A trip to the Margaret River region should be on every wine lover’s wish list. Sure, it’s an isolated region, further away from Australia’s East Coast than parts of Asia, however the quality of its wine alone, let alone the beautiful scenery and sightseeing opportunities, warrants the region’s placement near the top of any bucket list. Even its isolation works in our favour, with far less tourists at cellar doors leading to a more bespoke tasting experience.
Though grapes were first planted in Western Australia in 1830s by the Bussell family, the Margaret River region was a late starter in commercial grape growing. Neither its ‘maritime’ Mediterranean climate, with heavy winter rain and a cool sea breeze, nor its gravelly soils were seen initially as conducive to high quality grape production.
Agronomist Dr John Gladstone’s 1966 research paper, identifying the region’s Bordeaux-like climate, was a breakthrough. It led to the beginnings of a wine industry in Western Australia, led mostly by medical practitioners in the region. Dr Tom Cullity planted grapes in Vasse Felix vineyards in 1967. Others followed: Moss Wood in 1969, Cape Mentelle in 1970, Cullen in 1971 and Leeuwin Estate (1974). With Cape Mentelle’s back-to-back Jimmy Watson Trophy wins in 1983 and 1984 adding proof of the region’s rising quality, by the 1990s Margaret River wines had come to the attention of Australia and beyond.
Ironically, the very factors which were a challenge for grape growing in Margaret River contributed to the area’s success, the region now recognised for the high quality of its wine, particularly Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon.
The easiest way to travel to Margaret River is to fly to Perth and hire a car. Besides visiting picturesque wineries, the trip between Perth and Margaret River contains many tourist attractions such as world-class beaches, wildlife and native fauna, ancient forests and caves, stunning artwork and installations, and historical precincts which provide insight into the history of Western Australia. Past Margaret River, you may choose to visit one of the caves located south of the town, towering kauri forests near Denmark and Pemberton and the former whaling town of Albany, now famous for its National ANZAC Centre and national parks.
Besides the wineries of Margaret River, we visited Kings Park in Perth to photograph wildflowers, the town of Fremantle for its history and markets, Rottnest Island to see quokkas, Mandurah to discover ‘giants’, Bunbury to follow the mural trail before heading down to tackle Margaret River’s 200 wineries!
Heading south from Perth, the Margaret River wine region lies within a rectangular shape both north and south of the township of Margaret River. There are many possible ways to approach your cellar door visits, ranging from tasting grape varietals to full vineyard tour experiences. Our plan of attack was to visit a range of wineries: a couple of the trailblazers – Vasse Feliz and Cullen, some big names in wine – Leeuwin Estate and Voyager, and a couple of family-run award-winning vineyards – Deep Woods and Mr Barval.
Vasse Felix Vineyard and Cullen Wines are situated close to each other on Caves Road, north of Margaret River township. Vasse Felix, the first commercial vineyard in the region, is an impressive winery comprising three specialty vineyards. For fifty years, Vasse Felix has followed organic principles while maximising quality and focussing on long-term sustainability. Vasse Felix has a longstanding reputation for its small batch, quality-led, minimal intervention winemaking approach. This has produced some of the region’s most celebrated icon wines, however within its range you will also find very affordable table wines.
Owned by another founding family, for forty year Cullen Wines has been the region’s most notable proponent of holistic growing practices, focussing on quality and sustainability. It was the first winery in Australia to be certified 100% carbon neutral in 2003, certified biodynamic in 2008, and they have recently started applying the minimal intervention approach to their bio-dynamic organic wines. Cullen’s cellar door offers a range of tasting options from a walk-in standard tasting to private seating tastings and a unique ‘wine in honey’ tasting.
A visit to Leeuwin Estate immerses us in ‘the art of wine’. Not only do they hold concerts on the green (presently occupied by a helicopter delivering guests) starring international artists such as Diana Ross, Tom Jones and Sting, but they also have an extensive modern art gallery open to the public and a well reputed restaurant on site. Leeuwin Estate had legendary beginnings when, in 1972, legendary Napa Valley winemaker Robert Mondavi identified Denis and Tricia Horgan’s cattle farm as a great site for a winery, offering to mentor them through their first few years. Leeuwin Estate burst onto the world stage in 1979 with their first commercial vintage ‘Art Series’ Chardonnay gaining Decanter Magazine’s highest recommendation. Leeuwin Estate wines, particularly their Art Series Chardonnay, have received world accolades ever since.
Voyager Estate grows even more beautiful by the year, ageing like the fine wine they produce. Its stunning buildings in Cape Dutch architecture are surrounded by carefully tended rose gardens and manicured hedges; beauty on every horizon. The sense of grace and style follows into the stunning cellar door. A second-generation family estate, Voyager aims ‘to craft wines that do justice to our extraordinary climate and soils through some of the most pure, elegant, and balanced Chardonnays and Cabernet Sauvignons in the world.’ Since 2020, one third of their vineyards have been classified as organic.
The quality of Margaret River wines does not diminish with the size of the winery. Two smaller, family-run wineries that made big impressions on us were Deep Woods and Mr Barval. Deep Woods maintains a small one-person cellar door on their scenic estate overlooking an undulating hillside of vines edged by forest. Situated towards the northern end of the Margaret River region, the vineyards have been rejuvenated since their acquisition by the Fogarty Wine Group in 2005. Vineyard practices are now sustainable, leading to smaller yields of higher quality fruit. Deep Woods has attained some of our most prestigious awards, including the naming of Chief Winemaker Julian Langworthy as James Halliday’s Winemaker of the Year 2019 and Winery of the Year 2017 (Ray Jordan) as well as a host of further accolades from wine shows within Australia and abroad.
Mr Barval is an artisan boutique winery that was founded by owner/winemaker Rob Gherardi and his wife Kellie. Rob has experience as a winemaker in Australia and Italy. He uses a hands-on approach rooted in old world traditions, pressing the grapes by hand, using wild fermentation instead of adding yeast, and ageing his wine in second-hand barrels to create a range of complex, elegant, refined wines. Their fine wine is not entered in shows, relying instead on the excellence of the product and word of mouth to achieve sales. The cellar door encourages seated wine tastings on couches, offering charcuterie boards with a choice of ingredients to accompany your tasting. The cellar door also doubles as an art gallery, displaying indigenous artworks from the Dillybag Collective.
No matter what your criteria is for choosing wineries to visit in Margaret River, you will find an abundance of fine wine. You will also leave the region knowing that there are many more vineyards you could have visited… just around the corner.