Can you visit the Vasse Felix vineyard?

The estate that started this whole region is not tucked away or invitation-only. It sits in the north of the wine country, off the roads most tasting routes already follow, and it welcomes visitors the same way it has for decades. If you are building a Margaret River day around the founding names, this is usually the first one people ask about.

Can you visit the Vasse Felix vineyard?

Yes, you can visit the Vasse Felix vineyard. The region's oldest estate, planted in 1967, runs a public cellar door in the Wilyabrup area, open to walk-ins and tour groups for tastings. Ranked the No. 1 winery in the 2026 Halliday Top 100, it is one of Margaret River's most-visited estates, and in 2026 it also opened a dedicated sparkling cellar door.

There is no trick to getting in. The cellar door is a working tasting room, not a private club, and it draws a steady stream of visitors precisely because of the estate's history and reputation. Vasse Felix planted the first vines in the region, and nearly six decades later it is still setting the pace.

That standing is not just heritage. In the 2026 Halliday Wine Companion awards the estate topped the Top 100 Wineries list, and its winemaker, Virginia Willcock, was named Winemaker of the Year. Tasting here means tasting wine that is currently rated among the best in the country.

Because the estate sits well outside the town centre, most visitors arrive on a guided tasting day rather than driving themselves between rooms. A smaller-group premium day is paced to linger at the landmark and higher-end cellar doors, which is the natural way to fit a founding estate into a wider route.

What can you do at the Vasse Felix cellar door?

At the Vasse Felix cellar door you can taste the estate's range across a guided flight, including its acclaimed Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay. The Heytesbury Chardonnay 2023 was named Chardonnay of the Year and White Wine of the Year in the 2026 Halliday awards. In 2026 the estate also opened Idée Fixe, a dedicated sparkling cellar door.

The core of a visit is the tasting itself. The estate is known above all for the two grapes that made the region: structured, ageworthy Cabernet Sauvignon and finely balanced Chardonnay. Its Heytesbury Chardonnay 2023 scored a rare 99 points on its way to two of the year's top white-wine honours, so the flagship whites are the obvious thing to seek out.

Sparkling is the newest reason to visit. In 2026 the estate opened Idée Fixe, a dedicated Méthode Traditionnelle sparkling house with its own tasting focus, adding a second string for anyone who wants bubbles alongside the still wines. If a long lunch matters as much as the pours, a nine-hour wine-and-food day works a sit-down meal and produce tastings around the cellar-door stops, so the food is not an afterthought.

How do you get to the Vasse Felix vineyard?

Vasse Felix sits in the Wilyabrup area in the north of the region, roughly 10 to 25 minutes by road from other cellar doors and not within walking distance of them. Western Australia's 0.05 blood-alcohol limit makes self-driving between tastings a poor idea, so most visitors arrive on a guided small-group day, or as part of a day trip from Perth.

Wilyabrup is the informal district nicknamed the Cabernet capital, and several of the founding estates cluster there. Seeing which cellar doors are worth the drive helps you decide what to pair with a Vasse Felix stop, and the estate's place in the region's history is set out in the look at the oldest winery in Margaret River and in the five estates that founded the region.

If you are based in Perth without a car, the estate is still reachable in a single day. The whole region as a long day trip from Perth threads a founding-winery tasting and the Wilyabrup coast into one run, with the roughly 270-kilometre drive each way handled for you. For a value loop that keeps things simple closer to base, the full range of small-group wine tours all start from a short list of regional pickup points.

Common questions