Strangely enough the owners of Howard Park, Jeff and Amy Burch, became involved with wine through Jeff’s love of surfing. It started 15 years ago when they bought a beach shack at Yallingup, near the renowned surfing beaches of the Margaret River area.
Jeff would spend hours surfing on his long board, resembling what the locals call a “shark biscuit”.
Also a lover of golf, Jeff Burch admits he is “still trying to work out how to run a wine business from the golf course”. As some form of consolation he has built a golf hole right outside their Margaret River winery. As well as having a lot of fun, Jeff and Amy work very hard and together inject a great deal of passion into Howard Park. They have recently breathed some new life into the brand with a stunning redesign of the labels. The new labels depict a serpent in the “Tree of Life” and better reflect the truly prestigious nature of the wines.
The founding philosophy of Howard Park is to acquire the finest possible fruit from various distinguished growers from the Margaret River and Great Southern regions of Western Australia. The wine is then made with minimal input in order to reveal the character of the fruit. The key element in this simple philosophy is that premium wines can only come from excellent fruit. The sourcing of this fruit from specific vineyards, and in many cases specific blocks on the vineyard, is the single most important factor in the production of the Howard Park wines. As a result, the riesling, chardonnay and cabernet merlot produced are only ever available in very small quantities, but are noted for their rare balance of elegance and power and a proven history of rewarding ageing with increased complexity and interest.
Howard Park was one of the original pioneers in Western Australia’s Great Southern region and was originally based in the coastal town of Denmark since its conception in 1986. Denmark is a beautiful area where the forest meets the sea and the Howard Park winery there hosts one of the most impressive cellar doors in the Great Southern region, situated on an historical 100-acre property known as “Parkhead”.
The Burches recently constructed their second state of the art winery in Margaret River. The building is surrounded by tall marri and jarrah trees and is a unique presence in the Margaret River region. It was built using the Chinese principles of Feng Shui and has since been awarded by the Royal Australian Institute of Architecture.
Michael Kerrigan is chief winemaker who oversees production in both Margaret River and Denmark. His most recent achievement is the launch of a brand new wine into the Howard Park stable. The new Leston Shiraz is the first single vineyard wine and it exhibits all the hallmarks of quality and regional characteristics you can expect from Howard Park.
