Spin the Bottle
This month, we explore the burgeoning Western Australian region – check out the cellar doors, sample the food and bed down in the country.
Explore Australia’s largest wine region, the Great Southern
The GreaT SouThern wineries are a four-hour drive from Perth through wheatfields and paddocks, interspersed with tall marri, karri and tuart trees. Orderly rows of vivid-green grapevines announce your arrival in Mount Barker, the gateway to this largely unexplored area of Western Australia. A car is a must, as the country’s largest wine region is quite scattered, comprising five subregions – Frankland River, Mount Barker, Porongurup, Albany and Denmark – with the chilly Southern Ocean lapping at the latter two coastal towns.
It’s this Antarctic influence that differentiates the Great Southern from the better-known Margaret River region, which benefits from the warm waters and gentle breezes of the Indian Ocean. The Great Southern’s cold maritime climate is perfect for producing lime-fresh riesling and spicy, mid-weight shiraz. Chardonnay and the cabernet family also respond to the Southern Ocean’s cooling influences.
The area’s first vines were planted in 1965 in an experimental plot at what is now Forest Hill Vineyard. A decade later, Tony Smith of Plantagenet Wines built the region’s first winery.
The Great Southern’s early wines were made in the Swan Valley under the auspices of Jack Mann of Houghton Wines fame. The label’s tribute to the winemaker, the Jack Mann Cabernet Sauvignon, first released in 1994, is sourced from the Justin Vineyard in the somewhat cooler Frankland River subregion. The vineyard is also responsible for some outstanding rieslings that pop up under numerous brands and labels.
Like many pioneering wine regions, take-up in the Great Southern was initially cautious. As momentum gathered during the 1980s, Howard Park, Castle Rock Estate Wines and Frankland Estate Wines joined Alkoomi Wines and Galafrey Wines, both founded in the 1970s. And there has always been interplay (and sometimes fierce rivalry) between the Great Southern and Margaret River regions, with producers such as Houghton, Howard Park and Larry Cherubino Wines maintaining a foot in both vinous camps.
One of the joys of the Great Southern is its slower pace; vineyards are spread across the region, visitor numbers are modest and vignerons have time for a chat about the weather, life and, of course, their wines. The towns of Albany and Denmark offer good eating, drinking and accommodation. And the drive from Cape Leeuwin to Albany is a must-do for the awe-inspiring beauty of Madfish Bay (which gave its name to Burch Family Wines’ MadFish range) and the towering eucalypts of the Valley of the Giants in the Walpole Wilderness. Just remember to buy a few bottles of local wine to take home the experience.