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Being the biggest state of Australia, Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) produced roughly 3% of the country’s wine, but in terms of quality, it accounted for a significant proportion of premium wines at 20%, earning the area a reputation of the best wine-producing state of Australia. And out of the 8 wine regions of WA, Margaret River is certainly the most prominent.
The Most Prominent Wine Region: Margaret River
In 50 years, Margaret River has become a world class wine region. Like Bordeaux, the region is moderated by a mild maritime climate, making it a perfectly temperate region to nurture international grapes. As in red wines, Cabernet Sauvignon accounts for most of the production in the region. Wineries typically blend it with Merlot, which both shared a rich blackberry, blackcurrant and spices flavors with strong structure, medium to full bodied and ripped tannins. Winemakers will also decide whether to age them in new or old wooden barrels, and they mostly go for French oak barrels that can add complex and rich fragrance to wine, giving the wine a more delicate and balance style.
In the white wine category, although Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon are the two white grape varieties with the highest yielding in Margaret River, local wineries tend to choose Chardonnay as their flagship white wine. The Margaret River Chardonnay has a naturally high acidity and is medium to full bodied, with rich aromas of plums, peaches and apricots. Let’s explore a handful of top-notch wineries from the region!
Cullen Wines
Established in 1971, Cullen Wines is now led by Vanya Cullen, daughter of Diana Cullen. Vanya was named not only the Most Powerful Women in the Wine World by UK Drinks Business Magazine in 2008, but also James Halliday’s Winemaker of the Year in 2020. As a dedicated environmentalist, she transformed the winery into a biodynamic certified and carbon-negative one. Over the years, the winery has earned a great number of prestigious awards including the first place in The Real Review’s 2020 Top Wineries of Australia. Its flagship Diana Madeline 2017 was also selected as the Top 100 wines of 2020 by James Suckling.
Clairault Wines
Clairault Wines Estate is another outstanding wine that received numerous awards since 2002. Quoting James Halliday, Clairault creates ‘authentic and classically styled wines, setting the benchmark for the region. With the winery’s wealth of styles, its trophy-winning wines are perfect for daily indulgence.
Cape Mentelle
Cape Mentelle is founded in 1970 by winemaker David Hohnen, who later established the famous Cloudy Bay. The winery’s flagship Cabernet Sauvignon is sourced primarily from the original Wallcliffe Vineyard with limited production and aged in French oak barrels. This James Halliday’s 5-red-star winery has proven to be in consistently high quality, its 1982 vintage has won the coveted Jimmy Watson Memorial Award for the Best One Year Old Dry Red Wine in 1983 and 1984, since then it is widely recognized as one of Australia’s leading Cabernets.
Deep Woods Estate
Another winery focusing on Cabernet Sauvignon is Deep Woods Estate. Led by Julian Langworthy, James Halliday’s Winemaker of the Year 2019, Deep Woods Estate is one of the most awarded wineries in the area. The flagship Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon is also one of the most awarded red wines, with its 2020 vintage being the Decanter Awards 2022’s Best in Show. Moreover, Deep Woods Estate is regarded the best Rose producer in WA as its Estate Rosé was crowned The Best Rosé of 2021 by Ray Jordan, certainly something you can’t miss!
Vasse Felix
Founded in 1967, Vasse Felix is one of the first founding wineries in the area, and has led Margaret River in quality ever since. The winery has been focusing Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay, reflecting the strengths of Margaret River, as well as Sauvignon Blanc/ Semillon blends, with the Heytesbury Chardonnay being the winery’s best selling in Hong Kong. Such unique and striking vineyard plots, along with the winery’s innovative winemaking, have made the wine distinguishing ‘Heytesbury’. The winery is currently led by the talented Virginia Willcock, who has completed more than 25 vintages in Margaret river and named “Winemaker of the Year” for 4 times!
Great Southern
Great Southern is the largest region in Western Australia, it is so big that 5 of its wine sub-regions, namely Frankland River, Mount Barker, Albany, Denmark and Porongurup each have distinctively different terroirs. Situated at the most northerly and inland sub-region of Great Southern, Frankland River is the most cool-tempered wine region in WA and is well known for its wonderful cool-climate Shiraz.
Howard Park
The James Halliday’s 5-red-star winery Howard Park is one of the founding wineries in the Great Southern, with premium vineyards spread throughout Margaret River and Great Southern. Its flagship Howard Park Abercrombie Cabernet Sauvignon is a blend of the best fruit produced in both wine regions, including some of the oldest vines in the region, resulting in a sophisticated gem with great ageability.
Frankland Estate
As its name suggests, Frankland Estate located in Frankland River. The winery has a passion for organic viticulture since its establishment in 1988, and has received organic certification in 2009. In 2021, the James Halliday’s 5-red-star winery has further earned the name of the top winery by The Real Review. The Isolation Ridge Vineyard range of single vineyard are made from organically grown Shiraz and Riesling that reflect the true nature and complexity of the terroir.
Swinney
Located in Frankland River, Swinney was a supplier of premium grapes to some of the top-tier wineries including Penfolds and Hardys, and has not released its own wine until 2012. The premium Farvie wines, first released in March 2020 from the 2018 vintage, is produced with bush vine Grenache, a rarity in the Great Southern. The range has caught the attentions of various wine critics, including the recent achievement of Australian Vineyard of the Year 2020 by Young Guns of Wine Award in Australia.