Vasse Felix: Margaret River's Founding Estate, and Australia's Winemaker of the Year
Established 1967. Twenty years of Virginia Willcock. Three Halliday awards in one night. Where to start, from $26 to $198.
In 1967, on the Wilyabrup ridge a few kilometres inland from the Indian Ocean, a Perth cardiologist named Dr Thomas Brendan Cullity established the estate that became Margaret River's first. He had met the great table wines of Europe while working in Britain, and he came home convinced the south-west of Western Australia could grow something comparable. Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec and Riesling went into the ground. By 1972 he had made the region's first serious wines, a Cabernet Sauvignon Malbec and a Riesling, and the block those vines came from is still farmed today.
The Holmes à Court family took over the guiding of the estate in 1987 and remain its owners, with Paul Holmes à Court as chief executive. In October 2006 the wine program passed to Virginia Willcock. Twenty years later she is the most decorated name in the region, and Vasse Felix is no longer just the oldest estate in Margaret River.
Three awards in one night
At the 2026 Halliday Wine Companion Awards the estate took Winemaker of the Year, Chardonnay of the Year and White Wine of the Year. Willcock won the first; the 2023 Heytesbury Chardonnay won the other two on 99 points. Halliday's citation singles out her Cabernet and her Chardonnay in equal measure, and names the Tom Cullity Cabernet Sauvignon Malbec 2021 and the Heytesbury Chardonnay 2023 as the high points of each.
One thing to be clear about: the 99-point wine is the 2023 Heytesbury, and that vintage has sold through here. We hold the 2024, which is the same wine from the following season and has not been scored by Halliday. Everything below is what is actually on the shelf.
Four tiers, two grapes that matter
The range reads more simply than the label count suggests. Classic Dry White, Red and Rosé are the by-the-dozen wines, made to be drunk young. Filius is the step up, varietal wines with genuine regional character around the $26 mark. The Premier tier carries the Vasse Felix Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon, drawn from the estate's better plots. Above those sit the single-plot Chardonnay and the two icons: Heytesbury Chardonnay, and the Tom Cullity Cabernet Malbec made from vines descended from the founder's own 1967 plantings.
Margaret River built its reputation on Cabernet. The awards suggest the Chardonnay has caught up.
| Wine | Price | Window | In brief |
|---|---|---|---|
| Filius Chardonnay 2025 | $26 | Now–2029 | Rockmelon, lemon curd, fine limestone line. |
| Filius Cabernet Merlot 2024 | $26 | Now–2031 | The softer of the two Filius reds. |
| Filius Sauvignon Blanc 2025 | $26 | Now–2028 | Textured rather than grassy. |
| Filius Cabernet Sauvignon 2024 | $27 | Now–2034 | A little Malbec in the blend. Blackberry, dried herbs, cedar. |
| Filius Shiraz 2024 | $27 | Now–2030 | Dark cherry, pepper, soft tannin. |
| Sauvignon Blanc 2023 | $33 | Now–2028 | Savoury and worked. Feijoa, sandalwood, pear skin. |
| Syrah 2024 | $37 | Now–2032 | Medium-bodied and spicy, not a Barossa build. |
| Chardonnay 2025 | $40 | Now–2033 | The Premier Chardonnay. Rockmelon, flint, sea spray. |
| Cabernet Sauvignon 2023 | $55 | 2026–2038 | The Premier Cabernet, from the estate's top vineyards. |
| DHJ1 Single Plot Chardonnay 2024 | $85 | Now–2036 | One cool pocket of Wallcliffe, old Gingin clone. 31 bottles. |
| Heytesbury Chardonnay 2024 | $140 | 2026–2040 | The flagship white. White peach, grapefruit, cashew, saline edge. |
| Tom Cullity Cabernet Malbec 2023 | $198 | 2028–2045 | 79% Cabernet, 21% Malbec, from the 1967 lineage. |
Five to start with
2025 Filius Chardonnay
NoseRockmelon, lemon-herb butter and Granny Smith apple, with a cool cucumber note and a thread of limestone.
PalateLight and finely built around a restrained creamy core. Lemon curd and polished acidity to a dry, faintly powdery finish.
CellarDrink now – 2029 · Peak 2026 – 2028 · Serve 10°C
The house style in miniature, at a price that suits a Tuesday. If you think Australian Chardonnay means butter and oak, start here. Fish and chips done properly.
2025 Vasse Felix Chardonnay
NoseRockmelon, citrus blossom and nectarine over savoury herbs, with flint and a sea-spray lift.
PalateMedium-bodied and fleshy, held by fresh acidity and fine dry phenolics. Concentrated stone fruit, then smoke and cream from barrel fermentation.
CellarDrink now – 2033 · Peak 2028 – 2031 · Serve 11–12°C
The clearest view of what won those awards without going to three figures. Most of the Heytesbury character is here, with less length and less time needed. The bottle we open for people who say they have gone off Chardonnay. Roast chicken.
2024 DHJ1 Single Plot Chardonnay
NoseLemon pith, grapefruit and white nectarine, with ginger, wet stone and a savoury undertow.
PalateIntense and narrow in the best sense. Small bunches and tiny berries give concentration without weight, and the finish is all line rather than breadth.
CellarDrink now – 2036 · Peak 2029 – 2034 · Serve 12°C
One cool pocket of the Wallcliffe vineyard, planted to the old Gingin clone on karri loam over laterite. This is the estate arguing with itself about what Margaret River Chardonnay should be, and it is the most Burgundian thing they make. Thirty-one bottles here.
2024 Heytesbury Chardonnay
NoseWhite peach, grapefruit and preserved lemon with toasted cashew, brioche and flowers, over a flinty, saline edge.
PalateMedium to full-bodied and shapely, with vibrant acidity. Citrus, stone fruit and nutty oak over a chalky backbone, finishing long and precise.
CellarDrink 2026 – 2040 · Peak 2029 – 2035 · Decant 30 min if opened young
The flagship, and the wine to put beside a Puligny if you want to settle an argument. Generous fruit, but the tension is what stays with you. The 2023 is the vintage Halliday crowned; this is the next one, and there are seven bottles. Lobster or scallops, and a few years in the cellar first.
2023 Tom Cullity Cabernet Malbec
NoseRaspberry, dried cranberry and cassis with violet, cedar, mushroom, wet gravel and a sweet paprika note.
PalatePure and composed rather than loud. Summer berry fruit with real concentration, ultra-fine tannin, and French oak kept firmly in a supporting role.
CellarDrink 2028 – 2045 · Peak 2032 – 2040 · Decant 1–2 hrs
Cabernet with Malbec alongside it is exactly what Cullity planted in 1967, and this comes from vines descended from those. Halliday's citation named the 2021 as the peak of Willcock's Cabernet work; this is the current release of the same wine. Beef Wellington, or a birthday worth the trouble.
Where to go from here
If you want the Cabernet story without the icon price, the 2023 Cabernet Sauvignon ($55) is the Premier-tier step up from Filius and wants a few years. The 2023 Sauvignon Blanc ($33) is worth a look if the grassy style has worn thin, since this one is savoury and textured instead. For a table rather than a cellar, the Classic Dry White, Red and Rosé come by the dozen at $255. The full range sits on the Vasse Felix collection page.
Cullity was one of three doctors who started Margaret River, alongside Kevin Cullen and Bill Pannell of Moss Wood, and their estates tell the rest of the story: browse Cullen and the wider Margaret River range, or read our note on the 2023 Moss Wood Cabernet. If you are not sure when to open the Heytesbury, our guide to drinking windows covers it.
Shop the Vasse Felix collection →
Looking for a back vintage or a magnum? info@winemore.com.au · Wine More Cellars, Chadstone