Rob and Claire Wignall retire Wignalls Winery and cellar door label after 44 years, but say legacy is ongoing

Almost four-and-a-half decades after he helped his parents plant the first vines in the soil of their Walmsley farm, Rob Wignall has called time on one of the Great Southern’s most beloved wineries. The lifelong vino aficionado said that Saturday — the last trading day at Wignalls winery and cellar door — was a bittersweet moment for him and his wife, co-owner Claire. “We made the announcement on Thursday and then on Saturday, the first two hours was insane,” he said. “We got here 10 o’clock for an 11 o’clock opening, and cars were waiting with about half of Albany here. “Saturday was easy and tough in that we sold pretty much everything, all the wine, but also I think overall, people were a bit shocked, saying they can’t believe it and they’re so sad. “The internal wine industry has been amazing though and we’ve had a phenomenal response from the community.” Famed not just for its award-winning wines and warm service, Wignalls was known to hold a place in the hearts and calendars of Great Southerners for another reason — its rip-roaring music festival, headlined annually with crowd-drawing acts. Over its 18-year run, Wignalls Vintage Blues Festival hosted artists to the likes of John Butler Trio, Missy Higgins, The Waifs, Ash Grunwald, George Thorogood, as well as about 85,000 festival-goers. COVID-related restrictions put a stop to the iconic events in 2020, but Rob counts their successes as a highlight of his career. “We used to have a road train truck in all the alcohol and have thousands of people packed into the fields,” he said. “I remember one year we couldn’t have fit in another car in the paddock if we tried. “It was really ingrained here, everybody just set their holidays around to the festival.” Another high point is the dual silver plates representing the titles of “Australia’s best white wine” and “the best new world wine” won by its white wine at the Japan International Wine Challenge. Though the Wignalls bought the winery outright in 2004, it was Rob’s parents who started the venture 44 years ago. His father Bill, an inspired veterinarian with a “sharp scientific mind”, turned his hand to viticulture in 1981 after discovering that Albany experienced the similar temperate climes boasted in the famed French wine region of Burgundy. A spark of innovation lead to him planting vines of chardonnay grapes, which were then still new to Australia, and pinot noir — which had barely been heard of in the country at all. The first vintage of both varieties, bottled in 1984, were award-winning. “Dad nailed it first try, absolutely nailed it,” Rob said. Sauvignon blanc grapes were added later, as was Rob to the management board, to help run the business in an equal “three-way democracy” with his father Bill and mother Pat, before taking over when his father fell ill. Dozens of awards — including one marking its cellar door as one of the 25 best in the country — later, the Wignalls carved a path as unstoppable hallmarks of the Great Southern wine industry. Their momentum snagged in 2019 however, when Rob was diagnosed with a rare form of blood cancer. After a few years of treatment, he is “coming out the back of it” but has decided to take his doctor’s advice and slow things down. “The biggest issue of this disease is it thrives on stress, stress and stress — ask any cancer expert and they’ll tell you that,” he said. “My doctors have suggested now is the right time to avoid stress, because while you’re on the improve, look after yourself. “So this is part of all that sort of stuff I’m now doing: stopped drinking, going to the gym three times a week now, all that sort of crap.” With his wife Claire on the cusp of a career change into adult education, Rob decided now was time to start a new chapter. “It’s just the right time, simple as that,” he said. “It’s quite mixed emotions really, about 50-50 where half is going ‘thank God’ and the other half of me is going, ‘God, have I done the right thing?’ “I honestly don’t know but it’s the right time for all of us and it’s all fallen together so well.” Though the label will be retired, the decades of hard work that constitute the family legacy won’t fall by the wayside, with the vineyard set to be leased to Fervor Wines and the cellar door and winery to Paul Nelson Wines. The Wignalls will retain ownership of the business and land where they live and generations of the family — including Bill and Pat — lie resting under the rose gardens. After 44 years, 55,000 vines planted and hundreds of thousands of attendees leaving a glass or two tipsier, Rob said he was happy to see the legacy his family has left in the region continue. “It’s very, very easy to shut down a vineyard, and the vineyard will degrade — what we call mothballing in the industry,” he said. “Our very first option was to go out and lease the vineyard to people that are capable, people that have the passion and people that have the right mentality, and we’ve done that with the vineyard and with the cellar door. “These two Denmark businesses have been selected to keep on going what we’ve worked on, keep the spirit of it and the legacy and be sort of a third generation moving in to give it some youth and enthusiasm. “We are very, very happy about that and excited for what Paul and Bianca (Nelson) have in store for the cellar door — which is some really exciting things, that will keep the music going.”