“You can’t get more Margaret River than this,” says Deep Woods senior winemaker Matt Buchan. He’s tasting the 2025 rendition of the Reserve Chardonnay—a wine in an incredible groove. Chardonnay vineyards don’t come more blessed than the two northern Wilyabrup sites that contribute the lion’s share of the fruit. And then there’s Karridale, that cool southern subregion you’re hearing more and more about; a pristine patch down there plays its part to perfection. “What makes this vintage great is we’re back to a restrained style,” says Matt, smiling at the drive of a wine that oozes class and pleasure.
We’ve been here before, of course. There’s nothing accidental about these Deep Woods Reserve releases; no coincidence they scoop accolades and win a legion of new fans each year.
Chief viticulturist John Fogarty can’t believe his luck, being out in these vineyards. The winemaking team of Matt, Emma Gillespie and Julian Langworthy balance equal parts judgment and flair. Purpose and precision underpin these wines. But when you come to taste them, any trace of effort is washed away, such are the wafts and whoosh of virtuosic brilliance. “It smells of raw emotion,” they joke, with a nose in the glass.
It’s not far from the truth, though. Deep Woods has nailed the art of sophisticated hedonism.
The Reserve Cabernet from 2024 seals the deal with a cassis-stained kiss. It was a tricky season, very warm—Matt says he’s never seen Jules pace the rows so frequently or with so furrowed a brow. But their faith in these two parcels, Deep Woods Estate block 3 and Abbey Vale block 9, is absolute. This wine’s track record—2024 was the 13th Julian has been part of—suggests that its excellence is routine, but we mustn’t overlook the viticulture, grape quality and cellar nous it takes to make it look so damn easy.
The 2024 is awash with pure, supple fruit, threaded with classy oak spice and wrapped in a pillow of juicy Cabernet tannins. “It just showcases the strength of the Yallingup subregion and what we do up here in the northern end,” says Matt.
Yes, Margaret River is blessed with Yallingup, Wilyabrup and Karridale. Matt, Emma, Jules and the team embrace and pass on those natural gifts with a joyful generosity of spirit. Complex wine never felt so easy; saying “No” never felt so hard.
Vintage 2025
Adequate winter rainfall in 2024 replenished vineyard dams and soil moisture as the region headed toward budburst. Moderate temperatures followed throughout spring, ensuring healthy vine canopies with little disease pressure. This was followed by dry and warm conditions into summer while white varieties were picked. Netting was a logistical challenge due to a lack of regional marri blossom; thus, keeping birds out of the vineyard added additional work for the vineyard team. The 2025 vintage again displays Margaret River’s incredible consistency with wines of balance, seamless natural acidity and fruitfulness. – Matt Buchan, senior winemaker
Vintage 2024
2024 was one of the earliest vintages ever seen in Margaret River, with early flowering and fruit set resulting in picking dates up to 3 weeks before the region’s average for some varieties. Consistently warm, dry conditions allowed exceptional fruit ripeness and flavours, with very well-balanced natural acidity. Extensive marri blossom resulted in minimal pest pressure in the vineyard. The fruit quality is fantastic, and 2024 has produced some very exciting wines that are accessible, with an open-weave charm. – Matt Buchan, senior winemaker
In Matt’s words
More often than not, it’s the challenging vintages that provide exceptional wines. These moments activate the creative minds of the viticultural and winemaking teams, and the most experienced and brave succeed where others cannot.
Since the “Goldilocks” vintage of 2023, we’ve had everything thrown at us…
2024 was one of the earliest vintages recorded in Margaret River, with flowering and harvest dates up to three weeks earlier than average. In my first vintage at the estate, most of the handpicked Chardonnay was processed and fermenting in barrel before our vintage staff arrived from their international regions. It’s fair to say the winery was a little wild until the whites completed their fizzy journey. But that’s how we roll.
Cabernet needed a steady hand and an experienced palate. I remember looking out of my office window down into Deep Woods Block 3, and throughout March I saw Julian’s curls bobbing over the canopy while he and John Fogarty stomped the dirt and tasted the fruit. Yield would’ve taken a series hit just from daily tasting and Baumé checks!
These are the vintages where old vines and loved blocks stand up and allow the winemaker to create something special. The wine is an almost even split between the 40-year-old Deep Woods Estate block 3 and Abbey Vale Cabernet block 9, both harvested mid-March (a couple of weeks earlier than average). The canopy and fruit didn’t skip a beat across both vineyards, with very little reason to panic.
We had to watch maceration closely, as we decided the right pressing opportunity hourly. The 2024 Deep Woods Reserve Cabernet is immediately expressive with typical Yallingup hills cassis and ferrous characters. The palate is accessible, with open weave and volume, plush fruit and perfectly ripe Cabernet tannins.
This wine speaks to the vintage and the team’s wisdom. The Deep Woods Reserve Cabernet is 100% about capturing our slice of Margaret River in the glass and letting the drinker experience the variety as it’s grown on the winery’s doorstep, with minimal handling.
Here we are, another crack at it. That’s the best thing about winemaking; each year is a clean slate, an opportunity to recreate and refine.
2025 was back to (almost) typical southwest WA vintage conditions. Chardonnay was harvested from mid-February. The vines’ recovery from a warmer 2024 was evident, with some uneven shoot growth across some of our Reserve Chardonnay blocks.
This resulted in a lower-yielding vintage, as we handpicked only fully ripened bunches and left the rest behind. Again, stressful moments for our chief Jules, working through the rows in what were typically normal sections destined for the Reserve Chardonnay, demanding a little more attention than usual.
Emma and I were almost permanently chained to the press in 2025. We tailored extraction to the millilitre to avoid bitter phenolics or any deviation from the purity of Gin Gin clone’s identity.
We spent countless hours moving fermenting barrels around each hall to ensure we hit the right temperatures. Post-fermentation topping and stirring followed, and we tasted each batch fortnightly to block malolactic fermentation when needed, adding small amounts of SO2 on a barrel-by-barrel basis.
The 2025 Chardonnay bench blending exercise was an absolute treat. It was the swan song of Bridgeland’s Chardonnay before exiting stage left from this wine’s future, and we used slightly more new oak than before, at 40%. The wine could handle it, and the barrels tasted too good to pass up in the blend.
It’s taken a good nine months for this wine to reveal itself. We’ve cracked a few bottles to check in here and there, but in the last few weeks this beauty has started to fully open up, walking a delicate line between perfectly ripe stone fruit and citrus notes. What I love most about this release is the sheer power and breadth of flavour. The combination of saline coastal influence and subtle lees-driven textures is alluring, with very smart and proud Burgundian oak wrapped around it all.
This wine is the yearly conclusion of our winemaking experience and an encapsulation of the detail involved from growing to blending, where we put our heart and soul into its making.
2025 Deep Woods Reserve Chardonnay RRP $84
This wine was grown on two premium northern Wilyabrup vineyards, with additional fruit from a pristine site in the southern subregion of Karridale. The fruit is 100% Gin Gin clone Chardonnay, which is distinctive to the wines of Margaret River. Each site falls within 10km of the Indian Ocean, which cools the fruit zone within the vineyard canopy each afternoon.
We began picking by hand on 20th February, with only select bunches delivered to the winery, where we chilled them overnight to maintain pristine condition. Our minimalist approach in the winery included pressing as whole bunches, wild fermentation and sparing lees stirring in a mixture of new and seasoned French oak barriques, hogsheads, and puncheons. We used 100% juice solids in the fermentation process, where temperatures ranged from 16-25°C.
After fermentation, each individual batch was topped and kept separate while aging further on lees for nine months until the final wine was assembled through meticulous barrel selection. Alcohol 13%; pH 3.21; TA 6.6g/L.
In the glass, the 2025 Reserve Chardonnay is pale straw with a green hue and gives off scents of brioche, lemon cream and white flowers, with subtle oceanic notes drifting from the glass. Toasted almond and biscuit characters from oak maturation are a supporting act to citrus-driven fruit aromas. On the palate, perfectly ripe stone fruit merges with lime, elderflower and freshly baked sourdough. It is washed with a profoundly striking acidity that continues in straight lines, with natural fruit sweetness and subtle reduction woven through the finish. – Matt Buchan, Deep Woods
2024 Deep Woods Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon RRP $95
This wine is made from select rows from two iconic Yallingup Hills vineyards: Deep Woods Estate block 3 and Abbey Vale block 9. Both were planted in the mid-’80s and make up the Reserve Cabernet blend year after year. The fruit was harvested at optimum ripeness to preserve the balance between fruit sweetness and natural acidity. Each block was fermented separately for 10 to 14 days on skins, with temperatures ranging from 18 to 26 °C. Alcohol 14%; pH 3.53; TA 6.25g/L.
We used considered maceration techniques to build the tannin profile and colour while maintaining fruit and skin integrity throughout fermentation. After fermentation, we pressed the must into a series of new and seasoned French oak barriques for 14 to 16 months of maturation.
In the glass, the wine is deep purple with a dark cherry hue. The nose is opulent and dark, with aromas of ripe blackcurrant, charred anise and cedar. The palate opens with cassis, black forest and plum, with a bitter cacao dustiness layered throughout. The power and range of sweet, ripe tannin are in harmony with the fruit and will ensure the wine’s bright future. – Matt Buchan, Deep Woods
