On my quest to find and taste wines from boutique wineries; I came across Windows Estate.

On the site, they describe themselves; “We are an artisanal grape to bottle wine producer focused on the sustainable production of exceptional wines that fully express the characters of our unique site and vintage.”

On the corner of Caves Road and Quininup Road, the winery sits on 6 hectares with an old cottage house as a cellar door. From the outside you wouldn’t think much but as soon as you walk across the threshold you’re greeted with a lovely spacious tasting room with light streaming in from the windows and opened patio doors that lead onto the lawns and the giant games; chess and connect four. There are some wonderful artists paintings on the walls and they sell gifts and crafts as well as some local products.

The wines were incredible. So much structure and finesse I found in every price point. Fabien, who served us was very friendly while Jo, owner of the estate was serving another group of customers.

What I was so surprised about was that the winemaker is so hands on. So much time and care goes into the wine. Not saying I don’t find that with other wineries but I was very impressed that one personm Chris Davies devoted so much of his time in the day to his vines. His great great grandfather, Thomas Waters was a botanist and Chris moved to Margaret River in 1997 and is very passionate for the outdoors and gardening. It’s incredible how much one person can do alone; he planted the vines in 1999 and does all the pruning by himself. All the vines are dry grown so there is no irrigation. All wines are hand picked by Chris and a few others vineyard helpers. I love the name, being a keen surfer, I like the fact the winery is named after the ‘Windows’ surf break nearby.

They make about 50-200 cases (of 12) of each of their wines which are sold at the cellar door and to a fewrestaurants in Margaret River and Perth and the odd ones in Sydney and Melbourne. Since Chris and Jo set up the winery, they have won many awards including; Small Producer of the Year 2012 by Ray Jordan and Five Red Star Winery by James Halliday. It’s also wine of the month on It’s actually the winery of the month on Fabulous Ladies Wine Society.

They take a traditional and minimal approach with the wines as it was explained to me with the work starting in the vineyard and the grapes do the talking. All the wines are pressed in the traditional basket presses. By using a basket press for the reds allows them to pull out the necessary tannins they need but keep the primary fruit concentration in the wine as a basket press means the seeds are not crushed compared to other techiniques so less harsh tannins are extracted and added to the wine.

We tried 5 wines starting with a sparkling:

• 2012 Mousseux, $29: Spending 1 year on lees this wine is lovely and fresh with an interesting an delicate texture.
• 2014 Single Vineyard Sauvignon Blanc, $20: 100% stainless steel with only 400-500 cases of 12 made each year. Lovely and herbaceous on the nose which follows through on the palate with a refreshing acidity.
• 2014 Single Vineyard Semillon Sauvignon Blanc, $25: I loved the balance of the different grape varieties in this wine with a slight hint of spice and kiwi. Lovely texture on the palate with notes of stone fruit were delicious. Less than 400 cases of 12 are made which sell out very quickly.
• 2013 Chardonnay, $37: This is the estate’s flagship wine with 11 months spent in oak and 60% of barrels are brand new. Just 300-400 cases of 12 are made and half the wine goes through malolactic fermentation. I agree with the well integration of oak and felt that on the palate there was so much going on; citrus peel, richness with lovely lick of acidity and pure fruit flavour with a long lingering length.
• 2012 Basket Pressed Cabernet Merlot, $29: This won the ‘ Best of The West’ in a recent tasting. It is made of 60% Cabernet and 40% Merlot. Lovely and fresh with hint of floral notes coupled with berry fruit and firm yet supple texture.

I wanted to buy more wines but I was trying to be good and think about the wallet. When I’m next in Margaret River, I must go and re-visit.