Cloudburst

History

Cloudburst was founded by Will Berliner, an American who relocated to Margaret River and established the estate in the early 2010s. The project was built from the ground up on a single property, with Berliner taking a hands-on role across both farming and winemaking from the outset. It arrived with little fanfare but drew serious attention quickly, particularly for its Chardonnay, which critics placed alongside the best the region has produced. The label has remained small and independent, with production deliberately constrained to maintain focus on the home vineyard rather than sourcing fruit more broadly.

Vineyards

The estate sits within Margaret River, a region whose proximity to two oceans moderates temperatures and extends the growing season well beyond what latitude alone would suggest. The site is planted to Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Malbec, among other varieties. Berliner farms organically and has worked toward biodynamic practice, with an emphasis on soil health and minimal intervention in the vineyard. Specific block sizes and soil profiles are not extensively documented in the public record, but the property is understood to be a single contiguous site rather than a collection of parcels.

Winemaking

The approach in the cellar follows the logic of the farming: low intervention, native yeasts, minimal additions. The Chardonnays are whole-bunch pressed and barrel-fermented, showing the kind of texture and reductive precision associated with serious Burgundian handling without mimicking it directly. Oak is present but not dominant; the fruit and site do the structural work. The Cabernet Sauvignon and Malbec are vinified with similar restraint, producing wines that are compact and age-worthy rather than immediately generous. Allocations are small and distributed through a mailing list, which has contributed to the label's scarcity and reputation in roughly equal measure.