The Smithbrook Vineyard

Planted in the late 1980’s, the Smithbrook vineyard was set up for producing premium wine by WA wine identity Bill Pannell and is now one of Pemberton’s oldest vineyards.  As different owners became involved, the emphasis switched towards fruit production for other wineries, but this changed back to the original quality vision when premium producer Petaluma purchased the vineyard in 1998. Now, under the direction of Ashley Lewkowski, the philosophy has been to realise the potential of this special site with distinctive regionally expressive wines.

The Pemberton Region

As the WA wine industry matures, several regions (besides Margaret River) have emerged with pedigrees that are strengthening with each vintage; such as Mount Barker, Frankland River and of course Pemberton.  Located within 35 km from the coast Pemberton’s climate is maritime, with a cooling influence created by the region’s elevated topography and proximity to the Southern Ocean.  Comparatively, the Pemberton climate sits somewhere between Coonawarra and Margaret River, so it is no surprise that the varietal focus is rapidly swinging from Chardonnay and Pinot Noir to the Bordeaux varieties of Sauvignon Blanc, Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon – Smithbrook has firmly led this transition within the region.