Matt Buchan on Vintage 2024 in Margaret River

With vintage 2024 finishing about a month earlier than usual this year, Matt Buchan has passed on his thoughts following his first harvest with us as Senior Winemaker:

"The 2024 Deep Woods vintage has been memorable in many ways. The combination of high-quality fruit and a talented vintage crew has produced some very exciting wines, in what was an unusually early harvest in the South West. In fact, the majority of the cellar hands missed the beginning and had to hit the ground running!

"Among the array of batches this year I am continuously astounded by Margaret River's Gingin clone Chardonnay and its ability to perform in so many ripening conditions. Now, while tasting through our barrels post-fermentation, we can already see powerful wines that exhibit excellent flavour with their signature acid line.

"Sampling and tasting through the red ferments daily with the winemaking team has also given me a great understanding of our unique plots around the Yallingup Hills and Wilyabrup subregions, and I enjoyed the buzz as our Estate parcels were being picked and locked away safely in their fermenters. I am looking forward to watching these wines develop through maturation and onto the blending stage in time."