Whimwood Estate Wines is owned and operated by Maree Tinker and Steve Johnstone and is named with regard to the region’s past timber milling history, where horse drawn Whims were used for hauling logs out of the forest.

The vineyard is situated alongside the Blackwood River near the old timber milling town of Nannup in the Blackwood Valley wine region.

The original vineyard was planted with Chardonnay vines in 2004 as contract grapes, along with a few Shiraz vines for personal use. The vineyard was downsized in 2011, from 8,000 to 2,000 vines and increased the number of Shiraz vines by grafting onto the Chardonnay root stock. This has allowed for a lower yield with higher complexity of flavours and hand picking for greater quality control.

Whimwood

  • 13.2%

    The grapes were hand-picked in early February then gently pressed with the juice pumped straight to barrel for fermentation. The barrels were 100% French with about 1/3 of them being new. Following fermentation a couple of barrels were allowed to go through some malolactic fermentation, adding to the creamy texture of the wine. The wine was then matured for 10 months before being prepared for bottling.

    Lightly lifted hints of white peach and nectarine with a neat twist of lemon. The palate is lightly framed with good intensity and notes of roasted almond, lemon rind, and quince.

  • 13.1%

    Whole bunch Shiraz grapes, hand-picked at optimum ripeness were crushed and destemmed, then pressed to extract the bright vibrant juice which was then fermented in old French oak to produce this dry, crisp Rosé.

    This Rosé has aromas of fresh strawberries and raspberries with a hint of lavender intertwined with flavours of candied cherries and fresh Satsuma plums, finishing with a dry crips tang.