 Brett and Di Roberts
It took Brett and Di Roberts over 10 years to nurse their treasured Osmington property in Margaret River from farm to vineyard and naturally, to producing their own wines.
They have been formative years in a journey that has brought them to part ownership of the Margaret River Regional Wine Centre. The couple see it as a natural progression.
They met at university in Perth and began their respective careers in government professions in Western Australia’s iron ore rich far northern Pilbara region, Di as an English teacher and Brett as Regional Manager for the Department of Sport & Recreation.
Later, job opportunities took them both to the state’s South West where they found their little patch of heaven at Osmington and the hard work really began.
For Di particularly, it was a return home. Her family have been dairy farmers in the Margaret River region most of their lives, as are her brother and nephews.
Brett and Di bought their farm in 1993 and planted the Canebroke Estate Vineyard in 1995, the same years that their two children were born.
They now have 25 acres under vine -- Sauvignon Blanc, Cabernet Sauvignon and Shiraz -- which produce an annual 80-90 tonnes, the bottle range of the same varieties now sold under their Kokopelli label.
Being a small family-owned and operated vineyard has given the Roberts the opportunity to meticulously manage the quality of their fruit and wine.
“We are very thorough with our canopy management and follow a comprehensive pruning, shoot thinning, bunch thinning and leaf plucking programme, particularly with our red varieties,” Brett says.
As if a vineyard and a young family wasn’t enough, the couple launched into a successful Margaret River family restaurant business partnership called “The Spaghetti Bowl” in 1992, selling out in 1998 to focus on the vineyard.
As the vineyard aged and the Roberts’ passion for viticulture developed, the next logical step was to make their own wine. So in 2004, the Roberts created the Kokopelli label, the word being a symbol of fertility and abundance for all life, be it crops, hopes, dreams or love.
Both describe the journey so far as a wonderful learning curve, highlighted by a growing family and the gradual progression from grape grower to wine producer.
“We still sell fruit to local winery Fermoy Estate and will continue the dual role of grape and wine producer in the future,” Di says.
“Selling wine over the last couple of years has enabled us to grasp the complexity of this side of the industry and has been the impetus for our entry into the MRRWC.
“We are very much looking forward to further developing the centre’s reputation and its excellent relationship with local wine producers, and believe our own experience can only assist in that development,” she says.
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Russell and Marilyn Reynolds
While the Reynolds family’s love affair with Margaret River goes back over 40 years, it was not until the early 1990s that the family took its first tentative steps towards the creation of its Clown Fish and Cowaramup
wines between the township of Cowaramup and the Indian Ocean. Russell and Marilyn Reynolds ran a plumbing contracting business, based in Perth, for many years and Margaret River was a welcome respite from the pressures of business to the extent that they bought a small holiday hideaway in the region.
It was there that sons Cameron, now Cowaramup Wines’ viticulturist and Anthony, now winemaker, learned to surf. Cowaramup Wines was established in 1995 after a three year search to find their Ellensbrook property and the securing of a seven year grape supply contract with Southcorp’s Devils Lair operation in Margaret River.
Planting started in 1996 and the vineyard has developed to over 42 acres of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Shiraz, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon.
Since the vineyard’s inception, there has been a strong emphasis on implementing biodynamic and organic practices and this has now developed into a research and development project through Aus Industries.
It was a downturn in grape prices and over supply that spawned the decision to add wine production to grape growing and the Clown Fish label was established in 2003 as the first range of wines produced by Cowaramup Wines.
The wines are made by Naturaliste Vintners, at nearby Carbanup, under the watchful eye of senior winemaker Bruce Dukes, with input from Anthony.
New MRRWC partner, Steve Olsen, made Cowaramup Wines’ first couple of vintages of Merlot. “He helped us into the business and has given us great support since,” Russell says.
The MRRWC is a new challenge. “Twelve years of grape growing and four years of making our own wines,
has given us a pretty good insight into the industry. “Buying into the centre is a logical progression into the retail side of the Margaret River wine business. “Here, we all have an opportunity to build on the legacy established by Ron Macfarlane and his team to promote and market this great region in all its aspects,’’ Russell says.
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The Olsen family’s links with the Margaret River Wine Region stretch back over 25 years. And its links with the wine and liquor industry extend back even further.
So it is that Stephen and Ann Marie Olsen’s part acquisition of the Margaret River Regional Wine Centre completes a circle begun back in 1981 when the family bought an old farmhouse in Rosa Glen, Margaret River, where they enjoyed holidays away from their liquor store business in Perth.
It was a successful business, but the demands of a young family prompted a lifestyle change. Margaret River beckoned. Perhaps it was a desire to get to the roots of some of the wines tasted and sold through the liquor store.
While knowing very little about viticultural, the challenge was taken up. After much searching for the right area, in 1986 they chose a property in Osmington Road in the Treeton sub district of the Margaret River Wine Region to establish their home and vineyard. Olsen Wines was born.
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Both acknowledge this presented a huge learning curve, one which involved the entire family, young and old.
Undeterred, they cleared the land and the first vines were planted by the family in 1986. It was hard work, but it worked and in 1996, Olsen Wines’ progressed from grape grower to producer, the winemaking mantle now assumed by son Jarrad utilising a combination of estate grown and managed vineyard grapes.
Olsen Wines covers about 240 acres, with 14.7 hectares under vine - - 34% planted with red varieties, the rest white. The predominant varieties are Cabernet Sauvignon, Shiraz, Merlot, Verdelho and Chardonnay, the major wines produced being premium Cabernet Sauvignon, Shiraz, Cabernet Merlot, Verdelho, Semillon and Sauvignon Blanc.
Stephen and Ann Marie reflect that in the past 20-plus years much has been learned, mistakes made, families raised and achievements to be proud, including a few wine medals.
Now they are going down a new, but familiar path with their involvement in the MRRWC. Another time, another challenge.
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