There is a particular satisfaction in hearing, from the outside, what you already know to be true from the inside.
This month, three of the world’s most respected wine critics — Jane Faulkner of Halliday, Christina Pickard of Wine Enthusiast, and Aaron Brasher of The Real Review — tasted our 2023 Palladian Chardonnay, 2023 Palladian Cabernet Sauvignon, and 2023 Parterre Cabernet Sauvignon. Between them, the wines scored consistently at 95 points and above. But the scores are almost beside the point.
Read closely, and each review is really describing the same thing: Wilyabrup, speaking clearly through the glass.
One vineyard, one vision
Nigel Gallop planted this vineyard in 1999 on the belief that this particular pocket of Margaret River — twenty kilometres north of town, six kilometres from the coast — had something singular to say. No irrigation. Deep clay subsoil the vines had to find their own way into. Hand-picked, cane-pruned, wild-fermented, with French oak coopered specifically for this site. Twenty-five years on, that founding conviction is exactly what the critics are picking up on, even if they don’t know the backstory.
Jane Faulkner calls the Palladian Chardonnay “vibrant and zesty with mouth-watering acidity,” built on “spicy, cedary and classy oak plus creamy, nutty lees.” Christina Pickard finds “a pulsing line of lemony freshness atop the subtle textural weight.” Aaron Brasher describes “nervy, pointed acidity, pithy citrus, boney, saline minerality.” Three different vocabularies, one shared observation: this is a wine with a distinct sense of place, precise and mineral rather than broad and generic. That’s not an accident of winemaking technique. That’s the site.
Continuity in the cellar
The Palladian Cabernet Sauvignon reviews tell a related story — one about restraint earned over time. Faulkner notes it’s “approachable” this vintage, showing “more restraint,” with tannins “all in check and neatly integrated.” Brasher calls it “tightly wound and with a long future ahead of it.” Pickard describes “lightness and brightness on what is normally a hefty variety, thanks to silky fine tannins and exceptional balance.”
That balance is the fingerprint of a winemaking philosophy carried across two decades, first under Clive Otto and now under Ellin Tritt, who worked alongside Clive for seven years before taking over as head winemaker in 2024. Minimal intervention only works if the person making the decisions understands exactly when to leave the wine alone — and that understanding has been passed down, vintage by vintage, rather than reinvented.
A single vineyard, expressed two ways
The 2023 Parterre Cabernet Sauvignon, scoring 95 points from The Real Review, rounds out the story. Brasher describes it as “refined, focused and quite elegant,” with “gravelly tannins” that “deliver lovely shape, with real grip, texture and purpose.” Parterre is our highest-volume release and, by design, more approachable in its youth than Palladian — but the review makes clear it shares the same DNA: the same fruit, the same site, the same hand-picked, wild-fermented approach, expressed with a little more immediacy.
Why this matters
We don’t chase scores for their own sake. But when three independent critics, tasting blind and writing in their own words, keep landing on the same qualities — precision, restraint, a clear sense of place — it’s confirmation that the vineyard is doing what Nigel set out to prove it could do in 1999. One vigneron, one vineyard, one vision. The wines are simply the evidence.
Full Critic Notes
2023 Palladian Chardonnay
“There’s no denying the appeal, even if a lot of flavour comes from winemaking inputs – as in the spicy, cedary and classy oak plus creamy, nutty lees. There’s plenty of fruit, too, with a concentration and sweetness as a result; think grapefruit and lemon, some dried pear, too. Vibrant and zesty with mouth-watering acidity. A lingering finish closes the deal on this top wine.”
95+ pts – Jane Faulkner, Halliday
“Gun smoke, roasted nut and toast aromas are well woven with the melon and citrus fruit. There’s lovely acidity: a pulsing line of lemony freshness atop the subtle textural weight. That tingly acidity is what makes it easy to take another sip—and how joyful that is! Delicious now, this also should evolve gracefully over many years in bottle.”
95 pts — Christina Pickard, Wine Enthusiast
“Pale straw, light and bright in the glass. Some really complex aromas here of grapefruit pith, nettle, white flowers, oyster shell and a nutty, cashew lift. Fine, focused and with a drive of nervy, pointed acidity, pithy citrus, boney, saline minerality and some shapely grip on the finish. Long and built for the long haul.”
95 pts — Aaron Brasher, The Real Review
2023 Palladian Cabernet Sauvignon
“Palladian is often built for the long-haul. It’s a structured, stately wine and, while this vintage will age brilliantly, it’s approachable and perhaps shows more restraint. I like that. Cassis and currants, some raspberries and mulberries with lashings of cedary oak, but all in check and neatly integrated. It’s savoury and spicy, youthful and buoyant yet there’s a certain refinement and detail, with plentiful tannins and refreshment throughout. Very appealing.”
95+ pts — Jane Faulkner, Halliday
“A youthful and bright plummy red in the glass. Lifted aromas of bramble, violets, blackberry, cedar, lead pencil, pot-pourri and dark cherry. Mid-weighted, elegant, focused and fine. There’s a core and drive of briary dark fruits, spice, nutty oak and a woodsy earthiness. The tannins are firm, sinewy and drying and the length is impressive and expansive. Tightly wound and with a long future ahead of it.”
95 pts — Aaron Brasher, The Real Review
“A beautifully aromatic and modern style of Cab from one of Margaret River’s leading producers. Heady strawberry and cassis cordial notes are underpinned by anise, bay leaf and other fragrant herbs and spices. The palate offers lightness and brightness on what is normally a hefty variety, thanks to silky fine tannins and exceptional balance. A lovely drop now, it could also last the ages.”
96 pts — Christina Pickard, Wine Enthusiast
2023 Parterre Cabernet Sauvignon
“Lovely colour, vibrantly dark red and bright. Lifted aromas of blackberry, dried herbs, cedar, bramble, spice and a woodsy earthiness. Refined, focused and quite elegant, with a drive of briary dark fruits, florals, spice and a cedar lift. The gravelly tannins deliver lovely shape, with real grip, texture and purpose. Long and layered.”
