Anyone who has sat outside on a warm summer day and sipped the Abbey Vale Verdelho over an excellent lunch will know what perfection in this delightful style is all about.

Abbey Vale's multi-awarding wine may well be the best example of the variety produced in Australia. It possesses all the rich and opulent flavours inherent in the grape, helped along by the vineyard's sun-splashed terroir.

Indeed, if Cape Mentelle was responsible for proving that Cabernet Sauvignon was ideally suited to the Margaret River region, and Leeuwin Estate kicked off our Chardonnay revolution, then Abbey Vale can rightfully lay claim to the Verdelho crown on the Cape. No one does it better.

However the Verdelho is just one of a number of excellent wines now produced at Abbey Vale. The picturesque winery at the Yallingup end of the cape is the brainchild of the dynamic Bill and Pam McKay, who purchased the farm property in 1975 as an investment. They had previously travelled the world, starting from Ireland, where Bill trained as an electrical engineer. Their travels took them to Uganda, the UK, Canada and California before they settled in Perth, where Bill established an electrical business.

Their son Kevin was influential in the McKay's foray into the wine industry. Having worked at the neighbouring Amberley Estate property during trips to the South West, Kevin decided that he would like to go into vines and wine in Margaret River. A vineyard was established on the farm in 1986, and the first fruit produced was sold to Houghton before the McKays established their own label. At this point, Bill and Pam decided they too would devote they energies to the wine industry and so began yet another career change.

Along the way Bill also established the Moonshine Brewery at the Abbey Vale property, not being sure that the fledgling winery could survive just selling wine. The beer was an immediate hit and Abbey Vale was producing up to 3000 litres a week at its peak. Yet despite their success with the amber liquid, the McKays decided that wine was the future and they sold the brewery operation.

Although Abbey Vale remains very much a family business, prominent wine consultant Dorham Mann has guided the winemaking philosophy at the winery for the past five years. A string of show medals in the last few years has confirmed both Dorham's inimitable touch and the quality of fruit coming off the warm, well-protected vineyard tended by Kevin McKay.

All the wines are well-made, flavoursome and totally approachable. Yet although Abbey Vale has achieved great results with both red and white varieties, it is the whites that seem to have achieved the most accolades.

The aforementioned Verdelho is a powerful, fruity wine that is clean and fresh with strong, ripe passionfruit and tropical fruit characters and a long dry finish. However the Verdelho's uniqueness has perhaps overshadowed the brilliance of the Abbey Vale Semillon. This is consistently one of the finest Semillons in the region. It is 100% Semillon, cold fermented in stainless steel and bottled early (without oak) in traditional fashion. The 1996 was a superb wine and was placed in the Top 100 wines at 1997 Sydney International Wine Competition.

The wine offers up a fresh, youthful and seductive bouquet with passionfruit nuances. Sophisticated handling gives the wine a swathe of aromatic flavours ranging from citrus to subtle herbal. A delicious and intense white.

The winery's reds have also also grown in stature in recent years. They are big, fruit driven styles typical of the appelation and have excellent aging capacity.

The Merlot Shiraz is the only blend of its kind produced in the region and has great potential, while the Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon drinks well young, but will be at its best over a decade further down the track. The reds are well made, and offer up big, powerful fruit characters in true Margaret River style.

Abbey Vale Vineyard has gone from strength to strength in the last few years, successfully vinifying an ever increasing tonnage off the 30-hectare property, and truly deserves its many show awards.