Winery & Vintage Info
Woodlands vineyard was established in 1973 by David & Heather Watson and was one of the first five vineyards to be planted in the Margaret River Wine Region. David and Heather aimed to create wines to emulate the great vineyards of Bordeaux.
Woodlands produces wines from its two vineyards, both located in the Wilyabrup Valley. The original vineyard is located on Caves Rd, while the Woodlands Brook Vineyard is located just two kilometres away to the northeast.
Woodlands Vineyard is dry grown and maintained by hand using traditional and biodynamic methods. Attention in the vineyard includes hand weeding, cane pruning, bunch thinning and hand picking. Woodlands Cabernet Sauvignon is rated ‘Outstanding’ on the Langton’s Classification of Fine Wines.
The Wilyabrup Valley wines are sourced from a combination of Woodlands estate vineyards and other vineyards within the Wilyabrup Valley.
Vintage 2021 had a bit of everything to keep the winemakers busy! Winter and Spring temperatures were around average, with good rainfalls. Sadly a series of September storms and hail reduced crops across the region. By mid-December onwards it was hot, featuring prevailing south easterly winds for weeks on end, while some rain in early February and March was welcomed by the vines, not necessarily by us!
Harvest of our reds began on the 25th of March, and was complete by 14th April. Our winemaking was traditional for this wine. The fruit was de-stemmed, hand sorted, crushed and then fermented on skins for an average of 14 days, before being pressed.
The Woodlands 2021 Wilyabrup Valley Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot is a blend of 61% Cabernet Sauvignon, 28% Merlot, and 11% Malbec matured in French barriques for 16 months.
