Best Wineries in Margaret River: The Cellar Doors Worth Building a Day Around

Vasse Felix is where the region began — Dr Tom Cullity planted Margaret River’s first vines here in 1967, and the estate has been the standard-bearer ever since. The cellar door at Wilyabrup is polished but welcoming, set among the original vineyards, and it’s the natural first stop for anyone who wants to understand where the region came from before tasting the rest of it.

The wines are benchmark Margaret River: the Heytesbury Cabernet and Chardonnay sit at the top, with a broad, reliable range beneath them, and the cellar-door team will happily walk you through the estate’s history as you taste. The acclaimed restaurant overlooking the vines makes Vasse Felix a genuine destination for a long lunch, and there’s an art gallery on site too. Book the restaurant ahead; the tasting itself is more flexible.

Voyager Estate is the grand statement of Margaret River — a Cape Dutch–style cellar door set behind formal rose gardens, with a flag and a sense of occasion that makes it one of the most photographed estates in the region. It’s the place to come when you want the experience to feel like an event, and the setting backs up the bottle.

The wines are seriously good, led by Chardonnay and Cabernet, and the estate has long championed careful, single-vineyard winemaking. Voyager leans into structured tasting experiences and a destination restaurant rather than a casual counter pour, so it rewards a booking and a leisurely visit over a quick drop-in. It suits couples, special occasions and visitors who want one cellar door to be the centrepiece of the day rather than one of many.

Leeuwin Estate is one of the region’s most celebrated names, best known for its Art Series Chardonnay — a wine that, in its 1981 vintage, helped announce Margaret River to the world when it was rated among the best Chardonnays anywhere. The cellar door sits beside a vast lawn fringed by towering karri trees, which is where the estate’s famous summer concert series takes place under the stars.

The Art Series wines are the headline, with a tiered range beneath them, and the estate’s restaurant is one of the region’s long-standing destinations for a serious lunch. Visiting in summer for the concert is a bucket-list experience for many Australians, but the cellar door and restaurant are worth it year-round. It suits wine lovers chasing the region’s flagship Chardonnay, couples, and anyone who can time a visit to a concert.

Cullen is one of Margaret River’s pioneering families and a leader in biodynamic and carbon-neutral winemaking — a cellar door with real substance behind the philosophy. It’s less about grand architecture than the estate giants and more about the wine and the principles, which is exactly why so many serious wine lovers put it at the top of their list.

The wines are outstanding, led by the Diana Madeline Cabernet blend and the Kevin John Chardonnay, both named for family members and both regularly ranked among the country’s best. The cellar door pairs tastings with a kitchen garden and a restaurant built around estate-grown and local produce, so it’s a natural lunch stop with a genuinely ethical story. It suits wine lovers who care about how the wine is made as much as how it tastes, and anyone after a more grounded, less corporate experience.

Xanadu is one of the most accessible of the region’s serious cellar doors — just a few minutes from the Margaret River township, which makes it an easy first or last stop without a long drive. The cellar door is relaxed and modern, set among the vineyards, and the welcome is consistently warm and unpretentious.

The wines punch above their price, with award-winning Chardonnay and Cabernet across a tiered range that gives you a real sense of the region without the flagship price tag. There’s a well-regarded restaurant for a long lunch with a vineyard view, and the proximity to town makes it a natural anchor for a wine day. It suits first-timers, couples and anyone who wants genuine quality and a great lunch without venturing far from the township.

Cape Mentelle is one of the region’s founding wineries, established in 1970, and it carries that pedigree quietly in a relaxed bush setting on Wallcliffe Road, an easy run from the township. It’s less polished-grand than some of the big estates and more at ease with itself, which is a large part of its appeal.

The wines have serious history — the estate’s Cabernet Sauvignon is a benchmark, and the range covers the region’s classics with real depth. The cellar door offers tastings and vineyard tours, and the bushland surrounds make it a pleasant, unhurried stop. It suits visitors who want a founding-name wine with genuine substance and a more laid-back atmosphere than the showpiece estates, and it slots neatly into a township-based day.

Stella Bella is a smaller, more intimate cellar door just a short drive from the township on Rosa Brook Road, and it’s the kind of place that wins people over with character rather than scale. The room is relaxed and the team genuinely engaged, which makes it a favourite for travellers who want a personal tasting away from the bigger crowds.

The wines are characterful and well-made across a broad range — and the labels themselves, with their distinctive artwork, have a following of their own. There’s real quality here at accessible prices, and the lower-key setting means tastings rarely feel rushed. It suits couples, small groups and anyone who wants to balance a couple of big-name estates with a smaller, more personal room on the same day.

Wills Domain sits high on the rolling hills of the Gunyulgup Valley in Yallingup, at the northern end of the region, and the position is the point — the cellar door and restaurant look out over vineyards and bush from one of the best vantage points of any winery in Margaret River. It’s a natural anchor for a day based around Dunsborough and Yallingup.

The wines are well-regarded across the range, but it’s the food-and-view combination that people come back for — the restaurant runs a destination tasting-menu format that turns lunch into the main event. It suits couples and food lovers wanting a long, scenic lunch, and visitors basing in the north who don’t want to drive all the way south to the Wilyabrup cluster. Book the restaurant well ahead; it’s a destination in its own right.

Hay Shed Hill is one of the oldest vineyards in the region, in the heart of the Wilyabrup Valley among the densest cluster of cellar doors, which makes it easy to combine with neighbours like Vasse Felix and Cullen on the same loop. The cellar door is relaxed and friendly, open every day, and the kind of unpretentious stop that rounds out a wine day nicely.

The wines are solid and good value across a broad range, with the estate’s Cabernet and Chardonnay the reliable picks, and the casual food offering makes it an easy lunch or grazing stop between the bigger names. It suits visitors who want a relaxed, no-fuss tasting in the middle of the Wilyabrup cluster, and groups who appreciate a friendly room that doesn’t take itself too seriously.

Howard Park, near Cowaramup, is family-owned and runs one of the most comprehensive tasting experiences in Western Australia, drawing on fruit from both Margaret River and the cooler Great Southern. The cellar door is striking — designed with feng shui principles, a calm and considered space that stands out from the usual barn-style room — and the breadth of wines on offer is the draw.

With the Howard Park, MadFish and Marchand & Burch labels under one roof, you can taste across price points and styles in a single visit, from approachable everyday wines to serious flagship Cabernet and Chardonnay. It suits visitors who want range and depth in one well-run cellar door, and anyone who appreciates a thoughtfully designed space. It’s an easy stop on a Cowaramup-based loop with the nearby Wilyabrup estates.