From new plantings to the established blocks, the vineyard is full of activity as the vines continue their journey toward a vibrant and flavour-packed harvest. Here's an update from Head of Viticulture, Mike Saunders...

"The big news this week is that the new planting in Block 7 is complete. Buds are pushing, and baby Chardonnay vines are underway!

As we don’t use herbicides, these little babies will get a thick cover of compost and mulch in early January to help suppress weeds and retain moisture. Any weeds that pop through will be pulled by hand to minimise soil disturbance as the young vines establish their roots. They’ll be watered daily for their first year, after which we’ll begin weaning them off to encourage their roots to grow deep and search for water.

Around the rest of the block, work continues with spraying and irrigating the vineyard. At the moment, the goal with water is to keep the vines at full water capacity to support fruit set and berry development. Soon, we’ll start to taper off to allow the vines to struggle just a little, helping to concentrate flavours. Mercifully, pest presence has begun to taper off, and encouragingly, any affected vines are showing signs of new growth at the tips.

In terms of growth phase, the whites—specifically Chardonnay—have just passed through lag phase and are heading toward veraison in the first week of January. Lag phase is a two-to-three-week period when berries grow to peppercorn size, then pause their development in favour of building acids and sugars. Veraison is the magical point when berries soften, rapidly accumulate sugar, and grow dramatically in size on their way to harvest. The reds, including Syrah and Cabernet, are a couple of weeks behind, with veraison expected to start mid-to-late January.

Elsewhere in the vineyard, we’re lifting wires to support the soft green growth and keep it upright, ensuring it intercepts as much sunlight as possible. A little leaf removal is underway, particularly in Syrah and Cabernet, where we’re focusing on the morning side of the canopy to let softer sunlight reach the fruit. This approach aids ripening, flavour development, and spray penetration while helping with maintaining vine health. Thanks to earlier shoot thinning, the vines are well set up with excellent airflow and light exposure, requiring only a few small tweaks to fine-tune their balance."

Recently, wine lovers gathered for a sunset evening of Voyager wines in the bustling Servo precinct of Leederville. With Perth’s city lights as a backdrop and the vibrant pre-weekend energy setting the scene, Tasting on the Terrace offered a fun, midweek escape and an opportunity to try classics, as well as new drops from our collection.

The evening began with a glass of Sparkling Rosé as guests arrived followed by a guided tasting, where revellers could explore five wines of their choosing from our line-up. From zesty whites to velvety reds, the wines offered a glimpse into the exciting evolution of Voyager Estate.

Guests embraced the chance to learn, laugh and savour as they delved into the nuances of each glass—each one a reflection of our commitment to sustainability and innovation. The setting sun added its own magic, casting a warm glow over the terrace and signalling the start of summer. 

The evening didn’t end there, with many taking advantage of the vibrant Leederville vibe, heading downstairs for dinner or an additional glass of Voyager wine at Servo, rounding out their night with good food and great company.

Thank you to all the old friends and fresh faces who joined us for this special pop-up event. Stay tuned for more experiences in 2025 as we bring a taste of Margaret River to exciting venues around Perth and beyond.

Images by Spectacle Media.

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Our Head of Viticulture, Mike Saunders, delves into the intricacies of vine management as we creep ever closer to vintage 2025.

"Our team is now in full swing with spray applications. As I shared last time, we stick to organic, elemental products that need reapplying every 7-10 days, depending on the level of biological stress. Sometimes it feels like we’re just finishing one round and starting another, but clean, healthy fruit is our top priority—and every effort goes toward crafting remarkable wines.

We’re also doing night spraying to manage weevils, which are most active after dark. During the day, they hide from the sun under the bark on the vines’ trunks, but at night they climb up to feed. We use a potassium-based spray along with silica to strengthen plant resilience, making the leaves less appealing to weevils. Spraying at night also helps physically knock the weevils off the vines, as they’re higher up and actively feeding.

This week, we’re beginning tucking rounds, lifting wires to shape the vines into a neat hedge structure. This setup helps ensure even sun exposure and clears space for tractors and sprayers to pass without damaging the vines. In some blocks, however, we’re allowing the vines to “sprawl” without tucking, which promotes natural airflow and dappled light for slower, more balanced ripening—especially ideal for Cabernet. It may look a bit wild, but it’s worth it for optimal ripening.

Flowering has begun in nearly all Chenin and Chardonnay blocks, while the reds are about a week behind. Take a moment to spot the tiny yellow stamens emerging from the baby clusters in the vines; each pollinated stamen will turn into a berry. We’re counting these clusters now to get our initial yield estimates—fingers crossed for a fruitful season!

Finally, shoot thinning is nearly complete. We’ve gone through each block to remove non-fruitful or unintended shoots. Keep an eye out for the ideal Simonit & Sirch replacement spur in cane-pruned blocks—it should have two buds, one beneath and one above, ready for next season’s pruning."

The Vineyard Team are working hard to build up vine health and resilience ahead of the new season. Here's a snapshot from Head of Viticulture, Mike Saunders, on this very busy time...

"As a certified organic vineyard, we don’t use synthetic or man-made products, relying instead on naturally occurring materials to maintain vine health. Two of the oldest and most effective plant protectants, sulphur and copper, have been used in agriculture for centuries, with records of their use dating back to ancient Greece. Their main role in our vineyard is to prevent powdery mildew. Because these products work through contact, they only protect the areas they touch, so we spray on calm days to minimise drift and ensure good coverage. As natural products, they aren’t absorbed into the plant and wear off relatively quickly, requiring reapplication every 7 to 10 days to keep the canopy and fruit clean.

In contrast, synthetic products penetrate the plant, providing internal protection but leaving chemical residues, however small, in the harvested fruit. This is a major reason we prioritise organic methods—we believe in producing fruit without these residues.

Our approach to fertilisation follows the same philosophy. We use natural products like a blend of fish carcasses and seaweed, which provide essential micronutrients for flowering and fruit set. In addition, we apply naturally occurring phosphorus, potassium, calcium, magnesium, and silicate to strengthen the vines and support their natural defences against disease.

At this time of year, you’ll see the team working on weed management. Weeds compete with the vines for water and nutrients, so we’re removing competition from directly beneath the vines. Our cover crops are also being crimped and mulched down after a season of scavenging nutrients from the soil and atmosphere. These crops help support beneficial organisms and insects, but they can also pose risks by providing pathways for pests like weevils and increasing humidity. Balancing the benefits of cover crops with the need to protect the vines is an important part of our management strategy.

Meanwhile, we're also busy maintaining trellis systems for wire lifting, fertigating and irrigating, counting bunches to get an early estimate of yield potential, and shoot thinning to ensure we leave just the right amount of shoots to bear fruit."

Our Head of Viticulture, Mike Saunders, shares the all the vineyard activity as spring growth surges and the team prepare for a new season.

"Budburst is now complete across all our blocks, with Cabernet Sauvignon being the last to emerge. Chenin and Chardonnay, on the other hand, have been charging along for about a month and are already reaching the 7–8 leaf stage in some areas.

This is a crucial time in the vineyard as we focus on maintaining healthy vines. We're busy managing sprays to protect against powdery mildew, and potentially downy mildew if the rain persists. We’re also closely monitoring the moon phases, as weevils tend to appear around the first full moon in October. However, early soil checks suggest they might arrive sooner this year.

As part of our organic approach, we don’t use herbicides. Instead, we manage competition under the vines through mechanical weeding, which we’ll be doing full-time over the next few weeks. This method not only helps reduce competition for nutrients but also controls weevils in the soil.

Canopy management is also top of mind right now. We’re going through the process of shoot thinning, leaving only the shoots that bear fruit or originate from the buds we selected during pruning. This ensures consistent fruit quality and gives the vines ample time to ripen throughout the season. We’ll begin with Chenin and Chardonnay, moving on to the reds in the next week or two.

With the vines in a period of rapid growth, we’re also feeding them with seaweed and fish-based fertilisers to support healthy shoot development.

In Block 8, we’re rejuvenating a section by re-trunking half the block to combat trunk disease. Rather than replanting, we’re cutting the vines low to encourage new watershoots that will replace the old trunks, giving these vines a fresh start."

Our Chief Winemaker, Tim Shand, shares the latest from the winery as the team prepares to blend our Chardonnay.

"Blending our 2024 Voyager Estate Chardonnay is a task we usually tackle in November. However, due to the earlier and warmer harvest this year, we’ve noticed the wines evolving a little faster than usual. As a result, we'll be bringing them out of the barrel and starting the blending process sooner.

The journey begins with blind tastings of every Chardonnay batch that's been aging in oak. By tasting blind, we remove any biases, ensuring we're grading based purely on quality. From there, the batches are assigned to one of three categories: MJW, Voyager Estate, or Coastal. Next, we individually taste every barrel in each batch to ensure the consistency we expect across the group.

For the blending process, we start by combining all the barrels graded as Voyager Estate and above. We then refine the blend to ensure it meets our standards in both style and quality. If possible, we’ll pull aside a few exceptional barrels for our MJW Chardonnay, only made in really great years.

We're pleased with the quality of the 2024 vintage, but as with every year, we will be selective to ensure only the best wines make it into bottle."

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We're thrilled to launch our brand-new certified organic 2023 Voyager Estate Syrah—a meticulously crafted wine three decades in the making. Sourced from our finest Shiraz vineyards, our vision for the Syrah was to express the detail and finesse that is possible from our cooler coastal site in Stevens Valley.

For those curious about what makes it truly distinct, Chief Winemaker, Tim Shand, delves into the Syrah story—from the handpicked vineyard blocks to the subtle shifts in winemaking, and how the cooler season shaped this vintage.

How do you interpret the Syrah style in general?

Syrah, for me, is mostly about tension. While Shiraz can be rich and opulent with its fruit, Syrah is about balancing that richness with savoury notes and bright, light fruit. It’s a style where the tannins hold everything in check, giving the palate focus.

How did you approach making our new Syrah at Voyager Estate?

Our approach at Voyager Estate was to focus on expressing tension and balance. We used whole bunches not just for tannin and dusty savouriness but also to enhance the aromatics, which helps to clip the natural generosity and voluptuousness of Shiraz. We've also made significant changes in our use of oak—only 10% is new, with larger puncheons and less time in barrel.

How would you describe our Syrah in terms of style and flavour?

It all goes back to tension. That aromatic bright fruit meeting graphite and spice. It’s not light in body but feels lighter on its feet. It offers a savoury finish rather than one that's oaky or sweet. The tannins are supple and consistent, without being over-extracted, providing a dustiness that complements the red fruit profile. The oak presence is very much in the background.

How does our Syrah express a sense of place?

In Stevens Valley, the cooler climate and coastal breezes give our grapes extra time to develop on the vine, especially the tannins, which ripen at a relaxed pace. This results in a Syrah that expresses a beautiful balance between boldness and savouriness – a hallmark of Shiraz from our unique site. Carefully selected gravel vineyards and vine age bring complexity and depth. These older vines, rooted in certified organic, free draining soils, produce fruit with a concentration that’s not easily achieved elsewhere in Margaret River.

What do you love most about it?

I love that this wine encapsulates 30 years of work in both the vineyard and the winery, into a wine that we want to make and that we want to put all our energy behind. It reflects our commitment to organic practices, the unique vineyard site, and our overall vision for Voyager Estate.

What is your favourite way to drink it?

Definitely with lamb dishes! North African or Middle Eastern cuisine. Anything where the meat will be a little lighter and has more spice. A tagine would be epic. Its elegance makes it a very versatile red though – it could suit many different situations.

Add the new 2023 Syrah to your collection here.

   

We're thrilled to welcome Mike Saunders to Voyager Estate as our Head of Viticulture. Mike’s passion for viticulture traces back to his childhood, where his love for farming first took root. At just seven years old, he was already behind the wheel of a tractor alongside his grandad, captivated by the outdoors and the land. This early connection led him to pursue a Degree in Horticulture and sparked a lifelong fascination. Mike brings a wealth of experience and deep expertise in managing organic vineyards to the team, having honed his skills over many seasons at some of New Zealand's most celebrated wineries.

What drew you to Voyager Estate in Margaret River?

Moving from one beautiful part of the world to another! If you're going to go anywhere in Australia, everyone I've spoken to says Margaret River is the place to be. It almost feels like there's a memo going around, because every person I meet tells me this is the most amazing place. So, either everyone's just on the same page, or it really is the best place in the world!

What fascinates you most about viticulture?

It’s the vine’s ability to grow in any situation, in any environment worldwide. Give the vine two or three core ingredients, and it will do its thing, producing an infinitely variable product. The same vine in different circumstances will create something you’ve never tasted before.

For you, what is the most rewarding aspect of farming organically?

The most rewarding time is that minute that last bunch is picked for the season and you’ve done everything you possibly can to create the best possible fruit and convey that through to the winery. It’s this real mixture of relief and pride and a little bit of grief. It’s the end of one great chapter, but the beginning of another.

What about the most challenging aspect?

Organic viticulture is about doing a million little things at exactly the right time. As we don’t have the silver bullets with organics, we’ve got to be so much more observant. We’ve also got to be so much more proactive and in tune with the environment that the vines are in. But if we’re doing our job right, nailing the balance within the ecosystem, then everything else kind of just flows on from there.

How do you think farming practices manifest in the final wine?

Everything that has impacted those grapes, and then the wine, is reflected in the final product. The wine is the ultimate distillation of an entire year’s work—of the vineyard team’s commitment, the climate, the weather, and how we treat the fruit when it hits the winery.

In Margaret River, we are known for our worldclass Chardonnay. What excites you about this variety? 

I think Chardonnay is one of those wines that has got an incredible ability to be infinitely variable. So it takes on the persona of the viticulturist, it takes on the persona of the winemaker, and it takes on the flavours of the environment that it’s grown and made in. It takes on all the outside impact and outside influences, brings them all into itself, and radiates out something beautiful.

What will your first year at Voyager Estate look like?

There’s going to be a lot of observation, a lot of getting to know the vines, getting to know the people, getting to know the climate, and then seeing how we can start to shape those things into what we want them to be. So yes, a lot of observation in the first year, get a harvest under the belt, get the fruit into the winery, and start tasting.

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The results of this year’s edition of Halliday Wine Companion are in, and we’re thrilled to share that along with some absolutely fantastic scores, we have once again been awarded a five-star rating, placing us alongside the top wineries in the region:

"Outstanding winery regularly producing wines of exemplary quality and typicity. Will have at least two wines rated at 95 points or above and has typically held a five-star rating for the previous three years" – Halliday Wine Companion.

We were particularly excited to see four of our wines receive gold and silver ratings from esteemed wine reviewer, Jane Faulkner.

2020 MJW Cabernet Sauvignon – 96 points | GOLD RATED

The flagship, the tribute wine, so no pressure. It must be distinct and the best of the best. All cabernet on show here with its heady aromatics, a whorl of blackberries and boysenberries, bay leaves and some mint plus an array of exotic spices from cinnamon to star anise alongside cedary, choc-creamy oak. Fuller-bodied and flavoursome, richly so but not dense as chalky, textural tannins glide across the palate and the acidity follows closely behind like curling, cleaning and refreshing everything in its wake. Powerful and ready now but so worth cellaring.

2022 MJW Chardonnay – 96 points | GOLD RATED | Fold member exclusive

A powerhouse of a wine, and yet, acidity rules, so it becomes refined, long and pure in its own way. Moreish and savoury with white stone fruit and citrus, flinty and tangy, with the oak completely supportive and unobtrusive. Quite delicious and complex too.

2022 Voyager Estate Chardonnay – 95 points | GOLD RATED

At first, the distinct lime oil and cedar character of the 30% new French oak comes to the fore, but with a decent airing, all the other flavours come into play and meld as one. It’s a very good wine. With white peach, pink grapefruit and zest, this is spicy, savoury and succulent. The palate layered with textural lees and superfine acidity leads it to a long finish.

2023 Voyager Estate Coastal Chardonnay – 92 points | SILVER RATED & SPECIAL VALUE

Such a pleasing drink as it’s not too heavy, not too light, but just right. A complete combo of white stone fruit, woodsy spices, creamy, nutty lees and a lick of vanillin/cedary oak. The acidity keeps this vibrant and refreshing.

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The 2024 vintage saw the return of a much-loved staff training initiative: the Team Winemaking Project. Over the last year, the Cellar Door team have nurtured four rows of heritage Grenache vines, originally planted in 1978, through every stage of the winemaking process – from pruning to bottling.

The journey began with enthusiasm and a thirst for knowledge. With guidance from Chief Winemaker, Tim Shand, our team immersed themselves in every aspect of viticulture and winemaking. This project provided an invaluable opportunity to translate their theoretical knowledge into practical skills while also enjoying the beauty of working outdoors.

The first task was pruning the vines over a couple of cool, sunny winter mornings. The team watched a professional pruning video first to learn the perfect technique, but among the vines, reality set in as they navigated the gnarly trunks out in the field. Despite the challenges, they forged ahead, perhaps with a few too many buds left behind. All part of the learning curve!

Throughout the growing season, the team regularly visited the block, monitoring and completing the manual tasks the vines needed. They extensively shoot-thinned to ensure even distribution of canes and fruit, lifted wires, plucked excess leaves, and removed lateral shoots. In mid-January, about 30% of the bunches were dropped as they went through veraison, allowing the remaining fruit to develop better flavour and ripeness.

As harvest time approached, ripeness was tested. The team carefully harvested a representative selection of the precious bunches. They then took the grapes to the winery, where they destemmed, hand-crushed, and began the fermentation process. After several weeks of testing and tasting, the grapes were finally picked before the rains came.

Following the harvest, the Grenache was processed, retaining whole bunches. The team foot-stomped, tested every few days as the wine fermented, and eventually basket-pressed the fruit. The wine was then racked to a concrete egg for a couple of months before bottling, capping, and labelling with striking artwork designed by team member and emerging artist, Rebeca Vonk Marins.

Many thanks are owed to Chief Winemaker, Tim Shand, for guiding the team from the very beginning, and to the Vineyard and Winery crew for their assistance throughout the project. The team gained a wealth of knowledge through the process, both in the vineyard, learning about the many tasks required to ensure the grapes reached ripeness and were harvested in pristine condition, and also in the winery, learning about the intricacies of whole bunch fermentation. The best part of course, was taking home their hand-crafted magnum of Grenache at the end – one of only 35 produced – a delicious and exclusive memento for all their hard work!

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