Robert Oatley Vineyards have opened a cellar door in Wilyabrup, at the old Laurance Wines site, after making wine in the region since 2006.
The Oatley family are famed winemakers from NSW, their most wellknown drop is Rosemont which they merged with Southcorp Wines in 2001.
Mr Oatley was also the revered captain of the champion Sydney-to-Hobart supermaxi yacht Wild Oats.
Robert Oatley operations manager Carrie Watson said the winemakers had been looking for a face in the Margaret River region for sometime.
When the property on Caves Road became available they entered into a lease with American entrepreneur Howard Milstein and plan to open a second cellar door towards the end of the year.
“We are very popular in the Eastern states, people know who Robert Oatley is but over here we are not as well established,” she said.
“It made perfect sense to say, hey here we are.”
The team have opened a restaurant at the site which has a three-course lunch special including a tasting plate, main and dessert.
They are also planning on opening luxury accommodation in September, which will include three homesteads.
“What we are doing is constantly evolving,” she said.
Robert Oatley Vineyards chairman Andrew Oatley said Larry Cherubino and Chris Hancock first proposed the WA wines to his father.
“He took very little convincing. He’d seen the ever-increasing appearance of their wines on wine lists.”