Howard Park has more than 30 years of experience in West Australia’s premier grape-growing regions; Margaret River and the Great Southern.
The history
At Howard Park our success depends entirely on the quality of our fruit. We have patiently developed our vineyards over the past 35+ years, with each site specifically chosen to maximise the quality of grape varieties planted there.
Since 1986, the viticultural team has grown an intimate, exhaustive knowledge of vineyards in these areas, culminating in the careful acquisition and development of four properties – Leston and Allingham in Margaret River, and Mount Barrow and Abercrombie in the Great Southern – where every detail is controlled by our in-house team.
Leston is now home to all winery operations, including the architecturally-acclaimed cellar door, built in 2000.
It is also home to Howard Park’s original rootling nursery, used by the viticultural team to diversify clones and varieties for future plantings, and to propagate from tried and true vine stock. The nursery produces up to 40,000 rootlings per year and is currently planted with Chardonnay, Gewurztraminer and Pinot Noir clones from Burgundy. It is a state-of-the-art addition and a rarity in Western Australia.
Leston
The Leston vineyard, situated in Margaret River’s famed northerly Wilyabrup subregion, was Howard Park’s first. It was acquired by the Burch family in 1988, when it was still an Old Settlement sheep farm, and was named after Jeff Burch’s father, Leston.
The Burch family planted the first vines there in 1996. Today, the varieties under vine include Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Shiraz, Merlot, Semillon, Muscat and Petit Verdot, in keeping with Margaret River’s favourable Bordeaux-like conditions.
Leston is now home to all winery operations, including the architecturally-acclaimed cellar door, built in 2000.
It is also home to Howard Park’s original rootling nursery, used by the viticultural team to diversify clones and varieties for future plantings, and to propagate from tried and true vine stock. The nursery produces up to 40,000 rootlings per year and is currently planted with Chardonnay, Gewurztraminer and Pinot Noir clones from Burgundy. It is a state-of-the-art addition and a rarity in Western Australia.
Allingham
The Allingham vineyard lies in the southerly reaches of Margaret River, in the subregion of Karridale, where a slightly cooler climate produces Chardonnay with a delicate elegance. The Allingham vineyard was planted in 2004, with significant Chardonnay blocks established over time – the cool climate Dijon clones 95 and 96, and the Gin Gin clone for which Margaret River is famous.
The Burch family purchased the Allingham vineyard in 2014, after a long history of using its fruit in Howard Park’s top Chardonnays.
Mount Barrow
The vast Mount Barrow vineyard, in the Mount Barker subregion of the Great Southern, was Howard Park’s second site established from greenfield. The property was purchased by the Burch family in 2004 and planted a year later.
Located near the Porongurup and Stirling ranges, Mount Barrow is remote, with elevations of up to 380m, making it the highest altitude vineyard in the region. It is planted with a diverse selection of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir clones from Burgundy and our own nursery. It is also planted with Riesling, Pinot Meunier and Gewürtztraminer.
Its innovative sub-surface irrigation system has been crucial in an area often affected by drought.
Abercrombie
The Abercrombie vineyard is the most historic in the Howard Park stable. Planted with Cabernet Sauvignon in 1975, it holds some of the oldest vines of the Mount Barker area.
From 1986, when winemaker John Wade purchased his first parcels of Cabernet for the fledgling Howard Park label, this rare and special site – with its gentle slopes, northerly aspect and gravelly soils – provided the backbone for the tradition of the Abercrombie, one of our Icon wines.
After carefully tending and improving these vines for over 20 years, Howard Park purchased the vineyard from the Dennis family in 2014.
THE BURCH FAMILY WINE CLUB
BECOME PART OF THE FAMILY
Our Wine Club delivers your favourite Howard Park wines straight to your door, as well as having a number of other benefits:
- It’s completely free to join.
- You get access to exclusive Member pricing on Howard Park wines as well as MadFish, Marchand & Burch and Champagne Franck Bonville.
- Free shipping on orders over $200.
- Invites to member only events and access to rare or limited wines.
- Dedicated customer service team – consider us your fine wine concierge service.
Click below and we’ll take you to Burch Family Wines website to create an account so you can enjoy discounts straight away.