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Stay in touch with the latest news and happenings at Vasse Felix, in Margaret River and on tour around the world.
Last Thursday marked the first pick of the original Tom's Blocks. A beautiful sunrise greeted our pickers early morning in our I Block old-vine Cabernet and the quality looks fantastic.
Grown on their original rootstocks on the ancient Ironstone gravel soils of our Home Vineyard, these vines have weathered all the grape-growing years known to Margaret River and remain strong with consistent yields and berries.
These old vines are our trusted indicator of quality for Margaret River Cabernet Sauvignon. Their experience of the vintage plays a crucial role in guiding the direction of each release of TOM CULLITY Cabernet Sauvignon Malbec.
08/03/2024 at 6:28 PM
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Author | Evan Gill, Estate Sommelier Vasse Felix
In May 2017, I was fortunate enough to be involved in the very special 50th anniversary celebrations at Vasse Felix.
I will never forget the events of Saturday 6 May.
With Paul Holmes à Court welcoming guests on the lawn, I positioned myself inside The Vault museum entrance. My task was to open, taste and decant four bottles of the 1979 Vasse Felix Cabernet Sauvignon (coincidentally my birth year vintage), perfectly timed with the entrance of the guests from the lawn.
Four bottles from one of Margaret River's most lauded early vintages.
I set about my task with Paul's welcoming address just making 'earfall' thanks to the sea breeze.
Four bottles, four perfect corks, four incredible sips of a wine that had aged so beautifully. Pure elegance but still so 'present' and alive.
I poured the glasses as the welcome wrapped up and could not wipe the smile from my face as I served guests walking into The Vault, the place where it all began.
The experience was elevated further when David Gregg, winemaker from 1972 until 1989 (and owner from 1984 - 1987) walked in the door.
Along with David there was also a veritable who's who of WA wine.
The quality of these bottles and the guests I poured them for made Saturday 6 May 2017 one of my most memorable wine experiences.
Heritage, provenance, quality and celebration all rolled into one moment, and one wine.
More on 50 Years of Margaret River Cabernet here.
26/02/2024 at 4:20 PM
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A glorious Margaret River day greeted pickers last week in our Gnarawary Vineyard as they hand harvested our precious plots of Icon and Premier grade Gingin clone Chardonnay.
Pristine bunches of Gingin (our heritage Margaret River clone) Chardonnay were picked in the GYD1 and GYE1 plots, the latter of which helps to establish the beautifully precise line and length of our Heytesbury Chardonnay.
Hand harvested, these parcels were then chilled and whole bunches pressed, before being transferred with full solids to premium French oak barriques for wild fermentation. More to come soon.
05/02/2024 at 4:36 PM
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Author | Freddy Bulmer, Wine Buyer, The Wine Society
For me, wine is first and foremost about people. Whether that’s the people you share a bottle with or the people who helped to produce it. One of the great joys of working in this industry is sitting around a table while a bottle provides the perfect backdrop for chat, laughter and doubtless some form of inspiration for a hare-brained plan…
I have been lucky enough to drink Vasse Felix wines on numerous occasions and every single time has been a treat, whether it’s a memorable back vintage of chardonnay or any opportunity to taste TOM CULLITY, however it’s on the day that I am writing this that I have been lucky enough to share a particularly delicious bottle of the Cabernet Sauvignon in my kitchen at home, with a couple of dear colleagues.
The wine world ebbs and flows. Or it seems to for me anyway. There are periods of great productivity and frantic energy, preceding or following moments of lethargy and vacuums of enthusiasm. A two week period of the latter was bought to an uplifting full-stop today thanks to a pre-released bottle of 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon, a wine who’s vibrant energy, plush fruit and luxuriousness catapulted me face-first into a tidal wave of excitement, uplift and much needed inspiration. Conversation with my lunch guests flowed like a river as we drank this bottle; ideas ignited like flames and once again, all was right in the world of wine. Or at least my own little world of wine.
To me this is an example of the power of good wine. That bottle played every bit as much of an important part in a humble lunch as any of the rest of us around the table. Perhaps even more, as it was the catalyst and driving force we needed and the treat that we all felt we deserved.
More on 50 Years of Margaret River Cabernet here.
31/01/2024 at 1:14 PM
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As is tradition, we christened the beginning of vintage with a bacon and egg roll at the annual vintage breakfast this morning. The perfect opportunity for our vintage crew to settle in, meet the broader Vasse Felix team and share stories of vintages past and present, from wine regions around the world. The action began early last week, with the first hand harvest of our Gibraltar Chardonnay blocks, more on that here.
Thank you to everyone who has signed up for the all-important job of picking and nurturing our 2024 harvest. We look forward to sharing more behind-the-scenes vintage action over the coming weeks.
22/01/2024 at 2:49 PM
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Vintage 2024 has begun, with the first pick taking place in our Gibraltar G Block Chardonnay in the Home Vineyard. These chardonnay parcels often make it into our Premier Chardonnay due to their elegance, power and wild complexity.
Warm and steady conditions have heralded a slightly early start to harvest this vintage, with quality and yields looking very promising. Explore scenes from this first pick below.
18/01/2024 at 3:08 PM
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Author | Corinne Mui, Founder Corvino Wine School, Wine Educator & Writer
Vasse Felix was the first Margaret River winery I visited back when I was travelling with my family in my university years. I didn’t know much about wine at the time but as my family love history, we chose to go to Margaret River’s founding wine estate to learn about their wines and unique story.
It was the Vasse Felix cabernet that I tasted on that visit that sparked my interest in Margaret River wines. There is something special and unique about Margaret River cabernets. They are approachable, powerful yet elegant. The sea spray perfume brings in great freshness and energy and the lovely chalky tannins evoke shape and complexity. They are definitely world class cabernets with a strong sense of place, distinctive of the Margaret River region.
This was affirmed at a recent international top cabernet blind tasting event I attended where a few of the Margaret River cabernets really stood out amongst other notable cabernets from the rest of the world. The charisma of Margaret River cabernets is really something!
More on 50 Years of Margaret River Cabernet here.
15/01/2024 at 4:06 PM
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Author | Caleb Dreaver, Hospitality Manager Vasse Felix
When I moved to Margaret River in 2011 the region's Cabernet Sauvignon was an "acquaintance” rather than a friend. Coming off the back of the big bold red craze in Perth, my palate couldn’t comprehend the subtlety of this beautiful, elegant wine.
My tastes quickly evolved to appreciate the love and care that Vasse Felix puts into every aspect from vine to bottle. Cabernet for me is a wine that can be fresh and exciting and very quickly gone from the glass, or conversely, still sitting there an hour later as I contemplate the many layers it has to offer. It works wonderfully with food, and a decade of dish matching in our Restaurant has cemented in my mind the incredible versatility of this wine.
A special vintage for me is the 2021, marking both Vasse Felix's 50th vintage and 10 years of my personal journey with Vasse Felix Cabernet. It’s also ridiculously delicious.
Author | Cam Jones, Head Chef Vasse Felix
The first time I had the pleasure of opening a bottle of the 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon was in celebration; our team had just been awarded WA Good Food Guide's Regional Restaurant of the Year, along with a three star ranking.
I was also celebrating a personal milestone, my partner and I were celebrating our anniversary. In honour of the occasion, we hiked up to the Castle Bay whale lookout, taking with us a picnic of cheese, charcuterie, and a bottle of the 50th vintage Cabernet.
While sitting there enjoying great food and incredible wine with my favourite person, I realised I've never felt more at home than I do here in the southwest.
It was week of many great memories and a couple of nights I will never forget.
More on 50 Years of Margaret River Cabernet here.
08/01/2024 at 5:34 PM
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We are thrilled to see our two Icon wines, the TOM CULLITY and Heytesbury Chardonnay, again feature in the Langtons Classification 8th Edition.
LANGTONS Classification is the most respected secondary market guide to fine and luxury Australian wines. Compiled since 1990 and released at approximately four-year intervals, the Classification comprises the most sought-after Australian fine wines based on their strong track record at auction.
The latest Classification features 100 Australian wines, 12 of which are from Margaret River, including Vasse Felix Icons, the TOM CULLITY Cabernet Sauvignon Malbec and the Heytesbury Chardonnay.
Discover the two reviews below or head to Langtons Classification for the full list.
'CLASSIFIED'
The best of Australian winemaking practices, vineyard provenance and regional voice.
Vasse Felix Tom Cullity Cabernet Sauvignon Malbec - Classified
Sourced from the original vines planted in 1967 by Doctor Tom Cullity, the Tom Cullity Cabernet Sauvignon Malbec represents a multi-generational journey of innovation based on trial and error. Based on Houghton clone cabernet sauvignon and malbec, refined vinification techniques and maturation for 18 months in French oak, this wine validates and continues the Heytesbury narrative. Vibrant blackcurrant and herb garden aromas, fine-grained tannins, sous-bois (forest floor) notes, sage, generous concentration and integrated new oak mark the style.
Vasse Felix Heytesbury Chardonnay - Classified
The glorious and expressive Vasse Felix Heytesbury Chardonnay is made up of individual sections of the Gin Gin clone. It evokes an exquisite balance between vineyards, emotional sensibility and technical brilliance. Batch vinification, bâttonage and maturation for nine months in around 60% (barely detectable) new and seasoned French oak results in a benchmark style with superb grapefruit and flinty aromatics, al dente textures and creamy complexity.
14/12/2023 at 5:38 PM
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Author | Hamish Guthrie, Founding Principal, Hecker Guthrie
The Melbourne based interior designer behind Vasse Felix Estate's interior transformation shares his thoughts on the intricate process of designing a space fit to honour the Vasse Felix wine collection, in particular, the king of all grape varietals; Cabernet.
In designing the Estate spaces, we overlaid the robust architecture with an interior that balances the qualities of 'Raw' and 'Refined'. The inspiration of ‘Raw to Refined’ evolved from the idea of imbuing the interior spaces with a strong and meaningful connection to the wine collection itself.
In the same way that the elegance and the refinement of the bottled wine sits as a counterpoint to the rawness of the landscape and the component parts of the wine, through the exacting process of its makers. So to, the interiors were to be a clear expression of place (terroir) through materiality and palette, of its makers through design form and craft, culminating in a refined and heightened experience around the celebration and education of the wine at an intimate level of connection.
Whilst the wine history of Margaret River is a relatively young one, the history and lineage of its pioneering endeavours is indeed a significant one.
The Vault is an immersive space celebrating both the origins and the evolution of Vasse Felix, and the Margaret River Region, as makers of some of the world's finest wines. Through design, we set about creating a linear narrative celebrating this evolution from its modest and exploratory beginnings, through 50 years of vintage, to the confident and clear expression of the archetypal Cabernet Sauvignon that we celebrate today.
Located below the cellar door, we have created a heightened experience, playing off the dark and moody subterranean qualities of this space, to both elevate the Cabernet to ‘hero’ whilst showcasing the narrative of place, its pioneers and the vineyard itself for those wanting to delve deeper into their wine experience.
05/12/2023 at 10:15 AM
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