A big state: Explore WA's wine regions from your home

Millbrook Estate in the Perth Hills. Picture: Frances Andrijich

 Western Australia is a wonderful place to visit (when you can). 

Whether it’s the stunning scenery around Broome and the Kimberleys, with the Bungle Bungles and Windjana Gorge high on the to-see list, the waters around Ningaloo Reef and its majestic whale sharks, the amazing Wave Rock near Hyden, the tall trees of the timber country around Pemberton, the caves and beaches of Margaret River, the coastal country around Esperance or the National Anzac Centre in Albany, there is something for just about everyone to enjoy.

And as for wine _ from the Swan Valley, WA’s oldest wine region, through Margaret River, Geographe, Perth Hills, Peel, Blackwood Valley, Southern Forests or the Great Southern _ it’s a taste sensation.

Now, thanks to Wines of Western Australia, Wine Australia and Tourism Western Australia, you can explore the state’s various wine regions without leaving home.

The Wine Adventurer is an online and interactive wine tourism guide designed to inspire and inform international and domestic visitors to help plan trips into WA’s incredible and diverse wine regions.  

Picardy Wines in the Southern Forest.
Picture: Frances Andrijich

Eight wine regions are featured in an easy-to-navigate e-brochure that includes each region’s unique wine tourism experiences and hero wine varieties. 

Swan Valley, Perth Hills, Peel, Geographe, Margaret River, Blackwood Valley, Southern Forest and Great Southern each has a section with beautiful photography along with practical information such as driving distances, climate, harvest times, soil type as well as tips on what to eat, where to stay, what to do and must-see attractions. 

The 60-page guide features more than just wine, there is a cross section of experiences including, authentic regional dining, art and museums and cosy vineyard stays.

 The Wine Adventure can be found  at WesternAustralia.com and at 

 winewa.asn.au 

Bella Italia: The Italian influence on Australia's wine industry is very strong

The Serafino vineyards in McLaren Vale

Australia’s wine industry may have very strong Anglo-Saxon and Celtic foundations but the Italians also have played a distinguished role, and not just in the post-war years.

Early days at the
De Bortoli winery

The De Bortoli family, for instance, settled in the Riverina region at Griffith in the 1920s and steadily built up a large business, extending later to the Yarra Valley and the Hunter Valley.

They’re not alone, the Casella and Miranda families have played a large part in the area’s prosperity and influence on the Australian industry.

The original Miranda operation might now be in the hands of the McGuigan family and its Australian Vintages operation but the Miranda name continues through Lou Miranda Estate in the Barossa Valley. Originally run by the Liebich family as the Rovalley winery it gave the Mirandas access to premium Barossa fruit, it is now run by Lou Miranda and his daughters Lisa, Angela and Victoria.

Not only did they gain some excellent Barossa vineyards, including several dating back more than a century, they received some lovely old fortified wine resources. 

Meanwhile, in Victoria one of the country’s newer wine regions has a distinctively Italian character. The King Valley originally was prime tobacco growing country but changing consumer tastes and laws prompted the long-established Pizzini family to turn successfully to grape growing. Their love of things Italian prompted them to extend this to growing a goodly range of Italian varieties and the King Valley is now one of Australia’s richest sources of prosecco, sangiovese, pinot grigio and more.

And no mention can be made to the Italian contribution to the Australian industry without reference to Queensland’s Granite Belt where families such as the Puglisis and Costanzas have made a lasting mark.

McLaren Vale has not escaped either, with Vincenzo Berlingieri helping to establish Settlement Wines in the 1970s.

A little earlier, Steve (Serafno) Maglieri had arrived in the district and with help from his father, Giovanni, planted the first of what has grown to about 140 hectares of vineyards. The Maglieri label was sold to Mildara Blass, now part of Treasury Wines, but the Maglieri family continues at Serafino, producing traditional McLaren Vale reds such as shiraz, grenache and cabernet sauvignon under the Black Label range, Sharktooth Shiraz and Sharktooth Chardonnay, from an individual vineyard where the tooth of a giant prehistoric shark was found, several Italian varietals including sangiovese, fiano, vermentino, nebbiolo and primitivo under the Bellissimo label and some special releases of syrah under the Terremoto (Italian for earthquake, a nickname given to Steve Maglieri) label.

Their Black Label range includes McLaren Vale stalwarts shiraz and cabernet sauvignon, the 2019 vintages of which have just come on the market and are worth chasing up as very good representatives of these two varieties..

I don’t have the space to list all the wines Serafino produces, just go to the website www.serafinowines.com.au and check them out. If you can’t find something to your taste, you’re very picky.

Clare fair: It produces some of Australia's best rieslings but there's more to the Clare Valley than that variety

Vineyards at the Mitchell Clare Valley winery

South Australia’s Clare Valley is one of my favourite wine regions. Not only is it physically beautiful, it produces some of the country’s best wines, notably its rieslings.

Producers such as Jeffrey Grossett, Jim Barry, Pikes, O’Leary Walker, Tim Adams, Taylors, Petaluma, Kilkanoon, Kirrihill, Claymore, Mitchell and Knappstein are among many from the region making absolutely delicious rieslings. They generally are fresh and crisp when young, showing lovely floral, citrus and mineral characters in their youth, maturing gracefully to show toast and honey flavours, with refreshingly crisp finishes.

It’s no surprise that there are numerous older Clare rieslings in my cellar. As far as I am concerned, it is only challenged by rieslings from the Eden Valley and Western Australia’s Great Southern region, particularly Frankland River and the Porongurups, for the title of the country’s most consistent producer of the variety. An honourable mention must go to Tasmania, where an increasing number of wineries are turning out very tasty examples.

However, there’s more to the Clare than this aristocratic grape. It’s long been a great area for reds, particularly cabernet sauvignon and shiraz.

Back in the 1960s and 1970s red wine lovers were rightly wowed by the cabernet malbec blends coming from Leasingham under its Bin 56 label and the winery still produces very good examples of the style. Its Bin 49 cabernet sauvignon also raised eyebrows, with the Bin 61 shiraz showing the region was also very well suited to the variety. Wendouree also has been making a cabernet malbec  blend for many years among its stable of sought-after reds.

Tim Adams, who worked at Leasingham with the legendary Mick Knappstein, still rates the blend as one of his favourite Clare reds and makes a very useful example under his own label.

Mind you, when you get wonderful drops like the Jim Barry Armagh shiraz and Tim’s own Aberfeldy shiraz it’s hard to ignore the claims of this variety to be rated among the Clare’s best.

That’s notto say Clare relies solely on established varieties. Jim Barry’s assyrtiko is one of the best examples of this variety I have tasted outside of its Greek home, while tempranillo, sangiovese and fiano have shown great promise.

Individual vineyards have not had prominence in the Clare but that has changed in the past decade or so, with those shiraz patches and Jim Barry’s Florita riesling vineyard gaining recognition for their outstanding qualities. Florita was recognised over many years as the source of some of the best rieslings produced under the Leo Buring and Lindemans labels and it was a no-brainer for Jim Barry to snap it up when it came on the market.

Although much younger the wines coming from the Gaelic Cemetery vineyard established by the Pikes in 1996 are well worth seeking out, particularly the Premium Riesling and Premium Cabernet Malbec.

Tim Adams has not limited his individual vineyard wines to the Aberfeldy shiraz, a few years ago introducing the Skilly Ridge Riesling and Schaefer Shiraz. The latest vintages of both have just been released, the 2015 Schaefer Shiraz ($40) and 2019 Skilly Ridge Riesling ($30), and they represent some of the best Clare has to offer. Try independent fine wine outlets or the winery.

For more information go to

www.clarevalleywine.com.au

www.timadamswines.com.au

www.jimbarry.com

www.grosset.com.au

www.leasingham-wines.com.au

www.pikeswines.com.au

www.petaluma.com.au

www.olearywalkerwines.com

www.mitchellwines.com

www.taylorswines.com.au

www.kilikanoon.com.au

www.kirrihillwines.com.au

www.knappstein.com.au

www.claymorewines.com.au