Let’s Go To Witchcliffe

It’s “Witchy” to locals. A tight community whose tale is of eco thoughtfulness, niche artistry, and gentle commercial evolution. Discover a community where an old school bakery is a soft coo-ee from the new school café.

Where vintage fashion and vino flirt for your attention from either side of the street.

Well, only in as much as the name Amato Vino recalls winemaker Brad Wehr’s preference for Italian varietals. In reality, Amato Vino’s new cellar door HQ is pure Witchcliffe: housed in the old town General Store, the building itself is a mastery of hand tooled restoration undertaken by the building landlord.

The warm wood, copper pipe shelving, stained glass, and subtly landscaped native garden surrounding the cellar door is the perfect match for a label that prizes itself on traditional and timeless methods.

Almost 20 years since starting his label—like the General Store—Brad’s beautifully constructed wines will stand the test of time.

No strolling country visit is complete without a couple of shopfronts designed to draw you in with the promise of hidden finds. At the Margaret River Candle Company you’ll get lost exploring local artwork, and a range of handmade products that tell the tale of the region—everything from cheese boards, to wine racks.

Candles are the heart though, and this is one kids’ll love: see candles in various stages of creation and chances are you might even get to meet the resident candle maker in person. It would take willpower to walk out empty handed.

If picket fences framed the gates to heaven, then you wouldn’t be wrong in thinking you’d stumbled upon paradise when pushing into Yardbyrd.

Run by a local couple, Rob is an ex-Freo café veteran and it shows in everything from the stellar coffee to the generosity of hospo spirit. Staff are fast, friendly, and just like Cheers everyone knows your name.

Regulars love the early opening hours, the fireplace in winter, a counter spilling over with housemate treats, and one of the best brekky burritos you’ll find anywhere.

Take advantage of the courtyard with its prettily overgrown garden in the summer.

If you don’t want to walk out with a new look and a freight ticket sending home that new vintage lounge chair, then maaaybe don’t walk in—it’s truly impossible to leave the Flying Wardrobe empty handed.

You’ll lose hours. Everything here is selected with a careful eye. Crockery. Larger scale furnishing pieces. Pot plants. Clothes. Ohh, the clothes: timeless silhouettes, careful craftsmanship, and the appeal of retro whereby you know it’s unique.

The weekend vintage fair every November is worth marking in the diary when planning your next trip.

Just down the road on the south side of Witchcliffe the winemaking Gosatti family are ready to pour you a taste of Arlewood Estate.

The six-hectare Forest Grove vineyard is a bit of an homage to the Italian home country in its winemaking style and varietal choices—Nebbiolo has recently been planted—but it wouldn’t be a Margaret River Region winery if there wasn’t an incredible Chardonnay. Try them all in the cellar door. Maybe even in book in for a luxe wine and chocolate pairing.

The wine’s are polished. The cellar door is awarded. The feel is open, welcoming, and rural.

Soaring landscapes and wild oceans does more than attract visitors and passing whales—the community of visual artists drawn to the Margaret River Region landscape is ever-growing.

This Witchcliffe creative collective draws a group together. The brainchild of local surfer and fine art photographer Lauren Trickett, Hardware Creative is a gallery space showcasing photographic and multi-media visual works that allow you to purchase a stunning memory of your time in the region.

The artists are often in-house working on new projects, which makes this a connection point as much as a commercial gallery space.

No need for a play on words in the title when you’re selling some of the best pies and cakes in the region.

Known to locals as “Witchy Pies” the officially crowned Cookies Galore is every locals’ favourite pie pit stop on the journey to and from Saturday morning footy, on a cold winter’s day, after a summer morning at the beach, when out picking up firewood… you get the picture. Any excuse is excuse enough.

There are sweet slice taster boxes if you can’t make up your mind when it comes to cakes. Take home family pies are an option. The melting moments are perfectly crumbly and frisbee-sized.

Sustainability is front and centre at McHenry Hohnen. Their organic soil-up approach is in line with many vineyards in the region, placing the wider Margaret River landscape front and centre as a name respected in global wine circles.

Their Witchcliffe cellar door allows the space to slow down and explore the ethos. And just as importantly—the wines. Winemaker Jacopo Dalli Cani lets vineyard and varietal expression shine: these are single vineyard wines drawn from three vineyards that tell unique stories from pockets of the region.