The name says it all: you have to play the hand Mother Nature deals you. House of Cards, established in 2011 by Elizabeth and Travis Wray, sits on 12 hectares of certified organic vines along the iconic Caves Road at the northern end of Margaret River in Western Australia. The couple lives on the property, where Travis makes all the wines onsite, mostly in small batches using French oak, amphora and concrete.
Travis came to winemaking via an unusual route. After five years in the Royal Australian Navy as a clearance diver, he studied Viticulture and Oenology at Curtin University, graduating in 2007. He honed his craft working at Margaret River estates, including Amberley, Vasse Felix and Fermoy, with vintages abroad at Waimea Estate in Nelson, New Zealand and Sumac Ridge in Okanagan Valley, Canada. Elizabeth, who graduated from Curtin University in 2008 with a Bachelor of Arts (Fine Art) and a Graduate Diploma in Education, taught primary school for three years before joining Travis on a 16-month wine odyssey through New Zealand, the USA and Canada. Today, she’s the driving force behind House of Cards’ marketing and sales.
For the Wrays, the philosophy is simple: let the fruit speak for itself. They spend significant time and effort making the soil as healthy as possible to grow the best fruit they can, which means being hands-off in the winery. They also experiment with different fermentation and maturation vessels to create layers in the wine. What makes House of Cards unique is its complete control over every aspect of production.
They care for the soil using organic practices, grow the grapes, harvest by hand, make the wine onsite, bottle onsite and handle all the marketing and selling themselves. There isn’t one part of their business that they don’t have full control over, and that contributes directly to the quality of their wines.
