Wills Domain - 3 Chefs Hat In Margaret River

Wills Domain

17 Brash Road

Yallingup, WA 6282

Australia

Wills Domain in Margaret River is a celebrated winery and restaurant nestled in some of the best vineyards like Voyager, Vasse Felix and its likes in Margaret River. Wills Domain focuses on classic Margaret River varietals and produces some exquisite wines, particular those of from Paladin Hill, Eightfold and Block 3 which form the Museum Collection at Wills Domain. It is also home to a 3 chef hatted restaurant that features seasonal menus that highlights flavours from the locale.

Wills domain is a gorgeous venue, modern with a stunning view of the vineyard. We were visiting Margaret River on a weekend that had plenty of rain. Despite that, Wills Domain was still beautiful and during the brief respite from the rain, where the sun was around, we were treated to an absolutely beautiful view of the sprawling estate.

Cellar Door at Wills Domain

There are several menus that you can choose from at Wills Domain, including ala carte, the Wills Tasting Menu which is a 6 course meal and the Wills Signature Menu which is a 9 course menu. Having been feasting through this entire trip, we decided to settle for the 6 course menu which consisted of:

• House Made Native Seed Bread with Cultured Butter and Fermented Honey from Wills Domain bees

• Chef's Daily Snacks

• Shark Bay King Prawns with Celeriac, Jalapeno and Green Apple

• Manjimup Sugarloaf Cabbage with Peaceful Bay Gruyere, Mushroom and Kombu

• Farm House Arkady Lamb with Bell Pepper, Almond and Garden Herbs

• Magaret River Bahen and Co Chocolate Banana, Wattle Seed and Geraldton Wax

Of course there is an option for a wine pairing, at 55 AUD that consists of:

• Cuvee d'Elevage Blanc de Blanc NV

• Eightfold Sauvignon Blanc 2024

• Single Vineyard Semillon 2016

• Covee d'Elevage Cabernet Sauvignon 2014

However, since we had just a cellar tasting just prior to lunch, we decided to select a couple of more exquisite selections from the wine list to pair with our meal.

We start with a native seed bread served with a honey combed butter with fermented honeys. It is off to a great start with a showcase of flavours unique to Southwest Australia. We then proceed with the daily snack served on a platter of australian plants. Very beautiful and very delicious indeed.

The Shark Bay King Prawns is something that I particularly enjoyed at Wills Domain. It reminds me of something I had a Gaggan, and a play on emulsions and flavours. Personally, I love Shark Bay King prawns. They are sweet and extremely succulent, almost lobster like. Together with the celeriac and emulsions, it is like a flavour explosion.

On to the heavier dishes, we started off with the Manjimup Sugarloaf cabbage served with Peaceful Bay Gruyere cheese and black truffles, that were coming into season. This dish was extremely rich and hearty, and absolutely perfect for the rainy Margaret River weather that we had over the weekend. In Western Australia, it seems they shave their truffles very thick and so the umami flavours really hit. Something i think alot of restaurants should adopt!

The Arkady lamb is known for its tenderness and clean flavour. Whilst our party concurred that we enjoyed the happy lamb from Cullen Wines better, this was a more refined version and also good in its own right.

We ended the meal with a very local centric dish, pairing Bahen and Co chocolate with a silky banana puree, wattle seeds that provided a roasty nutty earthiness as well as Geraldton wax, a native bush with a floral flavour.

And as our meal ended, the rain stopped and we had a brief respite with the sun in full view:

Paladin Hills Sit Right Outside the Vineyard

If you are dining at the restaurant, the cellar tasting is free of charge. Typically, the wine tasting at the cellar door would cost 15 AUD per person which is redeemable against any wine purchase. We were served by a very charming and knowledgeable guide. He took abit of time to understand the flavour profiles and recommended some of the tastings, which included some of their museum wines from Paladin Hill, Cuvee d'Elevage and Eightfold ranges. It was a really nice way to get a good appreciation of the range of wines at Wills Domain and also gave us a preview to what wines we wanted to have during our meal.

We left with 3 bottles to add to our collection,

• Paladin Hill Matrix 2018, a Bordeaux style Cabernet Sauvignon blend from one of the best vintages in recent history, intensely flavoured with fresh berries and violet. It has smooth tannins and a beautiful long finish already though its still quite young.

• Cuvee d'Elevage Matrix 2017, extended barrel aging already showing beautiful complexity. It is powerful but still retaining excellent structure. One of the glasses we tried at the restaurant and would definitely want to have again.

• Block 3 Cabernet Sauvignon 2014 showcases classic Margaret River wine profiles, with plenty of aussie summer berries and a fresh and lively character. Something we would want to keep for another 10 years whilst it builds its complexity.

I don't know how long they will stay in the cellar, but it is always nice to be adding something different to our collection.

Booking

The restaurant is huge and there are plenty of different areas available for seating. On their website, there are seats available one weekend out for reservation. However, I definitely recommend making a reservation prior to heading to any Margaret River fine dining establishment. It helps the restaurant cater for their food requirement and also ensures you don't make a trip down and get rejected at the door.

Accessibility

As with most vineyards in Margaret River, a car to get around is necessary. And if drinking, remember your dedicated driver (:

The Damage

Our tasting menu was 119 AUD per pax, taxes inclusive. Drinks are separate and there was a good range of affordable to premium glasses to choose from. We were extremely full after the 6 course meal and for a 3 chef hat establishment, we thought the pricing to be very affordable.

Would We Recommend?

Yes! We recommend Wills Domain for someone who is seeking an elevated Margaret River wine and dine experience. The food is clean, delicious and focuses on local produce. The wines are delightful. Despite not being internationally recognised as one of the big names of Margaret River, we thought that their wines had character and depth that is worth adding to our cellar. So for us, it was a very delightful find. It is a beautiful place to celebrate, particularly if the weather allows for a slow stroll around the compounds.