The Wyjup Collection is the best natural expression of the Mount Barker terroir…
Picked from the finest parcels of fruit from our estate vineyards.
- Plantagenet
”The Wyjup range of ultra-premium wines is upstanding.”
- Ray Jordan
Plantagenet is one of a handful of wineries that are repositioning the Mount Barker and Great Southern Regions to that of being one of Australia’s and the new world’s finest wine regions.
The Wyjup Riesling & Cabernet are marvelous and the Plantagenet range are some of the the great values coming from the Great Southern.
- John Jens
Plantagenet: Wyjup Collection Release
Hosted by Tom Wisdom, Owner & Mike Garland, Winemaker
Saturday 23 August
Lunch: Noon - 3pm, 14 Wines & 4 Courses, $145
Masterclass: 4-6pm, 14 Wines with Kate Lamont nibbles, $75
Dinner: 7pm, 14 Wines & 4 Course Menu, $145
Plantagenet’s Great Southern Vineyards
Plantagenet Wines was one of the pioneers of the Great Southern wine region, with vineyards first planted in 1968 in Mount Barker. The first vintage produced in the region was at Plantagenet winery, a converted apple packing shed in the middle of town in 1975.
Today, this is the site of the cellar door, where a range of cool-climate wines can be tasted. Plantagenet is renowned for producing elegant and ageable wines of distinction with fruit sourced from low-yielding, aged vineyards.
Plantagenet Wines was owned by the Lionel Samson group, one of the oldest family businesses in Australia until 2021 and was acquired by Tom Wisdom, himself a 6th-generation descendant of Lionel Samson. Plantagenet is best known for highly aromatic riesling, tangy citrus-tinged chardonnay, glorious Rhone-style shiraz and ultra-stylish cabernet sauvignon.
- James Suckling, The Wine Companion
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Family-owned since 1968, Plantagenet has been imbued with the pioneering spirit of Tony Smith, the founder who envisaged great things for his land in Mount Barker, and so – established the very first Great Southern Vineyards.
After a long-standing association with Plantagenet Wines, Lionel Samson Sadleirs Group progressively acquired Plantagenet shareholding until full ownership in 2000 where the first order of business was to retain Tony Smith as Chairman of the company.
A pioneer of the Great Southern region, Plantagenet embodies the best of Western Australia with its distinctive, elegant wines. Steeped in a rich heritage, Plantagenet’s expressive wines and family-owned sensibility make it one of the most trusted wine brands in the country.
Producing around 30,000 Dozen cases of wine annually, Plantagenet exports to the UK, USA, Canada, Japan, Taiwan, China, Hong Kong, Singapore as well as also supplying the domestic market.
Today, Plantagenet continues to be a family-owned business with Tom & Jo Wisdom at the helm and a vision to create wines of provenance and distinction that truly reflect the outstanding potential of the Great Southern wine region.
- Plantagenet Wines -
Plantagenet’s vineyard estate has been carved out of the regions distinctive Marri Soils named after the massive native Marri, or Red Gum trees that grow here. The soils are ironstone gravelly sandy loams over a base of clay or ironstone rock. The vineyard block sites were selected where good water drainage allows control over vine vigour, one of the most important determinants of fruit quality.
Irrigation is used infrequently and only to supplement natural rainfall events forcing the vine roots deep into the subsoil and building natural resilience within the vine. The combination of soils, landforms and climate – or terroir – creates wines of rare distinction and quality.
High quality blocks from these vineyards are well known to the winemaking team and special care and attention is given throughout the growing season to those that historically make the “Wyjup Collection” and Plantagenet Estate wines. -
Named after Helen Pleydell –Bouverie, the mother of Plantagenet Wines’ founder Tony Smith, Bouverie was the first estate vineyard to be planted. Established in 1968 these old vines now produce the exceptional fruit required for our signature Wyjup Collection Range of Cabernet Sauvignon, Shiraz, Pinot Noir and Chardonnay.
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Wyjup was the second vineyard to be planted in 1971. Wyjup is the aboriginal name for the area which is some 40 km south west of Mount Barker. The vineyard is still the backbone of the Wyjup Collection & Plantagenet Range with consistently exceptional fruit being produced each vintage from mature low yielding vines.
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The Crystal Brook vineyard is located 4 km from Rocky Horror and was planted in 1988. Like Rocky Horror, the site was also dotted with massive subsurface boulders at the time of vineyard establishment. This time the rocks were crushed, mixed with organic matter and fertiliser and added back to the soil. The vines thrived in this fertile environment, and within five years the fruit was already full of flavour.
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Located 15 km south of Mount Barker, Rocky Horror 1 was planted in 1999. It took two years to clear the intended vineyard site of massive subsurface boulders, some of which were the size of small cars! Once removed, many of the boulders were transported to nearby port town of Albany and used for the construction of a breakwater in King George Sound.
The Wine List and Menu
On Arrival
2024 Plantagenet ‘Angevin’ Riesling
93 Points - Mike Bennie, Halliday’s Wine Companion
A fleshy, juicy rendering of the variety. Perhaps missing some zip and zing, but the general freshness, fruit character and depth here do find the word complexity laid into review. It's lime and green apple with preserved Japanese ginger and a lick of sea spray. Pleasing, earlier drinking is the motif.
2024 Plantagenet ‘Wyjup’ Riesling
92 Points - Stuart Knox, The Real Review
Light and bright lemon, touch of lime shines in the light. Lemon zest, crushed shells and dried papaya aromas. Great drive, with good citrus fruit intensity running down the middle. Acidity is accentuated by an oyster shell note and the finish is bracingly taut. Will cellar well
Olives, squid ink and truffle salumi
First Bracket
2024 Plantagenet ‘York’ Chardonnay
95 Points - Mike Bennie, Halliday’s Wine Companion
A layered, dense chardonnay with loads of nougat, woody spice and creamy vanilla oak over nectarine and peach, red apple, brown lime, ginger biscuits and oatmeal. Concentrated and dense, quite tight through the finish, but trails off with minerally complexity. It's a serious, stately chardonnay and does this all very well.
2023 Plantagenet ‘Wyjup’ Chardonnay (New Release)
Stracciatella, petit tomaotes, salsa verde
2024 Plantagenet ‘Normand’ Pinot Noir
2023 Plantagenet ‘Wyjup’ Pinot Noir (New Release)
Roasted mushrooms, almond XO
2021 Plantagenet ‘Wyjup’ Cabernet Sauvignon (New Release)
2020 Plantagenet ‘Wyjup’ Cabernet Sauvignon
Beautifully structured and powerful wine from this very early and short vintage. Perfumed blackcurrant and chalk dust over ripe dark plum. It’s an elegant wine of great structure and refinement. Strikes a great balance of fruit, oak and tannin, contributing to a precise and elegant palate feel. Aromatics are quite beautiful. This is cabernet of great style. Love the smooth velvety mouth feel.
97 Points Ray Jordan
2018 Plantagenet Icon 'Lionel Samson' Cabernet Sauvignon
98 Points Ray Jordan, The West
The intention is that this wine will only be released from the best vintages and 2018 was certainly one of the very best. Sourced from the Wyjup vineyard planted in 1971. Leafy, wild fruit aromas with a mix of bay leaf and meaty tobacco and black olive. It's compelling stuff from the outset. The palate has excellent structure, based on the deeply concentrated medium to full-bodied fruit and supported with slick, fine tannins and a neat oak addition. A regal and polished cabernet worthy of a first release."
Seared sirloin, roasted fennel, mustard dressing
2022 Plantagenet ‘Wyjup’ Malbec
Rated #1 2022 Malbec in Australia - The Real Review
Inky, briary and intense, this is a cracking wine stuffed full of high-quality juicy fruit, complemented by gentle savoury notes that add depth and complexity. Not overly dense or cloying, and is all the better for it, allowing the fruit to sit front and centre under the spotlight. Just so delicious, no aging required! If you see this on a wine list, I recommend you try it."
94 Points -Barry Weinman, Fine Wine Club.
2023 Plantagenet ‘Wyjup’ Malbec (New Release)
2021 Plantagenet ‘Wyjup’ Shiraz (New Release)
94 Points - Mike Bennie, Halliday’s Wine Companion
Big and bold shiraz that finds its groove. Opens with a fog of scent in blackberries, mocha, game meat, clove and pencil shavings with faint roast meat elements. The palate is deep in choc-berry territory, more of the meaty pan juice character emerges, some clove, anise and granitic-minerally elements, too. A serious feeling wine with lots of depth and character, layers to it all, and a sense that this is great for longer term cellaring.
2019 Plantagenet ‘Wyjup’ Shiraz
93 Points James Suckling, jamessuckling.com
Aromas of red cherries, red licorice, rosemary, and black pepper. Medium-bodied with silky tannins. Linear on the palate with the herbal character building as the palate evolves. The fruit at the centre remains fresh throughout.
2018 Plantagenet Icon 'Tony Smith’ Shiraz
97 Points Ray Jordan, The West
In the blink of an eye, the new owners have released a wine that pays worthy tribute to Plantagenet founder Tony Smith. It is sourced from the Bouverie vineyard, which was planted back in 1968, making it one of the oldest in the Great Southern. A deep mix of gravelly dark berry with a little edgy graphite and ironstone. A lovely perfumed, spicy note mix greets immediately. The palate is tightly wound yet generous with immense power and concentrated depth of fruit Oak and tannin combination works its magic to hold the line through to a very long finish.