fearon-ferguson-valley

After a decade spent studying and working as an environmental scientist, Tim Fearon was ready for a change. So, he moved to Margaret River to become a winemaker. 

Growing up just outside McLaren Vale meant he’d “dipped his toes” into harvest at various points over the years. But, “it was at Vasse Felix where wine became serious and made me certain that it was the right career path, and yeah, the right life for me,” he says.

“I love being on the land and working with my hands, especially when it ties in science and bringing people together.”

Tim spent nine years at Vasse Felix. Then, in late 2022, he and his fiancé, Rachel Cryer, began looking for a vineyard (or land suitable to plant one) to pursue their own wine project; Fearon. Priced out of Margaret River, they landed in the Ferguson Valley in Geographe, about two hours’ south of Perth, in April ’23.

“I already had a love for the Ferguson Valley because I'm a big mountain biker and it has some of the best mountain biking in WA,” he says. “Rachel has family here too, so it made sense.”

They’d had designs on their own vineyard, until their new neighbour, who Tim met through the local fire brigade, offered to lease them his – three hectares planted in 2003 to cabernet sauvignon and merlot.

“It was the perfect marriage of circumstances,” Tim says. “He’s in his seventies and was wanting to find someone to take it on, and I wanted a sort of blank canvas, so to speak, of linear potential.

“It's such a beautiful site. The soils in the Ferguson Valley and the surrounding regions are incredible. They're probably the best agricultural soils in WA,” he adds. “It’s quite a sheltered, cool site as far as Ferguson Valley is concerned. And the vines are in beautiful condition.”

About three-quarters of the vineyard has since been grafted to other varieties, including chardonnay, fiano and grenache, which Tim expects will start to come online as early as next year.

For Fearon’s first vintage in 2024, and for the ’25s, which have just been released, about half the fruit was sourced from “two really high-quality vineyards” in the region. One site, which Tim describes as “super exposed, rocky, and warm” supplies grenache, mourvèdre and tempranillo. The “elevated, cooler, inland continental site” provides his chardonnay.

“I really ascribe to the winemaking philosophy that Virginia Willcock pioneered, which is to start with a really beautiful raw ingredient, and then let the natural biological processes do as much of the work as possible, but within a technical, scientific mindset,” he says.

“Be as hands-off as possible, but be pragmatic when you know you need to intervene... if you’re compromising the expression of fruit from the site, then you’re failing at your job as a winemaker.

“Although, it’s dynamic,” he adds. “I’m still learning. I still tweak and evolve my approach every year, based on each season’s experiences.”

The 2025 vintage release includes varietal grenache, fiano, riesling, chardonnay, tempranillo and cabernet sauvignon, and there’s also a sauvignon blanc chardonnay blend (called ‘Blanc’), a grenache, tempranillo and mourvedre blend (called ‘Rouge’), a rosé and a pét-nat. “The lineup is pretty much how I imagine the lineup will be moving forward,” says Tim. The aim is for most the fruit to be estate-grown, although “I’d hate to turn down the opportunity to work with some of the fruit sources I’m working with because it’s truly beautiful fruit.

“Part of our story is showcasing the Geographe wine region as a whole. The regionality is probably the biggest component of our branding and our identity as a label. Yeah. So I'm really passionate about showcasing the different regions, the varieties that work well, and yeah, really sort of trying to build a, or contribute to the regional story of Geographe because I think especially nationally, it flies a bit under the radar. It's so hard to compete against the juggernaut that is Margaret River at times, for good reason. But yeah, hopefully, ultimately our aim is to make amazing wine, but also contribute to the regional story and really help showcase and bring to light some of the amazing sort of vineyards and producers injury graph and bring that to broader attention.