“If you go down in the woods today, you’re sure of a big surprise” or so the song about a mass gathering of teddy bears goes; but the truth is, there are certainly no surprises in the Woods here!
2024 marks our 3rd year of celebrating the remarkable Reserve releases from the team at Deep Woods Estate and there is one thing for certain, these wines, year in, year out, deliver the goods.
The same can be said for the entire Deep Woods Estate line-up with the winery boasting a list of awards and accolades that seems endless! Just last week Deep Woods were crowned ‘Producer of the Year’ at the 2024 WA Good Food Guide Awards with Chief Winemaker, Julian Langworthy taking home the ‘2024 Winemaker of the Year.’ This was backed up only yesterday, making the list of the Halliday Wine Companion Top 100 Wineries. All in a days’ work…
But, today we’re here to present to you the 2024 Reserve Wines; a release for which the anticipation and excitement has been sky-high thanks to the hype these most-thrilling wines have generated on an international scale.
The Reserve wines are an assemblage of hand-selected fruit from very specific sites, brought together to create wines of poise, precision and detail, expressing the very best the coastline of Margaret River has to offer.
Site reigns supreme here with a minimalist approach in the winery and primary focus being on creating healthy soil ecosystems to grow resilient vines to yield the highest pedigree of fruit. This year Deep Woods Estate was certified as a member of Sustainable Winegrowing Australia for their Estate and Abbey Vale vineyards, with good progress being made towards certification of all their Margaret River vineyards by the 2025 vintage.
2023 Deep Woods Estate Reserve Chardonnay $85 RRP
Royal Queensland Wine Awards 2024 | The Fleming Trophy for Best Chardonnay Wine of Show | Best Table Wine of Show | Gold Medal Winner Sydney Royal Wine Show 2024 | Gold Medal Winner
Let’s cut to the chase. The finest Deep Woods chardonnay yet. It has it all. Great fruit has been harnessed with whole bunch pressing and fermentation in new and seasoned French oak. Further lees stirring has built in texture, contributing to a thoroughly beautiful, refined mouth feel. Opens with a stone fruit and savoury light lemon curd aromas. Peels off into a palate that reveals more of a struck match and cracked seashell minerality complementing the outstanding fruit concentration. Super wine. 98 points. Ray Jordan, Ray Jordan WA Wine Review Sep 2024
Lime, pink grapefruit, quite a lot of cashew, cinnamon pastry, some cut fennel, a wisp of flinty and smoky things. It has intensity and ripe grapefruity acid cut, something more saline and umami here too, bright and chalky in texture, with lime rind and grip on a finish of excellent length. It has zing and energy, though it really needs a few years in bottle to cool its boots and settle into its groove. 95+ points. Gary Walsh, The Winefront Aug 2024
2022 Deep Woods Estate Reserve Shiraz $85 RRP
The fruit for this wine is from the Septumus vineyard (old-vine Shiraz that was previously owned by Sandalford). 2020 was the first time that Deep Woods used this fruit resource for this wine. Larger format oak and 35% whole bunches in the ferment has wrought a wine of supple complexity and spice. The 2022 Reserve Shiraz is supple and exciting, highly aromatic and complex. In the mouth, there is salted red licorice, raspberry, red snakes, star anise and a hint of Campari/orange peel character. It matured for nine months in oak puncheons (500 liter). Bright! Exciting! The future for Margaret River Shiraz is bright, yet undetermined; the winemaking styles and site/clonal exploration is ongoing, with no fixed stylistic template as yet. Viticulture and vintage conditions also play a major role in the success of this variety in the region. We as drinkers, we wait! 95 points. Erin Larkin, Robert Parker Wine Advocate 2023
From a vineyard in Wilyabrup, planted in 1972. Some whole bunch. Plum, ripe raspberry, plenty of baking spice (nutmeg in particular), almond meal and orange peel. It’s medium-bodied, warm and spicy, and kind of festive with its plum duff and sweet spice, a charcoal briquette thing happening, with ripe sooty tannin, a cinch of amaro bitterness, and a dry finish of excellent length. Excellent. 94 point. Gary Walsh, The Wine Front 2023
Attractive aromas of ripe dark berries with dried flowers, pomegranate peel, potpourri and sweet spices. It strikes you with its fresh, steely and mineral character on the palate offering hints of crushed stones and white pepper over the very fine and compact tannins. Structured and layered with delicious fruit and a long, spicy finish. Drink or hold. Screw cap. 94 points. JamesSuckling.com 2023.
2022 Deep Woods Estate Reserve Cabernet $95 RRP
A high-class cabernet that comes from the old vines of Deep Woods Estate and Abbey Vale. Delightful florals on the nose merge with dark blackcurrant and lifted bay leaf and subtle olive tapenade nuances. The palate is a domain of control and poise with fine chalky tannins and ample well-weighted use of new and seasoned French oak. I love that compelling combination of polish and power with a body that leans slightly to medium weight but with deep concentration. 96 points. Ray Jordan, Ray Jordan WA Wine Review Sep 2024
Blueberry, blackberry, chocolate box, bay leaf, nutmeg and assorted dusty spices, plus some dried orange peel. It’s a rich and nutty wine, though kind of only pushing above medium-bodied, with plenty of grainy almost emery board tannin, a slight fresh blackberry tang to acidity, maybe even some raspberry coulis, and while it’s kind of polished in a mahogany sort of way, it has something of an X-Factor that I really like. The finish is bright and very long, and features some pimento spice. It sits well in the glass, and delivers a heap of Cabernet satisfaction. Very good. Very. 95 points. Gary Walsh, The Winefront Aug 2024
A youthful, deep red and vibrant in the glass. Lifted aromas of cassis, bramble, cedar, tobacco, dried herbs, blueberry and earth. Bright and snappy on the palate. Blackberry, dark cherry, spice, menthol and crunchy acidity drive the flavours. The tannins are firm, layered and sophisticated and there’s real tension and texture on the finish. Cellar material. 95 points. Aaron Brasher, The Real Review Oct 2024