Julian Langworthy

Identified early in his career by 2010 Winemaker of the Year Sue Hodder as an emerging talent, Julian Langworthy is now settled in the Margaret River where he’s producing award-winning wines and proving his former mentor right.

The judges of Winemaker of the Year need to be good listeners. About six or seven years ago, Sue Hodder senior winemaker at Wynns Coonawarra Estate, herself a winner of the award, suggested that we keep an eye on a young winemaker of theirs, Julian Langworthy. We noted his move to the Clare as senior winemaker at Knappstein and the quality of its riesling under his direction.

There was a touch of controversy about Langworthy’s return to his home town of Margaret River when Janice McDonald, who had been appointed chief winemaker of Deep Woods two months beforehand, was (at least in the minds of the Fogarty family who own Deep Woods) poached by Howard Park. In retrospect, they can’t believe how lucky they’ve been with the subsequent appointment of Julian Langworthy in 2011.

The Deep Woods site at Yallingup has a long association with viticulture in the region as Giacomo Meleri had a four-hectare commercial vineyard over the road between 1920 and 1950. While the challenge faced by the Fogarty family to get the estate to where they want it to be since acquiring it in 2005 was well under way when Langworthy arrived, there’s no question that it has reached undreamed of heights since he started.

Langworthy’s family moved to Margaret River in 1979 when his father Robin worked for the Agricultural Protection Board as an ornithologist studying the problems associated with bird life and viticulture. Time spent wandering the vineyards of Cullen, Cape Mentelle and Moss Wood aroused an interest in the wine industry so when Langworthy decided he no longer wished to pursue a career in marine biology, he enrolled in oenology at The University of Adelaide.

His early career included a couple of vintages in France, what he describes as a “dalliance” in Canada, and a year as winemaker at Hardys’ Domaine de la Baume in the Languedoc. A short period with Wolf Blass in the Barossa was followed by time as winemaker at Jamiesons Run in Coonawarra before his spell at Wynns during its transformation by Sue Hodder and Allen Jenkins.

While the judges of this award believe that trophies and gold medals can be an indication of winemaking merit, it’s usually just a starting point in the conversation. In the case of Langworthy and Deep Woods the raw data is compelling: 15 trophies and in excess of 50 gold medals in his first four vintages.

The sub-$15 wines are a revelation. 2014 Deep Woods Ivory Semillon Sauvignon Blanc shows lemon minerality, punch and drive with overriding purity. The 2014 Deep Woods Harmony Rosé is dry, intense and delicious, it picked up a trophy in Melbourne. The 2011 Deep Woods Ebony is a fruit-driven blend of cabernet sauvignon and shiraz with a pleasing immediacy. These are three budget-priced wines of quality.

The Estate range is also remarkable for the modest prices. The sauvignon blanc benefits from being sourced from the southerly Bridgelands Vineyard as well as its barrel ferment portion and lees complexity. The Shiraz Et Al shows Langworthy’s skill as he blends a proportion of malbec (15 per cent) with shiraz and grenache to give intensity and power to a balanced approachable red. The Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot highlights the potential of Yallingup for reds that are structured, plush and fleshy with distinctive blueberry notes. The area has tended to be overlooked in favour of Wilyabrup. No more.

The 2013 Deep Woods Reserve Chardonnay caused a stir when it won last year’s James Halliday Chardonnay Challenge as the winery did not have a reputation for quality chardonnay. Indeed, its Yallingup location seemed too warm. What was the fruit source? It is from two excellent mature vineyards in Wilyabrup – both on grey clay sands rather than the more typical gravelly loam of the area – and the fruit was picked early to produce a white of rare power and refinement with stunning oyster shell complexity, a hint of struck match, and great depth. The follow-up 2014 Reserve Chardonnay is similarly noteworthy. The 2012 Deep Woods Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon continues an established line of Margaret River classics and further highlights the quality of Yallingup fruit: deep blackcurrant and blueberry flavours; gentle structure and fine tannins announce a sumptuous age-worthy red.

Two small-volume cabernet sauvignons – The Wilyabrup and The Yallingup – will be released this month and will become flagship wines for Deep Woods, illustrating Langworthy’s desire to push the envelope just that little bit further.