Kevin and Marian Squance are the founders of Willespie ‘Wilyabrup hope’.
The first Willespie vineyards were planted in 1976 by Kevin and Marian Squance, the then school teachers, who had bought a property on Harman’s Mill Road, about 3 km southeast of Wilyabrup and less than 6 km, in a straight line, from the Indian Ocean. The name Willespie was derived from the region of Wilyabrup, Margaret River, and the French word, espérer, to hope.
Their first white wines were made in 1982, and their first dry reds in 1983, by contract, at Cape Mentelle. After the winery was concluded in 1988, all Willespie wines have been produced on the estate.
These are some snaps taken during my visit to their cellar door and behind the scene winery:
The passion for the art of making wine has borne fruit; the producer has grown and nowadays is one of the region’s most respected wineries. All their vineyards, of which the oldest are already 40 years old, are dry-farmed, growing only from the water naturally deposited by the rains in the soil, producing notably deep fruit. And does that show in their wines!
Our Sparkling, is their new sparkling made in carbonation method- style, lightly sparkling Frizzante. 70% Verdelho, 20% Semillon & 10% Sauvignon Blanc grapes. Refreshing with an inviting nose of fresh green apples, honey dew. Expressive citrus on the finish, makes it ideal to sip on the sunny days, food friendly, matches with mostly anything.
Before my visit to the cellar door, I had the opportunity to experiment a few of their 2010 wines in a lunch (as seen on Instagram ) guided by winemaker Nathan Schultz, to read more about the delicious pairing with 2010 horizontal tasting click here. Also, the 2010 Merlot notes are shared on my Instagram feed.
