what we love to show in our South by South West wines.

The Barbera parcel of fruit came from the Wildwater Vineyard in Hoffman which sits on some gravelly soils with an altitude on average of 250m above sea level. The altitude combined with the continental climate and cooling westerly Indian Ocean winds provides some solid ripening hours as well as good diurnal temperature range. It’s a sexy vineyard, in the middle of nowhere, and when you’re standing within the rows you really get a feeling of remoteness and a real connection to the land. The fruit was hand harvested on a Fruit Day on February 7, apparently 5-6 weeks earlier than past vintages!

The Nebbiolo parcel came from a vineyard in Margaret River a week later on February 15 on a fruit day.

Both fruit parcels were hand harvested and then cooled for 24 hours prior to being destemmed with open rollers – taking berries off whole with little to no maceration allowing us to keep some whole berries in the ferment for a touch of carbonic goodness, freshness and elegance.

Each parcel was fermented in an open stainless steel fermenter with gently plunging three times a day and some gentle pump overs. The fruit was then pressed gently after 10-14 days on skins, settled in tank and then barrelled down to older, larger format French oak  for 12 months maturation to tame the tannins and acidity. The wine was blended together with Barbera accounting for over 50% of he blend, then the Nebbiolo and a touch of Sangiovese was also added to balance out the wine after maturation.  The wine was coarsely filtered and bottled in February 2025.

In a glass the wine presents with a wonderfully deeply coloured, crimson core. On the palate it is all fresh vibrant cherries and strawberries with a savoury lean and some fresh herbal element. The Barbera adds acidity to the Nebbiolo, and the Nebbiolo helps calm the high acidity from the Barbera and brings some structure, some firm tannin to balance it out.

Overall both varieties combine here to create a savoury elegant red wine with soft fruit and charming length. The Nebbiolo brings excellent tannin and finesse with aromas of wild herbs and violets, while the Barbera compliments with ripe red berry fruit and velvet mouthfeel.

As far as ageing potential goes, this Barbera Nebbiolo will develop greater complexity over time and we say it has a 7-10 year cellaring potential, but is also more than ready to be enjoyed now.