Woodlands

Woodlands lies within the Wilyabrup sub-region of Margaret River. This area is in the heart of the Margaret River wine-growing region, and contains most of Margaret River’s oldest and most respected wineries. This area is famous for having some of the finest Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay wines in the country. David and Heather aim to create wines to emulate the great vineyards of Bordeaux, namely Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet based blends.


In 1973 cuttings were taken from a nearby vineyard, and an initial planting of eight acres was made in rows heading east-west along the contour of the property - 3 meters between rows and 1.75 meters between vines. The initial planting comprised 3 acres of Cabernet Sauvignon. A further 5 acres was planted between 1974 and 1976, comprising Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec, Pinot Noir and Cabernet Franc. The old block was completed in 1985, with 4 acres of Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon planted. Subsequent plantings now sees Woodlands with a total of twenty six acres (ten hectares) of vines.

The soil at Woodlands is composed of 30cm of top soil, a bed of 30 cm of gravel extending to 60 cm of gravel and then a bed of white clay, ensuring excellent sub soil drainage for root development. Woodlands is located within its own valley, with slopes rising in each direction and the Woodlands Brook running through the centre.

Woodlands vineyard is dry grown and maintained by hand. Attention in the vineyard includes hand weeding, cane pruning, bunch thinning, hand plucking the leaves around the fruit zone, crop thinning and hand picking.

Chardonnay

2 acres / 0.8 hectares

Our Chardonnay plot was planted in 1985 on a light gravelly loam soil on the top of our south facing slope. The Gingin clone was selected, being the only clone available at the time. This clone is also referred to as the 'Mendoza' clone. The Gingin close is famous for it’s hen and chicken bunchset, which leads to low yields but provides fantastic intensity of flavour. We also planted a small amount of Chardonnay clones 5 and 7 in the middle of our vineyard.

Woodlands' best Chardonnay fruit is fermented in French oak barriques and is labelled 'Chloe' after Winemaker Stuart Watson's eldest daughter.

Pinot Noir

0.5 acre / 0.2 hectares

Our Pinot Noir plot was planted in 1976 on a clay rise in the middle of our south facing slope. The ‘droopy’ clone was used (being the only clone available), which produces lovely Pinot fruit but is famous for being difficult to maintain. Our Pinot Noir vines are rigorously shoot thinned early in the season, and crop thinned later in the season. Due to these thinning techniques our Pinot Noir plot yields around 1 tonne per acre (0.4 tonnes per hectare). Efforts in the vineyard have enabled us to pick perfectly ripe fruit at lower sugar levels – our Pinot Noir is normally 12.5% alcohol by volume.

Petit Verdot

0.2 acres / 0.08 hectares

Out plot of Petit Verdot was planted in 2003 on gravelly loam soil below our Merlot plot on the bottom of our west facing slope. Our Petit Verdot makes its way into our "Margaret" red blend.

Cabernet Franc

0.5 acres / 0.2 hectares

Our Cabernet Franc plot was planted in 1976 on a gravelly soil at the top of our south facing slope. Due to the high percentage of gravel in the soil, our Cabernet Franc has never cropped above 1.5 tonnes per acre. Cabernet Franc as a blending component provides perfume and complexity, and occasionally small amounts of Cabernet Franc are blended into our flagship Cabernet Sauvignon. The remainder is bottled separately under our 'Reserve de la Cave' label.

Merlot

3 acres / 1.2 hectares

Our ‘old’ plot of Merlot (0.67 acres / 0.27 hectares) was planted in 1980 on a clay rise in the middle of our south facing slope. Crops in this plot have varied in the past from 1 tonne per acre to 4 tonnes per acre. Current crop maintenance sees this plot never cropping above 2.5 tonnes per acre. The best one or two barrels from this plot are bottled under our 'Reserve de la Cave' label. The remaining Merlot is used to add middle palate weight to our ‘Margaret’ Reserve Cabernet Merlot blend.

Out ‘young’ plot of Merlot (2.33 acres / 0.93 hectares) was planted in 1996 on gravelly loam soil on a west facing slope. The best barrels from this plot are added to our 'Margaret' Reserve Cabernet Merlot blend. The remaining wine is blended into our Cabernet Merlot to provide middle palate weight and softness.

Malbec

2 acres / 0.8 hectares

Our ‘old’ plot of Malbec (0.5 acres/ 0.2 hectares) was planted in 1975 on a clay rise in the middle of our south facing slope. This plot produces the best fruit of our ‘varietal’ plots – and is used in our Cabernet Sauvignon and 'Margaret' Reserve Cabernet Merlot to provide middle palate. A small amount of Malbec is also bottled separately under our 'Reserve de la Cave' label.

Our ‘young’ plot of Malbec (1.5 acres / 0.6 hectares) was planted in 1996 on gravelly loam soil on our west facing slope. This fruit is blended into our 'Margaret' Reserve Cabernet Merlot and our Cabernet Merlot to add colour and aroma.

Cabernet Sauvignon

17 acres / 6.8 hectares

Woodlands has five plots of Cabernet Sauvignon. The oldest plot (3 acres / 1.2 hectares) was planted in 1973 on gravelly loam soil on a south facing slope. In 1975 we planted two further plots; one on gravel/loam soil near the top of our south facing slope below the Cabernet Franc (1 acre / 0.4 hectares), and the other on heavy loam soil on our south facing slope below the ‘old’ Malbec plot (1 acre / 0.4 hectares). In 1985 a further plot (2 acres / 0.8 hectares) was planted on light gravelly loam below our Chardonnay plot. The Cabernet from our ‘old’ plots is very powerful and very tight when young. Our Cabernet Sauvignon is our best wine, and is only ever made off our oldest plots.

The ‘young’ plot of Cabernet Sauvignon (10 acres / 4 hectares) was planted in 1998 on a north-east facing slope. The soil in this plot is mostly heavy gravel loam, with sandy loam on the top half acre. This plot produces very ripe rich Cabernet fruit which makes its way into our Cabernet Merlot. The best ferment from this plot is blended into our ‘Margaret’ Reserve Cabernet Merlot to add vitality and freshness.