Montague Estate

Montague Estate is a small family-run cellar door at 325 Tom Cullity Drive in Wilyabrup, in the thick of the region's premium cabernet country. It is a quiet, unhurried place to taste with a dog: the outdoor grounds are open to leashed dogs, and visitors regularly report a warm welcome, resident dog included.

The dog setup

Plan for an outdoor, lawn-side or under-cover tasting with your dog on lead. Accounts differ on whether dogs can join you inside the tasting room, so the reliable move is to set up outside and ask staff when you arrive. Water bowls and the occasional treat are generally on hand at a venue this size, but packing your own bowl costs nothing and covers you either way.

Pepsi: this is a settle-down kind of lawn, not a zoomies kind of lawn, so bring a mat and make yourself comfortable.

Worth knowing

The draw is small-batch, precisely made wine, with the cabernet sauvignon the headline act, including a reserve tier for the serious end. Shiraz and sauvignon blanc fill out the list. There is no formal online booking system for tastings, so call ahead on a weekend if you want certainty, though walk-ins are the norm. Picnickers can generally bring their own food to enjoy on the grounds. Hours run Wednesday to Sunday, from late morning to about 5pm, with Monday and Tuesday closed.

Getting there and parking

Tom Cullity Drive branches off Caves Road and threads through some of Wilyabrup's best-known vineyard country, so access is easy by car and parking is on site. It sits close to other premium estates, which makes it a natural stop mid-loop rather than a destination you drive across town for.

Close by with the dogs

Lenton Brae welcomes dogs inside and out a short drive away, and Fraser Gallop Estate takes dogs on its lawns along Metricup Road. The Wilyabrup destination page lists the rest of the sub-region's dog-friendly cellar doors.

A weekday tasting suits the secluded feel best, and the estate is a good pick for calm dogs who will settle beside the table while you work through the cabernet. The WA wineries index helps map the rest of the loop.