About Aravina Estate

Aravina Estate was established in 2010 by Perth businessman and sixth generation West Australian, Steve Tobin and his wife Hayley Munro-Tobin.

Aravina Estate is located on Thornton Road, Yallingup in the northern corner of the premium wine-growing region of Margaret River in Western Australia close to the town of Dunsborough and the famed surf at Yallingup. The property was established in 1986 under the original name Amberley Estate.

Nestled amongst the picturesque setting of expansive vineyards across the rolling hills, natural bushland and manicured gardens, Aravina Estate is one of Margaret River's finest wine producers in the region. Aravina Estate consists of 180 acres (73 hectares) of which 64 acres (26 hectares) are under vine with plantings of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Shiraz, Tempranillo, Malbec, Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon, Chenin Blanc and Chardonnay.

With a passion for wine-making, artistic and architectural design and enjoyment of the simple pleasures of life, the Tobins' vision for Aravina Estate is the creation of a wonderful dining experience for families, couples and children and enhancing it with the production of distinctive wines of exceptional quality that best represent the region.

Aside from the stunning food and exceptional wines, the orchards, kitchen garden, Taphouse, WA Surf Gallery and sports car gallery are just a few of the many attractions at the Estate.

Our Vineyard

Aravina Estate consists of 180 acres (73 hectares) of which 69 acres (29.6 hectares) are under vine including; Semillon, Sauvignon Blanc, Chenin Blanc, Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Shiraz with subsequent plantings of Tempranillo and Malbec in 2013 and a further hectare of French Shiraz clone 470 planted in 2015. The Tempranillo vineyard is a polyclonal planting which comprises of five of the most revered Spanish clones selected from the Pais and Toro regions. 1 hectare of grenache and .25 hectares of Touriga Nacional were planted in 2019.

Approximately 75% of the plantings are cane pruned with the remainder spur pruned. The combination of the gentle slopes on the property, the free draining gravelly loam soils and plentiful water supply combine to produce ultra-premium quality fruit.

Vine spacing on the old vineyards is 1.8 metres with row widths of 3.5 metres. The new plantings have vine spacing of 1.6 metres and row widths of 3 metres.

Most of the vineyard is structured around VSP (vertical shoot positioned) trellis. An area of the old Cabernet Sauvignon block is grown on a Lyre trellis system providing an open canopy system which results in optimal bunch exposure and air circulation.

2018 heralded an exciting milestone for the estate with the completion of a state of the art wine making facility. Aravina's wines are now fully estate grown and their entire journey from vine to bottle is completed on site. The winery includes climatically controlled barrel storage, premium small batch processing, new technology berry sorting equipment and a state of the art laboratory that enable us to produce award winning wines for ourselves and our select contract customers. Contract wine making services are available, please contact the estate direct with enquiries.

We are regular holiday visitors of Aravina, & come for a big lunch every school holidays & every long weekend. We came to lunch with a group on Saturday, & what a fabulous meal! The place was full, there was great music & the staff were fantastic. All our meals were beautifully presented & delicious. I can’t wait to get back to Aravina.

- Nina F

Everything was so wonderful and a big shout and thank you to Tom the manager who really made sure we were accommodated. We cannot fault the level of their food, each dish was so delicious and that Pasta with the crab was out of this world.

We can never fault this vineyard, their staff are so lovely and the food WAS AMAZING. See you all again for the next birthday!!

- Alison T

Beautiful gardens and a water outlook lead to the Aravina Cellar Door, Surf Gallery and the Vineyard restaurant. The restaurant is quite large and has table seating alfresco and indoors and is disability suitable. All tables have magic views of the dam and gardens.

The Restaurant Menu is comprehensive with choices for people who only want something light for lunch, to full a la carte selections. The service was friendly, attentive and we enjoyed a chat , learning about the Winery and the area. A lovely and memorable luncheon at a delightful venue.

- Bryce S

Central to Steve and Hayley Tobin’s vision for Aravina Estate has been the desire to create a uniquely memorable experience for everyone in the family when visiting Aravina Estate.

Manicured Gardens

The manicured gardens at Aravina Estate are both stunning and secluded.

On arrival to the Estate, the expansive vineyard can be seen through the sweeping Claret Ash trees and manicured lawns. Visitors are met with a sea of pink and blue hydrangeas as they cross the bridge to the Cellar Door and Restaurant. The striking flowers are coupled with the intricate creek system of cascading waterfalls and a tree fern canopy.

As you walk throughout the gardens there is a fragrant and colourful range of roses, hydrangeas and camellias plus several sections of the garden dedicated to native plants. The expansive lake is offset by bushland and contemporary garden styling that creates the idyllic restaurant setting.

The Kitchen Garden

The Aravina kitchen and horticulture teams have worked together to design the kitchen garden and determine what produce is appropriate for Aravina Estate’s site conditions, wind shelter, optimal sunlight, airflow and irrigation.

They use entirely organic methods to ensure the quality of the kitchen garden produce. The Horticultural team select specific in-season varieties of herbs and vegetables for use in the Aravina Estate kitchen with the added prospect of on-selling excess produce to the public in the near future.

An apple and pear orchard was planted in early 2015. The fruit from the orchard will be incorporated into the chef's seasonal creations along with the lemons and limes from the extensive citrus trees planted around the Estate.

The 'A' Team

Owners

Steve & Hayley Tobin
Owners

Steve Tobin was born in the wheatbelt town of Katanning and was educated at UWA and Curtin University with degrees in Geophysics, Finance and Economics. Following a career as a Geophysicist in oil and gas exploration which took him to Iran, China, SE Asia, NZ, USA and Canada with his company Terrex Seismic, Steve studied Viticulture and then later purchased Aravina Estate in 2010. Hayley grew up in Launceston, Tasmania before studying Human Resources at La Trobe University in Melbourne and forging a career within the resources sector in Perth, WA.

From its inception, the Tobin family’s vision for Aravina Estate was to create: "a unique premium food and wine destination in the Southwest of WA that would showcase the finest wine and produce that the Region has to offer." To this end, the focus at Aravina has been to invest heavily in new vineyard infrastructure, introduce improved management practices and plant new grape varieties particularly suited to the maritime climate and rich loamy soils of the northern Margaret River region.

Following the belief that "great wine is made in the vineyard", this investment has led to the creation of a range of traditional and emerging red and white premium wines.

Chief Winemaker

Ryan Aggiss
Chief Winemaker

Ryan is responsible for all aspects of vineyard management (with consultant viticulturist Ryan Gibbs) and wine production at Aravina Estate. Formerly the site winemaker at Accolade Wine’s Houghton Winery in Nannup, Ryan has produced a large number of premium prize winning and popular wines across the suite of labels owned by Accolade including Houghtons and Brookland Valley. He has worked in Margaret River, Clare Valley, McLaren Vale and Sonoma Valley California and is a regular judge at Western Australian wine shows.

In 2009 Ryan was awarded the Wine Society Australian and New Zealand “Young Winemaker of the Year Award” whilst working at Margaret River’s Flying Fish Cove. He holds a BSc. (Oenology) from Charles Sturt University.

Contact: ryan@aravinaestate.com

Weddings & Events Manager

Taylor Shearer
Weddings & Events Manager

Passionate about all thing’s events! Taylor has worked across Canada, New Zealand and Australia within hospitality and event management. She loves working most in wedding management and creating a day that our couples will remember forever. After starting as our Wedding Operations Manager in Spring 2021, Taylor's amazing can-do attitude won her the premotion of Wedding & Events Manager shortly after. Born & raised in Canada, Taylor is looking forward to many busy wedding seasons at the Estate and warm Summers amongst the vines.

Contact: functions@aravinaestate.com

Head Chef

Ross Tyre
Head Chef

Ross, an accomplished professional chef with 24 years’ experience internationally, nationally and locally, Ross extensively worked throughout the UK, Caribbean and came to Australia in 2012.

Working in some of the finest establishments in the food service industry, including 5 star hotels, Michelin star restaurants, large volume high profile events and luxury private charter yachts, then more recently moved to south west in 2017 where Ross was Executive Chef for 3 years at Palmer Wines in Dunsborough.

Joining Aravina Estate in 2020, and being a highly organised and passionate team member, with strong leadership and management skills, Ross became a huge asset to Aravina, with his calm, approachable and happy nature, landing him the role as Head Chef.

Contact: chef@aravinaestate.com.au

Venue Manager

Alex Hazewinkel
Venue Manager

Alex was born in Brazil, where she studied Bachelor of Business and MBA. She worked in the corporate service sector for 12 years before moving to Australia. After spending some time in Brisbane-QLD, studying and working in hospitality, Alex then moved to Perth and has made Western Australia her home for the past 17 years.

Alex has managed the day-to-day operations in industries such as retail, wholesale and hospitality before joining Aravina. She loves working in the South West food and wine region and has a passion for working with people and enjoys helping others achieve their best.

Alex loves working in a vibrant industry and hosting all Aravina's wonderful guests. Working together with the Aravina team makes all the difference in the quality of the service we provide to our guests.

Contact: alex@aravinaestate.com

Horticulture Manager

Sharney Skelton
Horticulture Manager

Sharney and her expert team of horticulture and landscaping specialists have created and maintained some of the most outstanding aspects of Aravina Estate’s gardens for the last 10 years. From the creation of our wedding ceremony arbor, winding pathways and streams, the boardwalk connecting all the car parks, the events room dreamy manicured private gardens and the entrance to the kitchen garden using repurposed bricks and elements from the old Amberley Estate. Sharney and her team from Organics Horticulture services have created many of the region’s best and most abundant landscaped gardens and have been pivotal in maintaining the beautiful surroundings at Aravina.

Accounts & Administration Manager

Helen Nielsen
Accounts & Administration Manager

Helen was born and bred in Australind before making the move to Busselton 2 years ago. With 30 years of experience in accounting and office management, Helen is an absolute asset to the team. Keeping the wheels oiled in all area’s payroll, staff onboarding and bookkeeping.

Helen is a true family person and spends her down time with her loving husband, gorgeous kids and fur baby, Molly.

Contact: accounts@aravinaestate.com

Events Chef

Erdősi Botond
Events Chef

Botond joined Aravina Estate in 2019, shortly after he took charge of the food offering for weddings and events. Being of Hungarian heritage and growing up in Transylvania, he brings a wealth of worldly knowledge in all areas of kitchen operations. With a focus on seasonal, high-quality local produce, you will enjoy a menu that is beautifully tailored to each wedding day and event.

Contact: chef@aravinaestate.com

Marketing & Design

Tanja Sacconi
Marketing & Design

With 15 years of Marketing within the Margaret River Wine Industry, for wineries such as Howard Park Wines, Watershed Wines and Xanadu, including 18mths in Production & Design for Periscope Management, contracting for 13 various boutique wineries from the Margaret River and Great Southern Wine Regions, Tanja has knowledge in most aspects of Sales and Marketing within both small and large wineries.

Tanja joined Aravina Estate in 2019 as our Marketing and Graphic Designer. Along with her passion and knowledge for wine, and her creative flair, she designs all our menus, tasting notes and event posters, brochures and all other marketing material.

Contact: tanja@aravinaestate.com

Social Media & Content

Radhna Mackenzie
Social Media & Content

After studying film & television at North Metropolitan Tafe in 2020, Radhna joined Aravina Estate in 2021 to coordinate our digital media presence. She is a creative self-starter with natural leadership qualities who has had a big impact on showcasing our brand. We are lucky to have on board a Dunsborough local with twenty years of hospitality experience behind her, to understand what a venue needs to shine in the public domain.

Contact: radhna@aravinaestate.com