Introducing Plume Estate in the Bickley Valley, Perth Hills

It’s hard to drive past a place when you see a stunning blonde standing in the doorway right?

I don’t know if it was the view, the strong big double wooden doors or the beautiful golden wine pooch that first attracted me to Plume Estate, but I definitely knew I had to go in on our trip up to the Perth Hills on the weekend.

Bickley Harvest Festival

Last weekend was the 18th annual Bickley Harvest Festival which meant it was the perfect excuse to explore more of the Bickley Valley wine region. Plume Estate was first on the agenda seeing as it’s the newest cellar door in the region having opened it’s doors on April 4th 2015.

Exclusive wine glass..

As this was our first stop of the day. We were offered a tasting glass for $3 which was branded for the festival. I am a sucker for tokens like these! I just wish that they had the year on them, it’d make a good excuse to head back every year to keep the collection going 🙂

I have to admit, we weren’t a fan of parking on the road. We parked up the top of the entry way (where many others were parking), as we literally didn’t realise there was parking down the rather steep gravel driveway. However saying that, for ease we probably would have still parked up the top – despite not feeling overly happy about that (as I’ve mentioned before, the car is Mr. Spittoon’s baby!).

The welcoming committee..

Despite the driveway, I loved what I saw when I walked down to the cellar door. There were sweeping views of the lovely green valley adorned with grapevines and beautiful nature (it felt like we were much further than 45 minutes out of the city!) and we were greeted with those big beautiful wooden doors and a stunning wine dog was relaxing in the doorway. It seems like they had security covered for the day!

When you first walk in you see the cafe and then the cellar door is off to the left. I absolutely can’t wait to go back for lunch as the views are just stunning – just make sure you ask for a table right on the edge of the deck so you get that view all to yourself!

The cellar door..

The cellar door is small and cosy. The first thing that stood out to me was the old vines around the hanging light-shades, a very cool touch. The wine list is a decent size which includes; a vintage sparkling wine, a Rose, 2 Chardonnays, a Merlot, a Shiraz and a Fortified Shiraz. Prices are very modest ranging from $18-$28 per bottle.

I have to admit, no one was in a great rush at the cellar door, which I didn’t mind at all however I could see some people were finding it a bit awkward to get service and ask for wine. As Mr. Spittoon was driving, he was also keen for me to get through my tasting and hit the next spot. Despite the shy service, I enjoyed my relaxing tasting however saying that I wish I could have found out the story behind these guys – I love a good wine story! I guess we’re definitely going to have to go back for that lunch 😉

My favourite wines..

I pretty much enjoyed all of the wines. The picks of the day had to be the Plume Estate 2012 Chardonnay (read my tasting note) and the Plume Estate 2013 Chardonnay (read my tasting note). As you all know, I’m a sucker for a good Chardy however I loved the fact the 13 is made using new oak and the 12 is with old oak.

When a wine is matured in new oak it picks up a lot more of the oak flavours as opposed to old oak. It reminded me of a tasting I did in the South of France at Domaine O’Vineyards where we tried the same wine which had been matured in 3 different ways; stainless steel, American oak and French oak. It was a fantastic idea and great for wine lovers like ourselves to see the difference.

It’s also interesting to know the wines are made by winemakers from Myattsfield and Fairbrossen in the Perth Hills.

Visiting Plume Estate Vineyard:

Address: 91 Glenisla Road, Bickley WA 6076
Phone: (08) 9293 5808
Email: [email protected]
Opening times: Friday-Sunday (and public holidays) 11am-5pm
Wines: Vintage Sparkling, Rose, Chardonnays, Merlot, Shiraz and Fortified Shiraz
Wine tasting cost: Free!
Food available: Yes they have a gorgeous wee cafe
Child friendly: No playground but there were a few kids roaming the joint
Website: Coming soon! But for now you can follow Plume Estate on Facebook for the latest updates