Weathering the Storm: Margaret River Hones Its Wine Game Amid Climate Change

It was hard to believe, driving from Busselton Airport into the flooded town of Margaret River in July, that Western Australia’s premier wine region had just a year earlier endured its earliest, driest and warmest vintage on record. Water was everywhere, putting into stark relief the conditions of 2024, whose arid harvest followed a near-perfect 2023 and a warmer 2022, raising questions about what would emerge in the glass.

Over five days, I tasted about 170 wines from the region – mostly 2022 and 2023 reds alongside 2023 and 2024 whites – with two earning perfect 100-point scores. Combined with 60 additional reviews from tastings earlier this year, the results confirm that Margaret River, responsible for just 2 to 3 percent of Australia’s grape crush, continues to produce wines of exceptional clarity, precision and sense of place – despite the ever-changing weather.

“We can’t fight climate change — we have to live it,” said Vanya Cullen of Cullen Wines, who noted that average rainfall in Margaret River has dropped about 25 percent over the past 15 years, with July 2025 a wetter moment amid the largely warmer and drier scene.

She described 2024 as “like nothing we’ve ever seen: the earliest, driest and warmest vintage in the record books.” And yet her 2024 offerings retain vibrant acidity and finesse – proof of the resilience of the region’s maritime climate.

Margaret River’s geography provides some natural protection against extremes. The Geographical Indication (GI) covers a narrow strip about 95 kilometers (60 miles) from north to south, bordered by the Indian Ocean to the west and the Southern Ocean to the south. Rolling hills, ancient granite and gneiss soils as well as a network of rivers and estuaries all influence microclimates. While the region is small, unofficial subregions – Wilyabrup, Yallingup, Wallcliffe and Karridale – have long been recognized for their distinctive soils, climates and wine styles.

The region’s modern wine era began in the late 1960s, when agronomist Dr. John Gladstones identified Margaret River’s Bordeaux-like climate and reliable maritime rainfall patterns as ideal for viticulture. His work prompted the establishment of the first commercial vineyard at Vasse Felix in 1967 by Dr. Tom Cullity, followed soon after by Moss Wood and Cullen.

In 1972, the Australian wine industry invited the renowned Napa winemaker Robert Mondavi to tour promising regions, and when he visited Margaret River he was so impressed that he personally encouraged Denis and Tricia Horgan to plant vineyards on their cattle farm, Leeuwin Estate, and produce premium wine. Mondavi’s team advised on vineyard layout, grape selection and winemaking techniques, and it was under this guidance in 1976 that Leeuwin planted its first chardonnay using the Gingin clone – a local variant of Wente sourced from Meursault via California – which would become the foundation for the now-famous Leeuwin Estate Art Series Chardonnay. That block is still producing fruit today and is credited as the first chardonnay planting in Margaret River.

In Wilyabrup, the gravelly loam soil that sits over clay and ironstone encourages deep rooting and concentration, while cooling ocean breezes temper heat. At Vasse Felix, chief winemaker Virginia Wilcox poured the Tom Cullity 2022, a mid-weighted, pure and graceful cabernet-based blend despite the warmth of the season. “If it feels like 17 degrees Celsius [63 Fahrenheit] to us, that’s what the vines feel, too,” she said, underscoring the role of maritime influence in moderating vintage conditions.

She also pointed to the impact of vine age. “The old own-rooted vines bring depth and purity without bold density, producing mid-weighted cabernet with grace and an almost ethereal character,” she said.

Cullen’s Legacy Series wines, including the Vanya Cabernet Sauvignon and Kevin John Chardonnay, are harvested on biodynamic fruit or flower days. Chardonnays receive brief skin contact for phenolic tension, while cabernets ferment in beeswax-lined amphorae. The Cullen Margaret River Vanya Flower Day 2023, from a cooler year, delivers plush fruit, elegant structure and finely grained tannins, earning a near-perfect score. The Diana Madeline 2023 showed similar poise and integration.

Moss Wood remains a premium reference point for cabernet sauvignon in Margaret River. Their Moss Wood Cabernet Sauvignon Margaret River 2022 is firmly structured and layered with tobacco and cassis, true to the estate’s classic style, while the Moss Wood Margaret River Amy's 2023 offers aromatic lift and precision.

Sauvignon blanc, often overshadowed by chardonnay and cabernet here, also makes a strong showing, with Cullen’s 2021 Legacy Series delivering exceptional depth and the Windows Estate Chardonnay Margaret River La Fenêtre 2022 showing an electric, reductive style.

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Margaret River chardonnay is shaped by two main approaches: no-malolactic fermentation to preserve taut acidity, and full malolactic fermentation to build texture while maintaining freshness. Both styles succeed here. Cullen’s Kevin John Flower Day Legacy Series 2024 proves that full malo can still deliver precision, while the 2014 vintage of the same wine – one of two perfect-scoring bottles of the trip – demonstrates remarkable balance and longevity from a warmer year.

At Cloudburst, owner Will Berliner’s 2023 chardonnay, which also garnered a perfect score, combines mineral, saline drive with Burgundian finesse.

“Who would have thought a chardonnay starting that high in acidity could go through malo and stay balanced?” Berliner remarked noting the wine's profound depth of character and place.

In the no-malo camp, Julian Langworthy at Deep Woods Estate crafts chardonnays with coiled tension and natural reduction, with his Deep Woods Estate Chardonnay Margaret River Reserve 2024 reflecting the influence from his time with Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey in Chassagne-Montrachet.

“We don’t chase reduction; it comes naturally from solids and cooler ferments,” he said, noting that the style is built for longevity and detail.

Leeuwin Estate chardonnays follow a similar style. Under head winemaker Phil Hutchinson and viticulturist Lane Williams, the estate is planting new chardonnay blocks around its historic vines to secure the future of its flagship Art Series. The 2022 Art Series, whole-bunch pressed, wild-fermented in French oak and aged with heavy batonnage, remains tightly wound and mineral, built for decades of aging without malolactic conversion.

Moving south, Karridale marks the convergence of the Indian and Southern Oceans, bringing cooler conditions, quartz-rich soils and long ripening seasons. Xanadu’s 2023 Reserve Chardonnay shows saline focus and high-voltage acidity, while the Xanadu Cabernet Sauvignon Margaret River Stevens Road 2022 combines dense fruit with floral and mineral detail.

“In 2023 I had TAs of 8 to 9 grams per liter, which can be frightening early, but it balanced perfectly with fruit concentration as the wine was built in barrel and then with time in bottle,”  said Xanadu’s winemaker, Glenn Goodall, referring to titratable acidity – the total amount of acids in wine.

Karridale is also home to Idée Fixe, Vasse Felix’s sparkling project established in 2018 by owner Paul Holmes à Court. Led by winemaker Michael Langridge, the estate focuses on blanc de blancs from the I7 chardonnay clone, known for its high acidity and neutrality.

“The wines are crafted in the style of producers like Gimonnet in Champagne,” said Brendan Carr, who is part of the winemaking team. The Idée Fixe Western Australia Premier Blanc de Blanc Brut 2022 is made from free-run juice, while the Idée Fixe Western Australia Brut Rosé 2022 includes 7 percent to 8 percent barrel-aged still red pinot noir for structure. A preview of the 2019 Brut Reserve – zero dosage, six years on lees – reveals saline, nutty complexity and fine mousse, underscoring Margaret River’s growing sparkling credentials.

Howard Park’s Jeté Brut, crafted by Nic Bowen, who had previously spent a decade with Ed Carr at House of Arras, further demonstrates the region’s potential for refined sparkling wine. The 2022 base wine, aged 24 months on tirage with 2 g/L dosage, blends chardonnay, pinot noir and meunier into a polished, balanced style.

Margaret River’s identity is shaped not just by its geography and winemaking philosophy but also by its plant material. Around 85 percent of vineyards are still on their own roots  – a rarity in the global wine world – protected from phylloxera by the region’s isolation. The Gingin clone is known for its phenolic grip, high acidity and mineral edge. For cabernet sauvignon, the Houghton clone, brought from Bordeaux in the 1850s via the Swan Valley, remains the backbone, producing small berries with thick skins and fine-grained tannins.

Bordeaux clones such as SA126 are now used alongside Houghton for added depth, while Bernard (Dijon) chardonnay clones are appearing in new plantings, offering complementary styles to Gingin.

The Vasse Felix Chardonnay Margaret River Single Plot DHJ1 2023, from a Dijon clone, demonstrates the variety of expression possible beyond the traditional plantings, earning a near-perfect score.

From Wilyabrup’s fragrant cabernets and textured chardonnays to Karridale’s cool precision and sparkling promise, Margaret River continues to prove itself as one of Australia’s most dynamic fine wine regions. The 2024 vintage tested resilience with heat and dryness, but the best producers adapted, delivering wines with freshness, detail and balance. As Cullen summed it up: “We can’t fight the seasons. We live them and adapt.”

This year’s top releases – from perfumed, structured cabernet sauvignons to chardonnays with both racy tension and layered richness – show a region not just weathering change but shaping its future with confidence.

– Ryan Montgomery, Associate Editor

The list of wines below is comprised of bottles tasted and rated by the JamesSuckling.com tasting team. They include many latest releases not yet available on the market, but which will be available soon. 

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