The Cellar Door

Overlooking the vineyard and the valley beyond, our Cellar Door offers visitors a delightful experience: one that is intimate, informative and relaxed.

Our staff are friendly, accommodating and easy to talk to, tailoring the wine tasting experience to suit the individual’s personal knowledge and understanding.

The peaceful and tranquil setting invites visitors to take their time and enjoy the pleasant surroundings and gracious service.

…and the Cafè

Sweeping lawns and garden vistas create a comfortable and casual dining experience in our Café adjacent to the Cellar Door.

We use fresh produce in our gourmet platters and to create café style meals to order. The food complements our wines and the menus change seasonally. We also have a range of blackboard specials that change weekly and we always offer a number of vegetarian options.

In the warmer months alfresco dining on the verandah makes it a perfect spot for families; children have space to play whilst parents watch over them.

By arrangement, we can cater for small groups and private functions.

Click here to view our menu.

The Vineyard

Our vineyards, nestled in a gently sloping valley, are framed by natural bush land and the rolling hills of the Darling Range. When the natural timber had been cut out for milling, the valley land was used for fruit production. Now it forms part of a mixture of small rural landscape living holdings where some, like ours, are devoted to small scale agricultural and horticultural pursuits.

The Lion Mill Vineyards contain mature vines of Chardonnay, Semillon, Shiraz, Cabernet, Merlot and Zinfandel. New plantings include Petit Verdot, Durif, Tempranillo and a small block of Orange Muscat. In 2009, we plan to add the white variety Savignan to the plantings. This latter variety was imported into Australia by the CSIRO as Albarino but subsequent testing has shown that it is, in fact, the old variety of Savignan which, it is believed, is closely related to the white variety Traminer.

The Lion Mill property

Most of the vines on the Lion Mill portion of the properties are now over ten years of age and, hence, have a relatively mature status.

The "Home Block"

Planted in 1999, this block comprises half an acre planted to Cabernet Sauvignon and Shiraz as well as a small number of Durif more recently planted. The Durif is part of a source block for the WA Vine Improvement Association.

Wines made from the Cabernet and Shiraz fruit in this early planting have exhibited well and the 2002 Cabernet took out the trophy for the best single red variety exhibited in the 2005 Perth Hills Wine Show. The wines have consistently won medals in regional showings. Wines made from selected grapes in this block in 2007 were retained and vinified as reserves, and released mid 2009.

The "Two Acre"

In 2000 we planted a two acre plot made up of Shiraz, Cabernet and Merlot, and in 2004 we added a small plot of Zinfandel (or Primitivo). The Zinfandel has proven an outstanding success, though a somewhat difficult vine to manage because of its habit of uneven ripening and susceptibility to bunch rot.

The Merlot has been used principally as part of a Bordeaux blend with Cabernet Sauvignon but will gradually be replaced with Petit Verdot which we believe is better suited to the warmer climate on the Hills. As well, Petit Verdot grown locally has shown promise as a varietal wine in its own right.

The "Semillon"

We planted this half acre of Semillon in 2001. The wines from these vines have performed well in showing and are a popular choice for diners at the café. Some of the wine from this block is blended with Chardonnay to produce our Lion Mill Classic White.

Minor Plantings

The 250 or so vines planted to variety Durif should produce intensely coloured red wines with high tannin levels and, thus, are well suited for cellaring. The fruit, commonly referred to in the US as Petit Syrah, can also be blended with varieties like Zinfandel or used in the production of quality fortified wine.

The juice of the Orange Muscat grape has a subtle aroma that gave rise to the French synonym Muscat Fleur d’Orange. It produces high quality white wines though the small quantity we plan to produce will be used for blending with other white varieties.

The former Carosa vineyard

Chardonnay

The first plantings in 1984 at Carosa were of Chardonnay grapes. Fruit from these grapes has been used for table and sparkling wines. In 2008 we began extensive renovation work on this block of fruit so as to increase production and fruit quality. We have used grapes from this block to produce a blanc de blanc style sparkling (traditional method) as well as wine for blending into the Lion Mill Classic White.

Semillon

Planted in the late 1990s, the vines in this block provide fruit for our late harvested, cane-cut wine, Dolce. Grapes are left to ripen on the vine to a high baume and then a proportion of the canes are cut and left to hang in order to produce a percentage of semi-raisined fruit. Some unproductive rows of vines in this block were removed in 2008 in order to make way for a new planting of Tempranillo.

Shiraz

This small planting has been re-developed so as to provide fruit for our fortified wines.

Tempranillo

A variety widely planted in Spain, Portugal and warmer parts of Mediterranean Europe and Argentina. Clearly suited to warmer climates, it should do well in the Perth Hills and we look forward to wines from the fruit of the half acre or so of this variety planted in 2008.

Savagnin (originally imported as Albariño (Alvarinho)

The background to this grape is complex and presently there is much debate about the relationship between Savagnin, Traminer, and Albarino. Before definitive DNA testing was available, the CSIRO imported plant material in the belief that it was Albarino, a white variety from the cooler parts of Galicia in Northern Spain and from Portugal. This vine has been successfully grown in both cooler and warmer parts of Australia. More recently, it has been agreed that Albarino is, in fact, the variety Savagnin. In Australia, the wines made from Savagnin have sharp acidity, a rich, scented aroma and full palate. This is another variety that we are looking forward to adding to our wine portfolio.

Savignan was also imported into Australia by James Busby in the 1850s and wines from this variety were marketed as Trameah in Australia during the 1920s and 1930s.

We will plant half an acre of this variety in 2009.