Venerable Vasse Felix Wine Estate (founded in 1967 by Dr Tom Cullity) is the Margaret River region’s oldest winery, and one of its most elegant.
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Its combination of fine wines, fine dining and fine art reminds me fleetingly of Delaire Graff wine estate n Stellenbosch, South Africa – though the latter is on a far bigger and grander scale.
(Here’s a link to our visit to Delaire Graff with our Californian friends, Ellie and Steve, in January 2020.)
You can explore Vasse Felix’s history in the underground cellar-styled Vault, and browse an interesting art collection in the gallery.
Only estate guests can join the Vasse Felix Alumni – in order to, as the brochure proclaims, “enjoy the most comprehensive experience of our estate and wines”.
It would be rude not to. All that’s required is to buy a case of 12 bottles while you’re there. And as both the Classic Dry White and the Classic Dry Red have been our WA staples for years – they’re well-priced, delicious, and easily available at our local Dan Murphy’s – that was easy peasy.
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Lovely Tanya let us taste the new Classic Dry Rosé, launched just last year. Pale pink, light and refreshing in the Provençale style, it won an instant thumbs-up. She also took our booking for lunch in the restaurant a couple of days later.
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Lunch with the Sadlers
So, a couple of days later, we duly returned to Vasse Felix with Lynn and Kim, who have recently moved into their “cabin” in nearby Yallingup – click here for my recent blog all about that beautiful spot.
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Being alumni, albeit such newly minted ones, entitled us to a glass of the excellent méthode traditionelle sparkling blanc de blancs, but stocks have run out. (There was an edge of excitement and a hint of mystery about something new from Vasse Felix: born of “a blanc de blancs obsession”, it’s a sparkling chardonnay called Idée Fixé.*)
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My gluten-free seed bread and farm butter (above) tasted as good as it looked.
For mains, both Lynn and I plumped for the Japanese-y fish (pink snapper, I think), potato, eel and tobiko, while Roy and Kim went for the pork, pepper, scallop and wakame. The brown stuff was Jerusalem artichoke fried in chicken fat. After that, we shared a trio of cheeses, all excellent: the Ossau-Iray and the Dauphin from France, plus a blue Shropshire. (No Australian cheese – somewhat surprisingly, as the Margaret River region is famed for its dairy produce.)
Finally, Vasse Felix’s own Cane Cut Semillon dessert wine hit the spot for this non-driver.
- A couple of weeks later, Roy surprised me with the arrival of a case of Vasse Felix’s newly released Idée Fixe méthode traditionelle.
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The first bottle was opened last Sunday – to celebrate the birthday and the long, happy life of my beloved mother, Sheila, who would have been 88 on 4 October. Cheers, Mother!