By Simon Collins.
Juniper Estate chief Tom Hill was mortified when he went out for dinner with his father Roger, and the late doyen of WA winemaking would buy one of the family winery’s own bottles.
“Dad, how embarrassing,” Hill laughs.
These days the winemaker is just as proud of not only of the wine out of Juniper Estate, which Roger Hill and his wife Gillian Anderson launched nearly 30 years ago, but also Margaret River wine in general.
Wearing his other hat as the Margaret River board member on the Wines of Western Australia industry association, Hill insists that for every legendary overseas style, from Barolo to Burgundy, you can find something as good or better right here.
And, he adds, it is high time that more local hospitality venues recognised this fact.
Hill points out that WA wine only contributes 38 per cent of the bottles on WA restaurant wine lists compared to almost double that in South Australia. (Those figures come from a report compiled by Peter McAtamney of Wine Business Solutions.)
“It’s a ‘looking out’ mentality,” Hill explains. “We forget how good we have it locally. For all the good and great wines of the world, you can find something good or better here.”
While he grew up in Perth, Hill recalls school holidays spent on Juniper Estate’s picturesque Margaret River site neighbouring Vasse Felix and Cullen.
“A lot of my formative years were down there,” he recalls, “going in the ute, stickering silver and gold medals (on bottles), working the cellar door and polishing glasses.”
In the late 90s, Tom and his older brother Nick helped plant a “Bordeaux block” on Juniper’s vineyard in Wilyabrup on what is now called Tom Cullity Drive.
“I remember the rain coming in sideways. You can taste the child exploitation in that blend,” he laughs, referring to Juniper’s flagship Cornerstone Cabernet.
Hands-on experiences like these built a strong work ethic, as well as an appreciation for the “fruits of the labour”.
Today, the original vineyard, which was planted by Henry and Maureen Wright in 1973, is joined by sites on Metricup Road, Wilyabrup and Karridale.
There is nothing like going from the vine to the bottle, says Hill, who initially wanted to be a chef but found winemaking scratched the itch of combining science and art.
After studying oenology in Adelaide, Hill worked on vineyards in Bordeaux and the Rhone Valley.
He returned to Australia in 2010, landing at Punt Road Wines in Victoria’s Yarra Valley with Tim Shand, who is now chief winemaker at Voyager Estate.
“Punt Road taught me how to make really good quality wines with vineyards that aren’t really the cream of the crop,” Hill says.
After broadening his horizons, Hill planned to complete an apprenticeship under his father.
However, in 2013, Roger died of health complications after a collision with a car while riding his bike in Cottesloe, where the family lived.
Hill says there is a “scene missing” and Juniper was a “bit rudderless” for a few years after his dad’s passing.
When he finally returned home in September 2017, “the exact role for me wasn’t clear,” he says. “Between me and my brother, we decided operations was better than production.”
Juniper’s original chief winemaker Mark Messenger led the winery until his retirement in 2023, the same year that Tom took over from his brother as CEO.
Andrew Bretherton has shifted across from Deep Woods to be only Juniper’s second ever chief winemaker.
Hill is keenly aware that the industry is in a state of flux. He insists winemakers need to remember that “we own the table” – meaning that vino is still the go-to beverage when people celebrate an occasion or simply share a meal.
Juniper aims to make wines representing “the best of Margaret River, with a twinkle in the eye, not taking ourselves too seriously – premium wine that’s accessible”.
The same goes for Higher Plane, the single vineyard range Juniper Estate acquired in 2006.
The winemaker’s current motto is “drink like no one’s watching”.
“That makes us sound like a bunch of degenerates,” Hill laughs, before clarifying that “we shouldn’t be dictating how people enjoy” wine.
From ice in white wine to popping a light red in the fridge, he says: “Why not? If that’s the way you like it, that’s the way you like it”.
“More and more, there are wines that are made to be put in the fridge.”
The passionate advocate for WA wine vows to focus sharply on the “Juniper spirit”.
“We’ve got something good here, something worth preserving. There are lots of good people in the industry, but we’ve got to protect our patch,” states Hill, who still gets a kick out of talking about wine, especially at his winery’s beautiful cellar door.
“We never feel like we’re selling wines,” he says. “We feel like we’re building a connection with people, and the wine is part of that.”