These are amongst some of the purest and most elegant wines in Australia. The Omrah range offer exquisite value, whilst the jewel's of the range under the Plantagenet badge are amongst the finest wines in the new world pantheon.
The Rocky Horror Vineyard
Established in 1975 the winery is located in the tiny Mount Barker town (population just 1,000), a sub-district of the Great Southern region in Western Australia.The area is famous for its premium quality, cool climate wine production, its proximity to the Southern Ocean ensuring the slow ripening of the grapes which can provide wines of exquisitely delicate fruit composition and remarkable aromatic qualities.Plantagenet’s five vineyards are located to the south and west of the town. The best fruit hailing from the Wyjup, Rocky Horror and Rosetta vineyards.
Perhaps the most exciting development in Plantagenet’s recent history has been the acquisition of legendary winemaker John Durham who joined Plantagenet from the world-famous Cape Mentelle winery in 2007. John is a softly-spoken but passionate defender of the traditional values of Australian winemaking and a vocal aggressor against “Brand Australia” or as he calls it “Sausage Factory Winemaking”, essentially the homogenisation of winemaking and the driving force behind bulky, synthetic, over-alcoholic corp-blends.
The tiny town of Mount Barker, 3 hours south of Margaret River has been the perfect refuge for John. Here John has been able to employ three decades of experience with one remit and one remit only – to make the best possible wines at all cost. In 2006 Plantagenet made the decision that Australia, and particularly Western Australia must focus on wines of regional character (terroir) and on premium wines that reflect the particular climatic conditions of Western Australia. After-all, WA had spent decades convincing the world that it’s cool-climate conditions enabled the creation of wines to match the classic regions of France, so why-on-earth switch and try to mimic the juice lakes of South Australia and Central California?
This reawakening of the original philosophy of Plantagenet was irresistible to a man like John Durham. Since John took control of winemaking the calibre of the wines being produced by Plantagenet has taken a massive leap forward (and there were few reasons for complaint to begin with).
It's difficult to pick star wines from the range as so many of the current crop are excellent.