The Wine Wonder of the West
Compared to the more remote Great Southern, Margaret River is a bustling place. The town is substantial, and conveniently located half way between Cape Naturaliste and Cape Leeuwin. It’s about half an hour’s drive either way. There’s the highway or Caves Road, named after the magnificent limestone caves here.
Limestone is a feature often found in great wine areas, from Bordeaux to Coonawarra. It’s a little warmer here than in Bordeaux – 1600 degree-days vs 1500. Coonawarra is about the same as Bordeaux. Limestone plays a minor role in Margaret River’s vineyards, which sit on a ridge of ancient granite said to be 2,000 million years old. Most of the soils are granite gravel loams which are ideal for grape growing. Gravel also features in the soils of Bordeaux.
Natural Wealth
The region enjoys a maritime climate (wet winters, dry warm summers) and is bordered by ocean on three sides. It’s a gorgeous part of Australia and, when we were there, good rains had turned the countryside the lushest of greens. The surfing beaches are legendary, and at last we found out what Cow Bombie stands for: Cowaramup Bombora. Wikipedia tells us that Bombora is an indigenous Australian term for an area of large sea waves breaking over a shallow area such as a submerged rock shelf, reef, or sand bank. There you go.
It comes as no surprise that fine wines are made here, although wine is a relative newcomer – see our story on the short history of wine down here, anda longer one here. David Hohnen, the man who built the Cape Mentelle and Cloudy Bay brands, recently said: ‘There’s absolutely no way I could have envisaged what we have today, not in my wildest dreams.’
Margaret River’s Cabernet Merlot blends are the region’s signature wines, offering terrific drinking at almost all price levels. Chardonnay and Semillon/Sauvignon Blanc blends do well too, and show the region’s versatility. The problem is that there are nearly 100 wineries here, so we’ll have to concentrate on the real gems we found here.
The best Cabernets down under?
A few weeks ago, Decanter published a taste-off between Margaret River and Coonawarra Cabernets, where the former beat the latter hollow taking out 8 of the top 10 places. We tasted the top wine, the Leeuwin Estate Art Series Cabernet Sauvignon 2010 at the winery. If you’re looking for a special red, jump on this wine when it’s released because it’s the real thing. It would beat most Bordeaux reds five times its $60 asking price.
If you’re looking for special occasion white, the Art Series Chardonnay 2010 is one of the best in a long line of great Chardonnays. Winestarhas some left for $75. Leeuwin makes wines in our price range, and they’re of good quality, but there are more exciting wines in the same price range.
There are some impressive wineries around Margaret River, but no big conglomerates have their winemaking headquarters here. Voyager Estate was built by Michael Wright who had strong connections with South Africa, which explains why the place looks like a winery in Stellenbosch. Girt by Sea Cabernet Merlot 2011 hits our sweet spot for $20 (Winelistaustralia). The Sauvignon Blanc Semillon 2013 does as well, and is a couple of dollars less at the same source.
Vasse Felix is the oldest of all the wineries here, and is another impressive place to visit. When we did, Ray Jordan had just released his top 100 reds under $40 in the West Australian. The Vasse Felix Cabernet Sauvignon 2011 took out top honourswith a 97 point score. This is a big, chunky, obvious kind of Cabernet with a suspect afterburn on the finish so it didn’t impress us nearly as much, but we’ve found at for $30 at Nick’s / Vintage Direct if you want to try some.
The whites impressed us more, the Semillon Sauvignon Blanc 2013 and the Semillon 2012 most of all (full of life and lemon zest, perfect balance, long future). Sadly, the winery seems to be the only source for these wines, and it’s full RRP here with free shipping thrown in if you join the club. When I told the lady who served us that the Semillon was the standout for me, she said 2012 was the last year it was made. No demand, yet this leaves most Hunter Semillons looking like ugly ducklings.
The Xanadu black label Cabernet Sauvignon 2011 is a more elegant wine, and more to our liking, and it’s $28 at Dan M’s. Yes, we’re working our way down to our usual price range. Cape Mentelle’s Trinders Cabernet Merlot 2012 is another good red but a bit bigger than the wonderful 2011. It’s $23 at Boccaccio Cellars (the website says 2011 but sadly that’s incorrect). Sadly the $14 Georgiana 2012 didn’t live up to the rave reviews – it’s almost as if we’d tasted a different wine.
The Hidden Gems
Woodlands is another well -established winery, where the Watson family makes classy wines mostly from its own unirrigated vineyards. Annual production is just 9000 cases of mostly red wine, and the Watson family remains in charge. In 2010 David and Heather – who planted the original vines in the seventies received a Lifetime Achievement Award from Margaret River’s Wine Industry Association.
The Watsons’ younger son Andrew showed us around and opened the wines for us in the charming tasting room with sweeping views over the valley below. The Chardonnay 2013 is a beauty but will benefit from a few years in a cool, dark place. It’s $19 at the winery. The Cabernet Merlot 2012 has sold out here but can still be found in shops like Grand Central Cellars (Bris) for $20.70 and Nicks /Vintage Direct for $21.
Andrew showed us all the Woodlands wines, including the lovely Chloe Chardonnay and Alex Cabernet, but our pick in terms of super value for money was the Margaret Cabernet 2011 – $38 at Nicks / Vintage Direct. It’s a gorgeous Bordeaux Blend of 70% Cabernet Sauvignon and 15% of each Merlot and Malbec. Beats anything Penfolds offers at 3 times the price.
Last year, I went to a Cabernet tasting put on by Gourmet Traveller Wine at Luke Mangan’s Mojo restaurant in Danks Street Waterloo, and hosted by my old friend Peter Bourne. One of the top wines there was a 2008 Rosily The Cartographer Cabernet Sauvignon Franc Merlot Petit Verdot. It scored 95 points, and it was a wine that tasted a lot like a red from Saint-Emilion or Pomerol. Sadly, it was impossible to find in Sydney at the time and I gave up.
This time, we had a chance to visit at Willyabrup and taste the wines with Mick Scott who’s as friendly as he is down-to-earth. The Rosily Cartographer 2010 is on sale now, and its composition is Cabernet Sauvignon 49%, Cabernet Franc 27%, Merlot 21%, Petit Verdot 3%. This varies from vintage to vintage as it should.
This is a wine we loved for its sweet fragrance and seductive charm, and its elegance and finesse. We drank a bottle over the next 2 days, and loved every glass. The Rosily Cabernet Sauvignon 2012 is a bigger wine, richer and more masculine but still with that lovely velvet fruit this vineyard produces.
We liked the Rosily Chardonnay 2013, a modern style made from fruit that was hand harvested off the two Chardonnay blocks of the Rosily Vineyard. It’s hard to believe that we can buy wines of this calibre for less than $25, wines that are hand-made in tiny quantities – only 600 cases of the Chardonnay were made – and have some age on them. The whole vineyard is just 12ha.
You’re wondering about the name and the lilies in the field, of course. The website tells us that Comte Francois de Rosily was a French navigator and cartographer who in 1772 made the first chart of Flinders Bay in the south west of Western Australia. On the same voyage the captain of his ship claimed possession of the south west of Australia on behalf of France. As proof of this claim, Comte Francois de Rosily, prepared a chart showing where a bottle containing a parchment and two coins were buried.
Credaro Wines
The Credaros came to Margaret River from Northern Italy after WWI. In the 1980s they planted vines on their extensive holdings, and now make a range of high quality wines. A lazy distributor makes them very hard to find on the east coast. The Beach Head range is under $20 ex winery, and the Estate range is close to $30. We found some Cabernet Merlot 2011 at Nicks / Vintage Direct for $23, and it’s a ripper. There’s also a Sauvignon Blanc Semillon 2012 at the same source. Halliday gives the winery 4 stars but for once we’d up his score to 5.
McHenry Hohnen
Thisis another label we don’t see much over east.David Hohnen, the man who built the Cape Mentelle and Cloudy Bay brands and sold both to Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, has teamed up with his brother-in-law for this venture. The surprise here is the poor branding and confusing labelling, given Hohnen’s track record. The website tells us that new branding is imminent.
There are too many wines made here to mention, but one wine stood out: the Marsanne Chardonnay Roussanne. The 2010 is a beauty and worth the $27 asking price, but there’s a $90 special on a 6-pack of the 2005, which is probably at its peak – rich, round and mature but still full of life (Please scroll down the price list to the last entry under Amigos). We also found a Cabernet Merlot 2011 for $20 at Nicks / Wine Direct. This is a great price for a classic example of the style.
Redgate
A good friend pointed us to this winery, and he’s right: they make very polished wines here. The whites are all of high quality – Semillon, Sauvignon Blanc Reserve, SSB and Chardonnay – with the Semillon perhaps our top wine. The reds are big and rich but polished. The Reserve Chardonnay 2012 was one of the best Chardonnays we’ve tasted but it’s $60 a bottle. Redgate offers a 20% discount for mixed dozen orders, so bear that in mind when you check the price list.
Kim
