The Homestead
Geoff and Marie-Pierre took over Sunnyhurst in May 2017 after a two-year search for the ideal place to live. The house is a glorious 120-year-old federation brick building with pressed tin ceilings, fire places in every rooms and fabulous original jarrah floorboards. The house is set high on a hill with a magnificent view over the north-facing vineyard to the Mattamattup Valley and, to the West, over the Blackwood River Valley. Apparently, Sunnyhurst homestead was once, during war time, headquarters for the Red Cross.
The Winery
Since its establishment in 2000, Sunnyhurst has always used traditional winemaking methods.
All grapes are hand-picked and pressed using a hand-operated Italian basket press to gently extract the juice from the grapes' skins and pulp.
Refrigeration ensures white wines achieve great delicacy and flavour from a long cool fermentation. It can take weeks to achieve the desired dryness.
Reds are left to age in French oak, mainly recycled from Burgundy and given a second life in the Margaret River Cooperage. Racked three times, ( settled sediments removed from the bottom of the barrel), they are left to age and soften for a minimum of one year, sometimes two.
All aspects of wine production are undertaken on site. This includes bottling, corking ( yes we still use cork at Sunnyhurst!), capsuling and labelling.
All grapes are hand-picked and pressed using a hand-operated Italian basket press to gently extract the juice from the grapes' skins and pulp.
Refrigeration ensures white wines achieve great delicacy and flavour from a long cool fermentation. It can take weeks to achieve the desired dryness.
Reds are left to age in French oak, mainly recycled from Burgundy and given a second life in the Margaret River Cooperage. Racked three times, ( settled sediments removed from the bottom of the barrel), they are left to age and soften for a minimum of one year, sometimes two.
All aspects of wine production are undertaken on site. This includes bottling, corking ( yes we still use cork at Sunnyhurst!), capsuling and labelling.
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