Exceptional Small-Batch Wines from Pemberton, Western Australia
Since the 1990s, our Eastbrook vineyard has contributed to some of Western Australia’s most prestigious wine labels. Today, as Below&Above, we continue this legacy with a focus on low-yield, small-batch wines crafted with care.
Our vineyard’s renowned Hill Block Chardonnay exemplifies our commitment to excellence — a legacy nurtured since 2013 under the stewardship of John and Evdokia Klepec, with acclaimed winemaker Bruce Dukes guiding every vintage.
We believe wine is more than a drink — it’s a connector. A conversation starter. A shared moment. And we’re proud to be part of your story, one glass at a time.
Small Batch Excellence: Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Merlot
Wines Are Made in the Vineyard
We believe great wine begins in the vineyard. By nurturing soil health and prioritising fruit quality, we set the foundation for excellence. Winemaker Bruce Dukes works with precision to finesse that fruit in the winery — allowing the wine to speak of place, season, and care.
Recent vineyard upgrades include:
- 6.6 hectares of Gingin Chardonnay
- Burgundy Clone 76 Chardonnay (63/37) for added finesse and definition
- Coveted Pinot clones: 114, 115, 777, and G8V3
- Merlot clones 181 and Q45V14, planted low to the ground
Regenerative Viticulture Practices
At Below&Above, we employ holistic, regenerative viticultural practices — maximising fruit quality. Healthy soil produces expressive fruit, and expressive fruit makes exceptional wine.
Aged for Perfection
To guarantee an exceptional drinking experience, our wines undergo careful bottle aging before release. This patient approach allows each wine to develop its ideal expression, resulting in greater complexity, perfect balance, and remarkable depth. When a Below&Above wine reaches your glass, it represents not just the finest of Western Australia's Pemberton region, but the culmination of our unwavering dedication to quality.
Our Commitment
We leave nothing to chance. Every vine, every grape, every vintage reflects our unwavering dedication to purity of origin, low-intervention winemaking, and elegant expression.
At Below&Above, we only produce wines in vintages where the fruit meets our exacting standards — if the quality isn’t there, we don’t bottle. It’s that simple. This commitment ensures every wine that bears our label is a true reflection of the vineyard and the season, made with purpose, place, and pride.
From our family vineyard in Eastbrook to your table — these are wines worth waiting for.
Production Notes
2021 Pinot Noir
Hand-picked at first light on the 12th March 2021, 4 days later than the historical median conditions would predict for our vineyard. This is now our fifth vintage of our new pinot noir clones of 667,777,114,115 and G8V3(Martini). The 2021 features a higher amount of both the 114 and G8V3 clones in the blend.
This and subsequent vintages to 2025 are demonstrating the additional benefits of a year of vine age and the individuality of each clone (114 and G8V3 in this vintage) to the seasonal conditions.
An open fermenter was one quarter filled with whole clusters, essential to the development of flavour and perfume, and the remaining clusters de-stemmed only.
The berries were not crushed, and 10 per cent of free-run juice was drained off before fermentation in order to enhance concentration. After cold soaking for two days, the must was allowed to warm and seeded with yeast.
The ferment was punched down by hand several times a day gradually breaking the whole bunches toward the end of the process, allowing for the gentle flow of sugars; keeping the wine fresh and pure.
The wine was gently pressed into 500 litre French Oak puncheons: 1/4 new and matured on the lees for 10 months to create our house spicy and perfumed-style Pinot Noir. The 2021 Pinot Noir is a blend of all five clones noting the above change from previous years and was bottled on 17th February 2022. Total of 4,828 bottles.
2021 Chardonnay
Hand-picked immediately following the Pinot Noir on 12th March 2021 repeating the previous year when both varieties are ready on the same day rather than a week gap.
Our 2021 vintage saw a change from being a single Gingin clone to a blend of Gingin and Burgundy Clone 76 Chardonnay (63/37). Both clones had benefited from the warmer summer where leaf cover was adjusted to maximise the benefits of warming and drying conditions. Wine produced was the same as previous vintages using whole cluster pressing; a slow process that creates refined juice with lovely preservation of the fruit characters.
The wine was fermented and matured sur lie (on lees) in 228 litre French Oak barrels sourced from the Allier and Vosges forests: 1/3 new, for 10 months with partial malolactic fermentation to achieve natural balance in acidity.
Fortnightly batonnage was applied until September, to enhance texture and complexity, and then reduced to monthly as the wine developed. The 2021 Chardonnay was racked from barrel, settled and bottled on 16th February 2022. Total of 1,448 bottles.
Merlot 2020
The fourth vintage of our new merlot clones benefited from the bunches and berries both being relatively small in size and number for merlot. The young vines continuing their excellent development with the varietal characteristics of each clone being further defined. We are very pleased with the progress of both the 181 and Q45V14 merlot clones and the subsequent vintages that have followed.
Our estate fruit was picked at first light on 6th March 2020 earlier than previous vintages reflecting the warm and dry conditions of the 2020 vintage. The pristine fruit was gently destemmed as whole berries into an open fermenter and allowed to cold-soak for 12 hours before draining off ten percent of the “free run” juice to further enhance concentration before fermentation.
The fruit was cool fermented at 24⁰C, with gentle hand plunges 3 times a day to allow a gentle flow of sugar from the fruit and gradual controlled release of tannin.
After 15 days on skin the wine was gently separated from the skins and transferred to French oak barrels sourced from the Allier, Tronçais and Jupilles forests, 1/3 of which were new. After 10 months of maturation of on fine lees, the individual barrels were blended and clarified before being bottled on the 11th February 2021. Total of 2,700 bottles.