good life: April 2014

More than a year ago we won a trip to Margaret River, Western Australia through our wine shop, First Glass so in March the 4 of us hopped on a plane to Perth (about the same time as MH370 most likely landed in the same area!?).

In 1965 a gent by the name of Dr John Gladstone wrote a report that declared the Margaret River, just south of Perth, had conditions similar to that of the Bordeaux region in France and hence the planting of vines began and is now synonymous with great Cabernet Sauvignon. Margaret River has a much steadier climate than Bordeaux so the vintages are either great or even greater. Only 2006 is deemed a poor vintage, so not a bad run. They also produce exceptional Chardonnays and although I'm not a huge fan of Sauvignon Blanc or Semillon the Margaret River blends are actually rather pleasant, so all in all it's a region that definitely appeals to me!

There are a number of fantastic cellar doors and the level of service as a region is amongst the best we've experienced to date in Australia. Everyone presented their wines in Riedel glasses, and most presented their entire range of wines, even the more expensive reserves.

Here's the list we visited that I'd be happy to recommend:

The well known superstars:
Xanadu, Cullen, Leeuwin Estate, Vasse Felix, Howard Park(prize for most impressive cellar door), Cape Mentelle, Brookland Valley, Juniper, and Voyager Estate

Barrel tasting at Xanadu

On top of the tanks at Xanadu

An enjoyable tasting at Cape Mentelle

The 'finds' - a bit more of a boutique experience (and the reason we go to the wine regions):

1. Brown Hill (which we almost didn't go to, but the Stella Bella people recommended it, which also had some great wines). It was just a corrugated iron shed with a charming proprietor who is an ex Kalgoorlie miner and his winemaking son. They have some amazing Cabernets and also Shiraz Cabernet blends which are mostly 5 star 90+ points from James Halliday. They pretty much only sell at cellar door and mail order but well worth getting your hands on if you can find some.

The 'Flash' cellar door

2) Woodlands, which is once again nothing too flashy, just a tasteful, understated cellar door, with absolute knock out wines

3) Hay Shed Hill, which is now run by the ex winemaker from Howard Park and it was great to have a chat with him about the trials and tribulations of being a winemaker in the area.

4)Last but not least was Pierro, the king of Chardonnays. OMG, what a fabulous wine.

Found this poster at Pierro - beautiful

Note - we visited Moss Wood as well, who have amazing wines, but I wouldn't go out of my way to go back to the cellar door.

Al and I and the wild Indian Ocean

The whole WA area does have the western frontier feel about it. Perth is an amazing city and there were definitely some cool non wine things to do (Mammoth Caves were a real surprise!) and the foodie experiences were pretty up there - every night we split a dozen oysters between the 4 of us and we also discovered fresh figs with jamon/prosciutto and blue cheese. This has now become a favourite.

I'd definitely go back and at some stage, I'd love to take the dogs and spend a few months driving up the coast in a camper van. Western Australia - a cool place worth exploring.