A Pemberton winery has claimed back-to-back honours at the Top Up Wines WA Wine Awards, with Ampersand Estates’ 2024 Pinot Noir tying for the title of People’s Choice award alongside Margaret River producer LS Merchants.
The result is almost the same as the results at the inaugural awards last year, when the Ampersand Estates’ 2022 Pinot Noir took the top spot. This time, two wines finished level after more than 25,000 votes were cast online across more than 1,000 local WA wines — a dead heat that award founder Jamie Burnett says he had to verify repeatedly before accepting the numbers were right.
“When I saw the results, I couldn’t believe it. I checked and re-checked a dozen times, but the numbers were spot on. To have more than 25-thousand votes and two wines taking it out in a dead heat is extraordinary. It really shows that anything can happen when you throw it over to the people,” said Burnett.
The 2024 Pinot Noir is made entirely from Pemberton fruit, handpicked and gravity-fed to open fermenters.
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When talking about the wine, co-owner Corrie Scheepers said, “Our Pinot Noir is immediately aromatic and complex with red cherries, wild strawberries, paprika, and a subtle truffle-like earthiness. It is medium-bodied with fleshy plummy fruit, raspberry coulis, pomegranate and a hint of Moroccan spice. A beautiful tension between pithy acidity and fine structural tannins provides great length and interest.”
Ampersand Estates was inducted into Ultimate Winery Experiences Australia in January, a national collection of wine tourism operators. That followed distribution deals in Singapore and Sydney, and a dedicated membership program for wine enthusiasts in the US and Singapore.
Co-Owner Melissa Bell added, “Corrie and I have spent a lot of time sharing the story of our ancient soils with partners in the US, Europe, China and across Australia, so this is remarkable recognition of that hard work.”
National wine critic Ray Jordan also highly rates the winery, awarding the Homestead Syrah 96 points and the Pinot Noir 94 points.
Coming up next month, Ampersand Estates will launch the Rainfall Distillery Gardens, with chardonnay grapes forming the base spirit in what the winery describes as an Australian-first closed-loop spirits program.
The 56-hectare property sits in the Pemberton Wine Region, about three hours south of Perth, 30 minutes north of Pemberton township and 45 minutes east of Margaret River.
