Fine Vines Festival: For The Love Of Wine

The single vineyard ethos is alive and well in the Margaret River Region , and a long table lunch with vineyard views in the cooler climate sub-region of Forrest Grove is an experience of how much a single site can influence the glass.

Join McHenry Hohnen winemakers Japo and Henry at the winery’s Hazel vineyard to talk and taste through three single vineyard Chardonnays. Dylan from Saltbush Dining will be plating up a paired feast.

Cabernet fans take note—the afternoon also includes a vertical taste of the label’s museum stock Cab Sav.

No Margaret River wine festival could be complete without a valiant Vasse Felix showing, and Fine Vines 2022 is no exception.

Take a deep dive into Chardonnay and its Margaret River form with lauded winemaker, Virginia Willcock. The six-course degustation prepared by head chef Brendan Pratt is matched to an anthology of the estate’s Chardonnays, culminating with Margaret River icon, the Heytesbury Chardonnay.

Virginia’s winemaking skill is matched equally by her passion and engaging style. One for those eager to further their Chardonnay education.

Not every micro winemaker has a cellar door, and not every small cellar door is open to the public.

In this self-guided wine walk around the Busselton City Centre you’ll be treated to an introduction of some of the region’s little known vineyards at some of Busselton’s best venues. Drop your car keys and pick up your sense of adventure.

Visit Shelter Brewing Co, The Fire Station, and Rocky Ridge as they play host to some of Margaret River Region’s best lo-fi winemaking talent—meet and taste Wines of Merritt, LS Merchants, Woody Nook, Thompson Estate, Plan B! Wines, and Black Cocky Wines, to name a few.

Deciphering what makes wine special can feel tricky. Which is what makes this half-day, sommelier-hosted vineyard-to-vineyard trek such great insider experience.

As one of WA’s most respected somms, Foni Pollitt will not only get you beyond the farm gate of vineyards normally inaccessible to the public, but she’ll help you identity all of the special qualities in the glass once you arrive. There’s bus transfers, lunch, and the guarantee of a great time.

Look forward to experiencing Trait Wines, Cloudburst, South by South West, Corymbia, and La Kooki.

It’s one thing to understand how to taste the wine your glass. It’s another to dive deeper into how it was made, and by whom.

For this one weekend, Fine Vines Festival is throwing open the doors to cellar doors manned by the winemakers themselves. Consider it your free pass to a stellar line up of highly desirable but hard-to-access wineries.

In this environment, you’ll get to understand more of the winemaking process, the label’s back story, and the winemaker’s own personal ethos. Wine will be available for purchase. Frazer Woods, Burnside Organic Farm, Dirt Temple, and Jilyara will all form part of the extensive line up.

Look to the program for the full run down.

Wilyabrup Cabernet Sauvignon has something of mythic status when it comes to Margaret River Region wines.

It’s a prized varietal known for its structure and fully-bodied aromatic experience—the ideal ingredients when it comes to cellaring. With this in mind, Willespie is opening its doors to offer insights into how wine ages over time via a vertical tasting over four decades of Wilyabrup Old School Block Cabernet Sauvignon.

There will be grazing boards. A fifth glass of your choice. And a chance to meet the family behind the label. One for the red lovers.