Meet Kath and Ashley - Green Door Wines, Ferguson Valley

Kath, the name Green Door is interesting, tell us about history behind it.

The Green Door name originates from a historic green door we purchased many years ago - we fell in love with it while travelling.  It is from the market place in Fez in Morocco.  We didn’t have a specific destination for the door at the time of purchase but once we established the wine label the Green Door found its home and when we built the Cellar Door in 2015, the whole building was designed to fit around the doors (which are 4 meters high).

Our vineyard and winery has a Spanish influence as the two predominant grape varieties we grow are Tempranillo and Grenache which originate in Spain.  The Green Door, although Moroccan, fits in with the general feel of the vineyard and winery as the  Moorish influence is very evident in Spain, especially in the South.

Green Door Wines has been operating for several years and now you also have a café, what made you decide to leap into food?

The winery was established in 2007 and our Green Door label in 2011 although the wines were only marketed through shows and festivals, our website and a few restaurants and liquor stores.  In 2015 we built the Cellar Door attached to the winery to further establish our brand and offer people a connection with the winery and what we have to offer.  In the Cellar Door, our wine tasting experience is a little different.  Our customers can sit and enjoy the view while tasting our wines rather than standing up at the bar.  A selection of gourmet platters is available to enable people to have a great wine and food experience.  So I suppose in answer to your question, our leap into food, although in a modest way, is to further people’s enjoyment of the wine.  In the end, for us it is all about the wine and the best way to enjoy it!!

You and Ashley travel a lot, what are your 'go to' places overseas?

For us, any new experience is a good experience.  We have traveled extensively and now our travel seems to revolve predominantly around wine regions!!  We both love Spain – it is a rich tapestry of amazing wine, food, interesting people and a diverse history.   We have a lot more of Spain to explore. 

How has your travels influenced your wines, and what is a favourite of yours?

Ashley and I were in Spain and Portugal earlier this year.  We visited many small wineries and Cellar Doors in Rioja and Ribera del Duero and Ashley spent time with the winemakers, usually the family members who own the winery.  As we are a small winery, we are able to experiment with different wine-making techniques in small batches and these travel experiences are inspirational for Ashley as the winemaker.

My favourite wines are our Flamenco Rose, a dry style Rose made from Grenache and Mourvedre grapes.   Ashleys favourite would have to be our Tempranillos – we have two different Temranillos – both made with fruit picked on the same day from the same vineyard but made with different wine-making techniques.  They are both great wines but very different and it is interesting to see the difference the wine-making influence has.

What do you love most about being part of the growing Geographe Wine Region and living in Ferguson Valley?

We love being part of a wine region that is emerging and where all of the wineries are owned and run by families.  We are all passionate about what we do and have a great sense of community and share in each other’s successes.  The Geographe Wine Region is producing amazing wines and this is starting to be recognised nationally and internationally. 

We love living in Ferguson Valley.  We purchased our property as it was close to Bunbury for schools and facilities and the type of property we were looking for.  However, we could not have handpicked a better community to live in – it has a great community spirit, offers a great lifestyle for our family and is close to Perth when we need a touch of the big smoke.  We love it!!