About Castle Rock Estate

Castle Rock Estate is one of the fine vineyards in the Albany, Western Australia district. The vineyard is situated on the north-east face of the Porongurup Mountain range, around forty kilometres north-east of Albany and thirty kilometres south-east of Mt. Barker. 

Castle Rock Estate is owned by Robert and Angelo Diletti, who, from 1986 to 2000, made wines under contract for the Alkoomi winery. In 2000, they made the decision to build their own winery, a 200 tonne capacity affair on their own estate. It was completed just in time for the next harvest, with the tanks having arrived just four days before the grapes turned up for crushing.

The winery has a mixture of state-of-the-art equipment and some older techniques, which give it the perfect balance. The winery building is on two levels, which takes advantage of the natural slopes. They crush and ferment the grapes on the upper level, then allow gravity to go to work to feed it into the press on the lower level.

The upper level has four six-tonne red fermenters, which, when the reds have completed fermenting, they position the press below and fill it by opening the door.

They have a portable bottling line on the back of a semi-trailer, which means a huge reduction in transport costs and also that they have no need to install a fixed bottling line. They can also be sure that their wine is fresh and the quality high.

Porongurups National Park is a tourist drawcard, not only for its spectacular scenery, but also for the many wineries in the region, the unique crafts and visitors’ accommodation. There are bushwalks of varying degrees of difficulty to try out, including the Castle Rock bush track, for which the winery is named.

Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Merlot, Pinot Noir, Riesling, Sauvignon Blanc and Shiraz are all available at their cellar door.