The Weinman Selection

The 2026 growing season in the Great Southern delivered even temperatures and generally dry conditions. This year’s harvest took place a week or so earlier than usual due to consistent warm temperatures and less rainfall.

This pinot grigio, grown in our Mount Barker site, consistently shows lovely aromatics and fresh varietal flavour typical of its cool-climate terroir.

The fruit was picked just after dawn on the morning of 2nd March. The fruit was brought into the winery and gently destemmed and pressed. The juice was then transferred directly into a stainless steel tank and temperature controlled to ensure a slow and gentle fermentation. After this, the wine was racked off the fermentation lees and left to rest until early June. It was then prepared for bottling, and was bottled early to help retain the fresh and delicate aromatics.

The pinot noir grape variety is well suited to the high-altitude and cool climate environment of the Porongurup subregion of the Great Southern. The Quin vineyard is on the northern slopes of the Porongurup range at approximately 300m above sea level. This established vineyard showcases a more delicately styled expression of pinot noir. It is grown on granitic gravel loam soils and benefits from a cool microclimate without much rainfall due to the rain shadow effect of the Porongurup Range.

The 2025 growing season was steady with modest rainfall. Mildly elevated temperatures led to a slightly earlier start to harvest. Pinot noir was the standout variety in 2025, benefitting from the early harvest date helping to preserve natural acidity whilst achieving optimum flavour.

The fruit was picked on 16 March 2025. A parcel was gently de-stemmed and pressed into a small open fermenter, with another parcel chilled overnight, then de-stemmed and gently pressed with some whole bunches added. After fermentation the wine went to French (Burgundian) oak barriques (approximately 30% new, the remainder one year old), and was matured for eleven months before it was prepared for bottling.

The Southern Rhône region of Châteauneuf du Pape is a significant wine region of the world and Singlefile’s Clément V is a salute to the role this “Avignon Pope” played in establishing the viticulture and wine style of this region. This wine is a blend of the classic Châteauneuf du Pape varieties of grenache, syrah (Rhône clones 877 and 470 originally from Hermitage) and mataro (also known as mourvèdre).

All three of these varieties are grown in the Donnelly River vineyard in Frankland River. The 2025 fruit was picked on 28 March, 2 April and 3 April 2025, with varietal batches kept separate throughout. The fruit was sorted and cold soaked in small fermenters for one day, before undergoing an extended and gentle maceration.

Approximately twenty five percent of the wine was matured in new oak barriques, the balance going to two- and three-year-old barriques for eleven months before the varietal blending, settling and preparation for bottling.

The wines in our Family Reserve Collection reflect a deep respect for the Great Southern and its terroir. They are rooted in the character and calibre of the Singlefile vineyard, over which we assumed custodianship in 2007, marking the beginning of our family winery. From the outset, the site revealed a natural balance of flavour intensity and acidity, shaping fruit selection, picking and winemaking decisions — an approach that remains largely unchanged after eighteen vintages. Slow, even ripening underpins the wine’s structure, with the careful layering of small, complementary parcels of Great Southern fruit adding subtle complexity. Considered winemaking ensures a refined balance between generosity and finesse.

The 2025 fruit, harvested on 22 March, was chilled overnight, then whole bunch pressed and fermented with a third of the juice going to new oak, and the remainder to one year old French oak barriques from the Marsannay, Tonnellerie Quintessence, Louis Latour and D&J cooperages. The wine spent eight months in oak with a partial malolactic fermentation to develop mouth feel and richness. Lees stirring (bâtonnage) occurred at weekly intervals during the first five months in barrel. The wine was rested prior to bottling, then given additional time in bottle to allow for further integration before release.

Five varieties of grapes are permitted in red Bordeaux wines: cabernet sauvignon, merlot, cabernet franc, malbec and petit verdot. In Australia, cabernet sauvignon and merlot are a common blend to produce a Bordeaux-styled red, with merlot’s smoothness and fruit forward qualities helping to balance the high tannins of cabernet sauvignon.

The fruit parcels were picked and sorted between late February and early April 2024. The varietal parcels were cold soaked in small fermenters for two days before undergoing a gentle and extended maceration. This approach helped to soften the tannin profile of the cabernet sauvignon. The wine was then matured in 225L Bordeaux oak barriques (30% new) with the balance to aged Bordeaux barriques. The wine was matured in barrels for fourteen months before being prepared for final blending and bottling.

Chardonnay is very well suited to the cool climate environment of the Great Southern wine region. The chardonnay vineyards in this part of Western Australia tend to ripen very slowly, due to the cooler climate, and develop complex flavours while also retaining an elegant natural acidity. The combination of all these elements provide for a lovely balance between richness and vibrancy.

The 2025 season offered consistent temperatures and very little rain, resulting in the chardonnay fruit displaying strong varietal character and great concentration of flavours.

The fruit was harvested in three separate parcels on 26 February, 5 March and 11 March. In each instance, the parcel of fruit was chilled overnight and then fermented in Burgundian oak barriques (approximately 25% new and 75% aged). The chardonnay barrels were lees stirred weekly for the first four months and then left to settle in barrel for a further two months before being prepared for bottling in October 2025.